Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderI was anti-memorization until I went back to graduate school for mathematics. I had forgotten (or never learned) a lot of things needed to pass qualifying exams. At some point I ran across the spaced repetition idea (maybe from the Wired SuperMemo article [0]) and I gave it a try. I ended up using it to memorize large portions of baby Rudin and Munkres' Topology, as well as some algebra and a bunch of qualifying exam questions. The qualifying exams…
Wozniak estimates that you actually get a maximum of~300,000 based on his decades of data, so it seems the simplified model misses some effect and so converges to the wrong total: https://supermemo.guru/wiki/How_much_knowledge_can_human_bra...
"We conclude that — though we can’t remember a fixed number of facts from each day in the past using spaced repetition — we can ultimately recall an infinite number of facts using this method." This is the perfect example of the difference between mathematics and reality.
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 489
- Total comments
- 374
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-08-08 | Spaced repetition can allow for infinite recallFirst breakout · Best thread | efavdb | 281 | 169 |
| 2022-08-08 | How to Remember Anything | exuberantfool | 4 | 2 |
| 2025-02-02 | Spaced repetition can allow for infinite recall (2022)Latest 20+ point return | rzk | 204 | 203 |