Readit Newsscher commented on Reddit can't build a better search engine ruky.me/2022/02/17/reddit... · Posted by u/rukshn
Reddit search results could be better. For example, it'd be great to search only in comments, or in post titles, descriptions. Now, it searches posts only. The subreddits search shows some relevant subreddits by their names, but the other results aren't valid. E.g. type any search query and there's a high chance that r/teenagers are there too.
There could be no fancy algorithms, just give more filters. Meanwhile, people try to build websites around Reddit to leverage their search(what I do).
Reddit is a great source of people's discussions and quality posts on various topics. When I tried to find people's pain points to automate collecting problems to solve(and now it's an advanced Reddit search tool[1]), I found out that niche forums are great places to collect them. However, it's difficult to find more of them, plus scraping the data is time-consuming(custom parser for a new forum). And, the most important thing, there are not so many discussions that one may find on Reddit.
What I like about the website, it's you can find a huge amount of subreddits, every one of them dedicated to a niche topic that people there are willing to discuss. They share opinions, actively engage in discussions, and help in moderating good content. Is there any other place like this? There are many situations when one still be preferring Google, but as for niche discussions I don't see any other good place to visit. Maybe it was Quora before, but now it's a spam place.
[1] https://olwi.xyz
scher commented on An ultimate guide to memory palaces metacognitive.me/memory-p... · Posted by u/scher
Isn't there a "no free lunch" about remembering as well?
Yes, memory training is probably a good idea but how do you pick what to store there in the first place?
Forgetting things -properly- is an underappreciated skill in my opinion.
There are 2 types of information for me:
- For fun. Often not relevant and not practical. It's easy to forget because I don't use it. Though, I may intentionally review the information to "beat" the forgetting curve. Thus, this kind of information will be stored for more time. Artificially forced.
- For practical use. This kind of information is easier to retain because it's not raw: a practice will add more "missing dots" and solidify what's learned.
A forgetting process is a good filter of what we use and what we don't. The retained information indicates what things one should keep in mind.
The memory palace technique is more about forcing even impractical information to retain. I'd say one should define what kind of information should be remembered in this case.
scher commented on An ultimate guide to memory palaces metacognitive.me/memory-p... · Posted by u/scher
I tend to eschew memory techniques. Often I find forgetting is a feature and not a bug - garbage collection of the memory system if you like: a sign that (given the current presentation) the data doesn't seem relevant enough to retain.
But as a child I was an avid reader and I scoured the libraries of my youth and naturally built up spatial memory maps for them.
I'm in my 40s now, but I still have a sense of where and in which library certain books and certain topics go.
Learning something is different than using a memorizing technique. The former is for understanding and the latter is for putting impractical information. However, we may utilize the techniques to speed up or enhance the learning process.
scher commented on An ultimate guide to memory palaces metacognitive.me/memory-p... · Posted by u/scher
I find it interesting to hear what kinds of information people find usable to memorize. If there are people here that utilize the memory palace (or any other memorizing method): what do you put inside the palace?
I used to store:
- Casual thoughts and ideas to review and ponder about them later. In case I didn't have a smartphone or notebook near me, I could put them into a palace, into the so-called "random room"(a place that you should review periodically to sort the remaining things out, i.e. categorize, put images into other places). However, it's simpler to spend time looking for a notebook to write the ideas down.
- Phone numbers. In cases such as losing my phone, to call my relatives, friends.
- Information about people I met. Sometimes there were a lot of people I met in a day/week at university. I wanted to remember their names, some general info. The problem with names is they may repeat. One may use an image of a known person with this name and add a few more images to describe the person better. E.g. a place where you've met, hair color, a hobby, other peculiarities.
- First medical aid.
- Books' summaries.
Rather fun to store than useful in real-world situations:
- Bus numbers and their schedule. Also, a schedule for a local airport and railway station. E.g. where this man with luggage is going to? It's winter, yet he wears a Panama hat. Let me check the possible routes...It was fun to guess. p.s. I didn't haunt people.
- Birthday dates.
- Other random information, e.g. historical dates.
This is my blog where I talk about programming mostly but want to write more on other topics.