Opinionated tools for thought, active retrieval, and accessibility

I started executing Ebenezer with the naive assumption that I could fast-track Remembrance by slapping some basic learning science principles to a delightful experience. But what I’m learning through research and practice is that Remembrance is not dependent on good tooling; rather, it is a discipline to practice for the long-haul. Treasure at the end of the rainbow doesn’t come easy for spiritual practices nor memory systems.

Matuschak and Nielsen argue that tools for thought, such as Ebenezer, come from a deep understanding of the domain they are designed for and a unique perspective on how to best learn that domain.¹ Ebenezer will be an effective tool for Remembrance if I build it with a strong POV on what Remembrance is and design a tool curated for that POV.

I’m a big fan of Linear. It’s a tool-for-productivity; however, it’s subject to similar adoption criteria as tools-for-thought. Linear was created over frustration with the way incumbent task tracking tools created inefficient workflows for software teams.² When I first came across Linear, it was in a private beta, but the team had a public manifesto on how software product teams should operate.³ Adopting Linear was cool because their tool was sleek, they had gas from twitter-hype, and their website triggered the SaaS bento-grid craze. But Linear’s real hook was their POV on how to build product. To be a Linear user is to be a disciple of their manifesto. Their tool just happens to be perfectly designed to put that manifesto into practice. No translation is required.

The voyage we are on with Ebenezer is similar – the same way Linear has a POV on how to build product, Ebenezer needs to have a unique POV on how to practice Remembrance.

Matuschak and Nielsen express the relationship between domain perspective and building product as “insight-through-making.” From nuanced, research-based insights, I decide what to build; then, if my build is successful at expanding the bounds of my thinking, I will gain new domain insights; and in turn, those insights will inform new things to build. It’s a healthy, endless feedback loop.

So our voyage on Ebenezer has three growth fronts –

1. Domain expertise in spiritual Remembrance
2. Becoming an expert practitioner of memory systems and the learning science principles that power them
3. The ability to build a tool-for-thought that draws new insights about Remembrance

Within this framework, the past few weeks have been focused on growth front #2 – specifically, understanding the core learning principle of active recall.

Active Recall

The first iteration of Ebenezer was a note resurfacer that daily displayed a few things I had previously designated to remember – snippets from sermons or reflections from personal testimonies. Seeing a note from the past brought it back to the forefront of my mind, but it was only momentarily. As the day went on, I would think about the idea less, and eventually I’d forget it again. I wasn’t internalizing the lessons on accessible memory paths.

If you’ve been around the memory and learning space for a while, you’re familiar with Anki. It’s a modular flashcard system supercharged with a spaced repetition learning algorithm. I’ve been tip-toeing around it because I just don’t like the interface design, and I have negative associations with it from my time learning Korean. However after reading about Michael Nielsen’s usage, I thought I’d give it another chance just like he did. I read the literature on SRS and bought into it.

My takeaways from the literature are –

1. Memory is a skill to develop
2. That skill is not tied to a specific tool
3. Memory requires actively deciding what I want to remember, and the ability to decide is contingent upon understanding that which I want to remember

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been practicing active recall with Anki and passive recall with Readwise. On Anki, I’ve created 71 cards that span Ebenezer memories, learning theory, and programming languages I want to become more fluent in. On Readwise, I resurface quotes I’ve highlighted from articles, books, and research papers. It’s a small sample size, but I’ve found active recall to be more effective. The things I test myself on using Anki come up in my conversations with my wife and friends far more often than quotes that I see on Readwise. This could be because active retrieval is more effective than passive resurfacing; or it could be that the prompts I codify in Anki are more atomic (and therefore easier to remember) than full quotes out-of-context in Readwise; or it could be that the things I enter into Anki are in my own words rather than someone else’s. Whatever the root cause, I think active recall needs to be a core element of Ebenezer. If the primary goal for Remembrance is formation, being able to retrieve memories on-the-fly is essential.

Returning to the surface

I was sitting in a bakery explaining all this SRS and learning theory to a new friend in Portland. After my spiel, he said - “Wow! Honestly, if I just had an app that asked me what I remember from each sermon, that would be such a difference maker.”

There’s the rub - nobody cares about “memory systems” or “tools for thought.” They’re too abstract for people not putting in the research time to build fluency on cognitive science, and that makes it difficult to see how they can be integrated into existing lifestyle and learning habits. Remembering everything that God speaks to me is an easy notion to get behind; adopting a custom-built SRS memory system that I have to spend emotional energy and sacrifice leisure time for every single day is a more difficult sell. Ebenezer’s goal is the former.

I’ve barely cracked the surface on the research literature regarding memory, yet it’s already too deep for most to follow or to find a personal connection to. This is where the product principle of accessibility needs to break through. Accessibility for Ebenezer needs to go beyond intuitive UI; Ebenezer’s unique POV on how to remember what God speaks to you, needs to be understandable, inspiring, and relatable for the curious learner that comes across it.

Adoption to practicing Remembrance seems to be progressive. Even though I’m finding active retrieval as the most effective expression, that doesn’t have to be the only way to experience the formative impact of Remembrance. Passive resurfacing is helpful. Even just a simple reminder to remember must have a non-zero benefit.

On the Horizon

Research: Historic practices of Remembrance

I’m highly influenced by the writings of John Mark Comer and his theology on spiritual formation.⁴ One thing I appreciate from his work is how he researches historic expressions of spiritual disciplines from various times throughout church history. I plan to take a similar approach over my next phase of research – focussing on historic Orthopraxy related to integrating memory into spiritual formation.

I’m sure some deceased followers of Jesus had a lot of this theology and methodology already figured out.

Build: Experiment with the Capture experience

Capture is the access point for Remembrance. As the first step of the practice, it’s where most people will begin. I haven’t experimented with Capture using a digital tool yet, so I want to experiment with various experiences and see how they influence what I choose to remember and how often I think to remember. In a similar way that I experienced an insight-through-making feedback loop while building Recall experiences for Ebenezer, I hope to discover new insights about Remembrance through this experimentation.

Active Recall Resources

A non-exhaustive list of resources on active recall.

Good trailheads for further research.

• Spaced Repetition for Efficient Learning - Gwern
• Effective learning: Twenty rules of formulating knowledge - Piotr Wozniak
• How to write good prompts: using spaced repetition to create understanding - Andy Matuschak
• How I use memory systems - Michael Nielsen

Understanding is necessary for good remembrance

• On Why Questions - Interview with Richard Feynman
• Guessing the Teacher’s Password - Eliezer Yudkowsky