The Forgetting Curve by Ebbinghaus

Why do we forget new knowledge so quickly?

How much do you remember the content of the last book you read?

We can argue about the exact number, but the percentage is probably rather low.

The reason we forget is that our brains are designed for efficiency. Things that seem to be unimportant are quickly forgotten again, and, unfortunately, most things are not deemed important by our brains.

The rate of forgetting

The rate of forgetting is described by the forgetting curve.

It was first discovered in 1885 by the German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus.

In this article, I will show you why we forget things, how the forgetting curve is structured and how you can use targeted repetitions (spacing effect) to build up a personal store of knowledge so that you finally keep all the important facts in your head.

I often think to myself that I have a memory like a sieve: the only comfort I have is that I’m not the only one with this problem. Most people suffer from the fact that they immediately forget facts they have learned.

But instead of trying to find a real solution for this problem, they try to rely on cramming (bulimia learning) for learning new…