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Why do we always forget what we have learned? (The Forgetting Curve)
How to use the Forgetting Curve and Spaced Repetitions to remember everything?
The forgetting curve shows how quickly we forget new knowledge. The curve was 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
- how you can build up a personal knowledge store through spaced repetitions (spacing effect) so that you can finally keep all the important facts in mind.
I often think to myself that my mind is like a sieve: Luckily, I am not alone! Most people instantly forget most of the things they have learned. In fact, it is estimated that in the long term we can just remember about 15% of the things we have learned.¹
However, just a minority of people are trying to improve their recall rate. At university, most students rely on bulimia learning (cramming) to get the facts into their heads. But cramming is a short-term solution. Long term your recall rate will be even worse with cramming.²
When I was a student, I also relied mostly on cramming before exams. However, anyone who asks me today about the things that I learned in…
