ChinaTown Update (It Works!)

I have not posted anything recently for two reasons: 1) I am improving my incremental reading skills and 2) I have been working on the Chinese version of KanjiTown (A method of remembering Chinese character readings based on chain-stories using a central location). While I am still working on perfecting incremental reading, I finally finished the Chinese version of KanjiTown (Last night, in fact). Here was my three step plan:

Step 1: Learn the keywords of the Hanzi

Step 2: Link groups of keywords with a particular reading

Step 3: Learn vocabulary with ease (Profit!)

Step 1: Learn the keywords of the Hanzi

This involved working through James Heisig's "Remembering the Hanzi" book. Because I had already finished "Remembering the Kanji," this book was not very difficult. Many hanzi I already learned as kanji, I simply had to associate a different keyword with them.

Step 2: Link groups of keywords with a particular reading

To do this, I needed a list of the Hanzi along with their readings. After a bit of searching on the internet, I located this wonderful thread on the "Reviewing the Kanji" forums. The thread contains a spreadsheet of the Hanzi/Kanji covered in "Remembering the Hanzi." The spreadsheet contains the keyword assigned to each Hanzi, along with the corresponding reading (Woo hoo!). This spreadsheet allows you to organize Hanzi based on their reading.

Next, I spent a number of very long days studying at home or at the library, creating a story-chain for each reading, using a different location for each different reading. Keep in mind, the connection between the reading and the location does not have to be significant or meaningful. All we need is a connection, no matter how loose.

With the above sentence in mind, let's look at the reading "dian." "Dian" is used on a number of characters, but one of them is the character for "electricity." I have been to the Hoover Dam before, and the Hoover Dam is used to generate a great deal of electricity. Thus, I decided that "Hoover Dam" would be the location for all characters pronounced "Dian." Again, this connection is purely based on my own version of "six degrees of separation" so logic isn't necessarily required to create such a connection, as long as some sort of connection is established.

Here are my entries for Dian: (Note that each word in CAPS is a keyword assigned to the Hanzi)

Hoover Dam generates a great deal of ELECTRICITY 電

There are some shady men working at the Hoover Dam STORE 店.

These mischievous men decide to paint SPOTS 點 all over the smooth surface of the Hoover Dam. This causes the ELECTRICITY to go out (The Hoover Dam doesn't like looking bad, so it shuts down until it looks pretty again) .

These employees are going against the "CANON 典 of Hoover Dam Employee Code of Conduct Handbook." The police in the area are constantly on the lookout for these men.

Now, these four characters (典點店電) are all associated with each other, the connection being "Hoover Dam."

One thing to keep in mind: A single long and flowing story that incorporates all of the characters seems to work better than a series of bullet-points, such as "Hoover Dam has a STORE." "Hoover Dam has ELECTRICITY." "Hoover Dam has SPOTS," etc.

Each Chinese character should be a smaller part of a larger story. This also makes it easier to "expand" each story when you need to learn new Chinese characters.

The one flaw (Although I would argue that it is minor in significance) is that this system of reading memorization does not include memorization of tones. I have tried memorizing the tone AND the reading for quite some time, but none of the mnemonic efforts bore fruit, just a haze of noisy images that I could never recall with clarity. Even though I did not deliberately try to memorize tones, I had no problems recalling the appropriate tone when I spoke words that I had memorized (Using the ChinaTown/KanjiTown method). Why is this? I am no scientist, but I postulate that my brain treats tones in a similar way it treats sense stress in English or Japanese.

In English, there are certain syllables that are stressed. One does not say "memoRIZE" or "meMORize," but the word is stressed "MEMorize." Japanese is similar. The greeting "konnichi wa," is not stressed "konNIchi wa," or "konniCHI wa," but "KONnichi WA." I did not realize that I had adopted the correct pattern of sense stress of Japanese until I noticed incorrect uses of sense stress when spoken by other foreigners (I recall thinking "That doesn't sound right"). I do not think TONES are minor in significance, but the need to deliberately memorize them does not seem necessary; I highly doubt correctly recalling tones will be very problematic to the point that it requires another 1,500 flashcards to "patch up." I will update you on my progress.

Now that "ChinaTown" is complete (At least until Heisig releases a second book), it is quite easy to learn new vocabulary words. How? Simply learn new words as combinations of keywords: 手机 (Cell Phone) is "Hand - Machine." How do you pronounce it? Well, "Hand" is located in Tokyo Tower (Shou) and "Machine" is located in a big metropolitan area I visited while in Japan (Ji). So that's got to be "shou ji." I already know the correct tones for 手机 because I have used the characters in other words before, so it is not too difficult know how to properly stress the word (Shou3ji1).

词典 is WORD - CANON or "dictionary" (ci2dian3)

"Ci" is the boat from the popular Playstation 2 game "Metal Gear Solid 2" and "dian" is "Hoover Dam," as described above.

In the end, learning new vocabulary feels like stringing together quotes from a personal movie collection; the more words you learn, the more those mnemonic "movies" stick in your brain. Learning new words, reading, even guessing at words you haven't learned yet are enjoyable journeys as you explore a giant mnemonic landscape. Like building a bridge, it takes time, but in the end the benefits are immense and gratifying.

Along those lines, I remember the kanji section in the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test). A number of the kanji test questions consisted of four different characters, each differing slightly from the other (Usually by only a few strokes). As I looked at each kanji, as if talking to them I would say "OK, you're in the desert, you're at the lighthouse, you're at the zoo and you're in downtown Tokyo. The correct answer is clearly x, because it's at the lighthouse." I easily breezed through the kanji section with much time to spare, all because I knew the kanji and their distinct meanings and locations so well. I'm starting to feel the same way about Chinese; and since Chinese is more dependent more on characters than Japanese (And Chinese characters usually have just ONE way of reading it), I have a feeling that my Chinese proficiency will greatly increase from now on.

When there is something worth updating, I'll post something.

(I just hit 50,000 flashcards in my Supermemo database. Yay for numbers!)

Also, here is a song by Jonsi (The singer in the Icelandic band "Sigur Ros"):

UPDATE: I just got a response from the author of Remembering the Hanzi. Right now "Remembering the Hanzi 2" is over 80% finished, and hopefully it will be completed over the summer of this year. Therefore, while I might learn the readings of a few significant characters, I will wait until the new book to "take the jump" to 3,000 characters.

EpicWin Update - Self Discipline Requried

I have been using EpicWin since the program was first released, and it has been exactly the program I was hoping for. While it is not a silver bullet for productivity, just like Supermemo, EpicWin requires self-discipline to be useful. Here is how I use EpicWin.

I keep a task-list within Supermemo (A very, VERY useful feature that I will make a post on eventually). I use the task list to organize and prioritize the various things I have to do. Using this as a guide, I enter the tasks into EpicWin and assign them point values that reflects their importance in Supermemo's task list. Then I accomplish the task. Keep moving onto the next task until all of the tasks are completed, and great peace of mind is achieved.

So basically I use Supermemo to create a "hit list" of tasks, and EpicWin is my task "Assassin" to execute them.

I also use EpicWin to give myself "achievement points" for real life. For example, doing dishes right after I finish eating grants me more points as compared to letting them pile up and doing them later. Also, let's say it snows during the night, and I know that I should shovel the driveway sooner rather than later. Big bonus for doing that! I really don't want to go jogging this morning, but I'll gladly do it if some points are involved. In this manner, EpicWin serves as the "nudge" I needed to get certain tasks done when there wasn't much of an incentive to get them done. In this manner, it has also been useful and (in my eyes) a success.

Although the program/game that I had in my head was slightly different than EpicWin, EpicWin fills the task-list RPG-sized gap in my life, and I'm very pleased with it.

Mind The (Knowledge) Gap

The Supermemo FAQ website is very poorly organized; imagine a very messy desk filled with papers, each paper more interesting than the last. The Supermemo site is like that; filled with interesting information, but not very easy to access.

Supermemo (And other programs that seek to accomplish the same purpose) creates within the user a very interesting way of thinking. (I recall reading this on the Supermemo site, but I forget where) When you encounter a concept that you do not understand, the simple solution is this: Throw relevant incremental reading material at it. Decode the material into flashcards, and retain with Supermemo. If you still find some gaps in your knowledge, simply throw more incremental reading material into Supermemo.

A policy of many institutions is to simply "throw money at" potential problems (Illegal drug trade, problems in the education system, etc.). In that same way (But with greater success than institutions), when you encounter ignorance with yourself, simply throw incremental reading material at Supermemo, and over time the ignorance will go away.

This philosophy of progressive and never-ending learning is very appealing to self-learners because it makes knowledge gaps less intimidating. Too often people are embarrassed to admit to a gap in their knowledge, so rather than try to bridge the gap, they simply don't acknowledge or do anything about it. I think this reaction can be partly attributed to the anticipation of the critical "You mean you didn't know that!?" sort-of response that I frequently hear from others. I hate it when I hear others criticize unintentional ignorance. Willful ignorance is another story, but if someone doesn't understand something, rather than focus on the gap, I prefer to take action in order to fill the gap.

So if you are ignorant about a subject, your response should not be "I don't know about that." Rather, it should be "I don't know about that YET."

With sources such as Wisegeek and HowStuffworks, ignorance is exciting to encounter. Why? Because that means you are about to become less ignorant. The process of becoming less ignorant is one of the best feelings in the world.

On Motivation and Behavior Modification

Before reading this post, please read following two articles:
What is Operant Conditioning?
What is a Skinner Box?

The Skinner Box is evidence that our behavior can be modified by using response-reward systems. Concepts embodied in the Skinner box have been used to make slot machines addictive. Skinner Box concepts have also been used to make certain video games more addictive, particularly Massively Multiplayer Online RPGs (MMORPGs). This article explains how Everquest contains elements of Skinner Boxes (Everquest is a popular MMORPG released before World of Warcraft, the present MMORPG juggernaut).

As the article says, Everquest creates a network of Skinner Boxes, each tailored to the needs and goals of the player. Under normal circumstances, nobody would want to accomplish the time-consuming and repetitive goals the game requires. But once the implemented psychological tricks take hold of the player, hours can be spent (Or wasted, depending on your view) on the game.

Why is this relevant? Because by using a cleverly constructed game, we can see that boring activities can be made pseudo-exciting. At their base, these games seem to contain algorithms for motivation. If such a system could be harnessed for beneficial and productive activities (Those we need extra motivation for), it could (In theory) make us better people.

My overall intellectual well-being has basically been outsourced to Supermemo, and this provides a great deal of relief and comfort. "If my memory can be outsourced to an algorithm, could other mental burdens also be outsourced to an algorithm?" I thought. Thus, quite some time ago, work began on a "point system" for my life.

For the last couple of years, I have struggled on-and-off to create such a point system. Ultimately these experiments failed after a week or so of use due to the sheer impracticality of maintaining the system, as well as the unpredictability of life itself. I still believe that a workable point system exists, I just believe that my attempts were poor and inadequate. Interestingly, the comedian Demetri Martin has tried to construct a point system for his own life (Albeit it seems slightly different than the ones I've been making). You can read about his point system in this interview. The point system is discussed in the third paragraph.

My final conclusion was that the workable solution to this problem was basically an RPG to-do list. Instead of doing meaningless tasks within the game, this RPG would require that you do real-life tasks. Each time you completed a real-life task, you received some sort of in-game reward. Since an RPG to-do list did not exist, I began to work on creating one for myself. I began to write my ideas down in a notebook. The notebook went on to cover various design layouts, EXP and level progression, and many other aspects of how such an RPG would likely work. (I have played a bit of Persona 3, and this was the overall style I was trying to capture).

I downloaded the iPhone SDK late one night and went to sleep. The next morning I found the following Youtube video making the rounds of my frequently visited web sites:



How happy I was to realize that another company had already gone through the work of making such an application! Unfortunately, I will probably never see the to-do list RPG that I had seen in my head, but this will have to do for now.

Less than a week ago EpicWin was released, and I've been experimenting with it. While there are a number of obvious improvements that will be fixed very soon (They are waiting on Apple approval for their latest patch), the basic functionality is there, and I am very satisfied with it.

After choosing your avatar and name, you can create tasks, or "quests" as they are referred to in EpicWin. There are six different levels of importance you can assign to each "quest." The higher the priority, the more XP you gain, and the more progress you make on your "overworld map."

The rewards you get for accomplishing "quests" come in two forms: 1.) Leveling up your character and 2.) Loot (Items). The current maximum level is 20, therefore you will not level up as frequently as you will find loot. None of the loot you collect can be equipped by your character, which is mildly disappointing; but I suppose since there is no real game to speak of (You don't actually fight monsters), it's not that big of a deal. This feature might be added in the future, I would imagine.

Thus, while certain features will be added and certain tweaks need to be made with EpicWin, (More excitingly) the application itself is a basic but customizable Skinner Box. Within the last week of use I can already tell that it will be a useful motivator to help me in doing things I usually don't want to do.

For example, I am content with eating the same foods day after day, but I am also aware that trying new things is a good habit (I'm just not very good at it). Today, when purchasing a drink for lunch, instead of buying a flavor that I knew I would like, I thought to myself, "I don't want to drink something different, but if I'll get points for it, I will." I then put my predictable choice back and chose a flavor that I had never tried before. After doing this I entered "Try something new - drink" in EpicWin and received points for doing it. Another example: I don't like to dance. When a few friends invited me to some free Salsa lessons, my gut reaction was initially "absolutely not." Then I thought to myself "How many points would I get if I did go?" I then decided to get a big point payout by doing something that was really out of my comfort zone. I went dancing, made a few new friends and had a fantastic time.

In both examples (There are more), this shallow but consistent system of points motivated me to do things I did not want to do. And because the results in real life were very positive (I enjoyed dancing, I tried a new drink) and the results within the game were positive (I scored points and won a hat!), I can see myself using this program for quite some time. In the long-term, I hope to use EpicWin to establish good habits. Here is how I think it will happen over time:

1. Use EpicWin to do action x (Something I don't want to do).

2. Keep repeating action x because I'm getting points for it.

3. After some time (21 days? 30 days?), action x becomes a habit, and I no longer need EpicWin to keep doing it.

4. Repeat with action y

So (For me) EpicWin is basically the habit and motivation-creating algorithm I was hoping it would be. Maybe it will be useful to you also (Provided you have an iPod Touch or iPhone; If you plan on purchasing an iPod Touch, wait for a few weeks and a new one will likely be released by Apple.)

To conclude, here is an excerpt from a presentation about video game design and how Skinner-box-like psychological tricks are becoming part of our everyday life. Certain aspects of this theoretical implementation are quite interesting, while others are quite scary. Here is the presentation in its entirety. The entire presentation is worth watching. (Warning: The presenter uses some profanity). Also, this is EpicWin's official site.

In regards to the frequency of posting (Or lack thereof): Just because I can post a lot of stuff doesn't mean that I should do so. Rather than post a great deal of mediocre information, I would rather infrequently post interesting information. If I don't have anything interesting to post, I will simply not post anything. I don't want a blog filled with "Sorry I haven't posted anything recently, here's a funny picture of a cat" posts.

The Tragedy Of The Shallow Mind

I recently read a very interesting book called "The Shallows." The book's message is about the various unforeseen cognitive downsides to the (over) use and (over) reliance on the internet. Downsides mainly have to do with an inability to concentrate, reflect and synthesize thoughts and information and a constant push towards a constantly distracted state of mind. If you have the free time, I encourage you to read it.

(A number of the thoughts presented in the book will form the basis for a few posts)

There was a very informative section on memory (I did not expect memory to be discussed in so much detail). I learned that as a short-term memory becomes a long-term memory, the number of synaptic connections grows by more than 100%. Therefore, each time you review and recall something you have already learned, it is as if you "relearn" the information, and you form newer connections with other (Previously not yet "connected") pieces of knowledge (Such knowledge becomes more "sticky"). Each time we learn something new or recall learned information, we are (slightly) modifying our brains to make it easier to learn more ideas and skills in the future.

As our "memory storehouse" becomes larger and larger, we are able to form more and more connections. This allows us to do something that the human brain is VERY good at: finding patterns. These patterns only will emerge from the deep and thoughtful consideration of a subject, not the shallow analysis that comes from a few superficial "bites" of knowledge that are glanced at and quickly forgotten (The internet encourages such actions).

That is why the overuse of the internet (And the flawed view of intelligence and study advocated by society) poses such a big problem for the intelligence of the masses. In the minds of most, memorizing things is a waste of time, perhaps being useful in memory contests or when trying to impress people at a party. "Why bother remembering information if I can access it in just a few clicks?" "Why should I read this long narrative and follow the line of logic and reasoning if I can simply get the bullet pointed summary on website xyz?" "Why remember if the internet will remember for me?"

But when we remember, and our brain makes connections with other things, this not only serves as an index for memory access, but this shapes the mind, our very consciousness. Connecting IS thinking. Connecting IS the self. If we stop connecting, in a way, we stop thinking.

Outsourcing certain jobs to technology has been a great help to the human race. But once we begin to outsource our memories to the machine, we risk losing part of what makes us human. As people become less and less able to think deeply and concentrate on a subject, they become satisfied with more shallow and superficial knowledge, which causes their intelligence becomes more and more artificial, like the very machines they use.

This helped me to realize that even though it can be said that Supermemo is only a tool to memorize (what one could argue as being 'seemingly static') information, provided one puts meaningful information into Supermemo, the cognitive benefits are far more than simply committing said information to memory.

Knowledge Formulation

I got a comment recently asking about how I formulate items. Currently I have 41,600 or so items (I add about 50 and delete maybe 1-3 a day due to bad formulation, the info is not valuable, duplicate item, etc.). I realized that constantly posting how many items I currently have is a waste of space and comes across as being overly conceited and arrogant. Not quite as annoying as the loud guy wearing a bluetooth ear piece (Especially when he wears it all day, even when not on the phone), but I don't want to do anything that reminds me of such a person.

Formulating knowledge is a skill that one constantly improves on. Every month or so I reread the "20 commandments" on formulating knowledge, a must-read for anybody serious about making long-term flashcards. There always seems to be some aspect of flashcard formulation that I can improve in. Efficient wording, learning sets of information, so much room for improvement.

The main thing that I try to keep in mind when formulating items is this: "Keep it as short and as context-independent as possible."

With the precision of a military sniper, hit only what is necessary to make you recall what you want, then leave. For example, let's say I read this article about Robert Oppenheimer. Let's take the last paragraph and make flashcards out of it:

After the war, Oppenheimer chaired the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. He opposed developing an even more powerful hydrogen bomb. When President Truman finally approved it, Oppenheimer did not argue, but his initial reluctance and the political climate turned against him. In 1953, at the height of U.S. anticommunist feeling, Oppenheimer was accused of having communist sympathies, and his security clearance was taken away. He had, in fact, had friends who were communists, mostly people involved in the antifascist movement of the thirties. This loss of security clearance ended Oppenheimer's influence on science policy. He held the academic post of director of the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton, and in the last years of his life, he thought and wrote much about the problems of intellectual ethics and morality. He died of throat cancer in 1967.

"Science is not everything, but science is very beautiful."

Interest dictates how thoroughly the article is dissected and ultimately how many articles are made. You have to determine how valuable this knowledge is. Once you get the hang of placing a value on any knowledge that you encounter, using Supermemo is a whole lot easier.

Let's imagine that I want to know as much as possible about Robert Oppenheimer, so I read this article and thoroughly analyze it, and make flashcards of the interesting information.

Rather than repeat what the 20 Rules are, maybe it would be a good idea to read it, and then look at the examples below to see how the rules apply.

After WWII, Oppenheimer chaired what US Commission? The US Atomic Energy Commission.

How did Oppenheimer feel about the hydrogen bomb? He opposed the development of it.

What did the government accuse Oppenheimer of? Being a communist.

In what year was Oppenheimer accused of having communist sympathies? 1953.

Did Oppenheimer have communist friends? Yes. How were his friends involved with communism? They were involved in the antifascist movement of the thirties.

What caused Oppenheimer to lose his influence on science policy? The loss of security clearance.

What was the cause of Oppenheimer's death? Throat cancer.

In what year did Oppenheimer die? 1967.

Oppenheimer quote: "Science is not [...], but science is very beautiful." (Answer: Everything)

Oppenheimer quote: "Science is not everything, but science is v[...]." (Answer: ery beautiful)

In regards to his final years and writings, if I were really interested in learning about Oppenheimer's life, I would find more articles about those subjects, and incrementally read those instead of adding the seemingly vague information contained in this article (At least it seems kind of vague to me, not specific enough to merit their own flashcards).

Certain things require more context (Science, historical battles, events in religious texts, and so on), but experimentation eventually shows you how to word flashcards so that they adhere to the 20 rules of formulating knowledge. For example, "In [battle abc], [character x] was killed by [character y] for [reason z]." (Each [bracketed item] becomes a separate cloze deletion flashcard.) "In battle abc, character y killed character x by [method a]."

You are basically isolating what makes the knowledge significant and snipe at those pieces of important information. It might seem like you are making too many flashcards, but because the knowledge is easier to recall, recalling and maintaining such knowledge becomes quite easy. Also, by dissecting knowledge in this manner, by the time you are finished making the flashcards, you will understand and grasp the information much better than you did before.

Hopefully this answers your question/comment :)

Response - Knowledge, Society And The Universe

Thank you for the interesting comments, I seldom meet others that wish to have a deep discussion on this subject.

"In the past information just to be the most valuable treasures. People would kill, literally, for some new information. Philosopher Locke was educated on this culture, but he change the way commonplace book where written, for him the most important part of taking notes about any thing interesting was the possibility of retrieving them."

Indeed, in the past, information and knowledge were most sought after by man due to the sheer scarcity of its existence. Today, knowledge of every type is abundant, but when something is abundant, it is easy to take such things for granted. Today, knowledge seems to be more valued at how entertaining it is.

"I find that people like your self are the type, that believe that information should be free. But then starts a philosophical dilemma, up to what point should we share our knowledge?, or what kind of knowledge should we freely share?"

Absolutely, I believe that certain knowledge should be free. Nobody can copyright reality or claim it as their own. If knowledge is simply uncovering the truth about our existence, this present reality, nobody should be able to claim it as their own. Reality is reality, it is not mine nor yours. Therefore, under ideal circumstances, knowledge should be free. But knowledge can be used for good purposes and bad purposes. What if someone would use such knowledge to kill millions of people? "He should not have access to knowledge, then." But we cannot read someone's mind and know their intent. Much like cutting the top of a weed but leaving the root, left to our present methods, man will only be able to tinker with the symptoms of the evils that plague us (By building prisons, amending laws, etc.).

In addition, humans possessing any great deal of power (Political, financial, etc.) are prone to abusing it. In my opinion, the system man has built up is too flawed and beyond hope of reform. Add to this religions that are designed to exploit this system of rule and the people within it, and you have a very combustible combination simply waiting for the spark to ignite it. Regardless of the bright forecast that others (Such as politicians) might present for the future, I fear that unless some sort of drastic action is taken soon, the total collapse of society is imminent. I only hope that after the smoke clears away, there are still people standing.

I am not some sort of paranoid anti-government tin-foil man, but no matter how I think about the various problems, I cannot see a happy ending within easy grasp. A while ago in a book I found an interesting quote by Henry Kissinger, and I put it in Supermemo: "Every civilization that has ever existed has ultimately collapsed. History is a tale of efforts that failed, or aspirations that weren't realized... So, as a historian, one has to live with a sense of the inevitability of tragedy." I feel the same way.

"I hope it doesn't sound greedy, you know I like sharing my related experiences, but are constant questions on my mind."

I love sharing experiences also. The goal of this blog is to prevent others from repeating the same mistakes I made when using Supermemo.

"More and more, I think certifications should come with expiration dates."

That is an interesting observation, I never thought of it that way.

"I don't like using many of PW references because he is just to different then most people, he seems to be learning for learning per-se, without some obvious purpose..."

Yeah, I kind of get that same impression.

"Ahh, I welcome singulary, one were singularians have emotions, but were this emotions don't rule over rationality anymore."

The more I learn about science, the more I get the impression that the universe is made up of a set of very elegant and simple principles and patterns that are implemented beyond our comprehension. The more you magnify the small things or look further away at the big things, they all follow the same patterns and resemble one another, like an endless series of boxes within boxes. I will never learn all there is to know, but I will have a lot of fun finding out as much as I can about the universe.