It’s funny you linked to my post on prizes, which brought me here, because I’m actually very interested in spaced repetition. In fact just a couple of weeks ago I mentioned it’s potentially worth millions of dollars to me: http://arvindn.livejournal.com/132233.html
You guys need to get more rational about the value and importance of what you’re doing in this community. You’re arguing over trivial amounts of money here. I’d say that any post that’s good enough to get voted up to the main page is worth tens of thousands of dollars to mankind. Easily.
I’m putting my money where my mouth is chipping in $100 for the new prize. [Edit. Hmm, I got a paypal receipt but the total on chipin hasn’t changed. Maybe just need to wait for a bit.]
Finally, I’m only a sporadic reader, but allow me to express my deep gratitude and admiration for the community.
! You’re Arvind? I had no idea. Gosh, the past few days have been interesting for me—first Piotr Wozniak tells me he’s incrementally reading 8 articles mentioning or by me, then Danny Hillis replies to a comment of mine over at the Technium, and now here’s Arvind Narayanan.
I’d say that any post that’s good enough to get voted up to the main page is worth tens of thousands of dollars to mankind. Easily.
On one hand, I agree—if a main page post improves one high-value person’s time, that alone is probably a few tens of thousands’ worth. The other part of me is cynically remarking that Wozniak and psychologists in general have been advocating spaced repetition for the last >2 decades / centuries (respectively), the research is unassailable, and yet… So what’s the marginal return on another literature survey?
A few comments:
You mention creatine on your blog. Creatine only works in specific demographics; I don’t know whether they include you.
You mention dual n-back; the results seem to keep getting weaker since Jaeggi 2008, and Jaeggi 2011 seems extremely weak. I used to be extremely enthusiastic, but as the studies keep coming in… At this point, I’m not sure how much time is worth putting into DNB for just the WM benefits. Probably not much past D5B though.
Thanks for the information! That does look pretty damning for dual n-back. As for creatine, I’m not vegetarian but my meat consumption is lower than average, especially when I’m not weight training. At any rate, I stopped taking it after a couple of months because I decided the unknown long-term health risk from increased renal stress wasn’t worth it.
It’s not a literature review, but http://33bits.org/2011/06/06/the-surprising-effectiveness-of-prizes-as-catalysts-of-innovation/ does link to a McKinsey report on prizes, which ought to be good reading if their reputation can be relied upon.
It’s funny you linked to my post on prizes, which brought me here, because I’m actually very interested in spaced repetition. In fact just a couple of weeks ago I mentioned it’s potentially worth millions of dollars to me: http://arvindn.livejournal.com/132233.html
You guys need to get more rational about the value and importance of what you’re doing in this community. You’re arguing over trivial amounts of money here. I’d say that any post that’s good enough to get voted up to the main page is worth tens of thousands of dollars to mankind. Easily.
I’m putting my money where my mouth is chipping in $100 for the new prize. [Edit. Hmm, I got a paypal receipt but the total on chipin hasn’t changed. Maybe just need to wait for a bit.]
Finally, I’m only a sporadic reader, but allow me to express my deep gratitude and admiration for the community.
! You’re Arvind? I had no idea. Gosh, the past few days have been interesting for me—first Piotr Wozniak tells me he’s incrementally reading 8 articles mentioning or by me, then Danny Hillis replies to a comment of mine over at the Technium, and now here’s Arvind Narayanan.
On one hand, I agree—if a main page post improves one high-value person’s time, that alone is probably a few tens of thousands’ worth. The other part of me is cynically remarking that Wozniak and psychologists in general have been advocating spaced repetition for the last >2 decades / centuries (respectively), the research is unassailable, and yet… So what’s the marginal return on another literature survey?
A few comments:
You mention creatine on your blog. Creatine only works in specific demographics; I don’t know whether they include you.
You mention dual n-back; the results seem to keep getting weaker since Jaeggi 2008, and Jaeggi 2011 seems extremely weak. I used to be extremely enthusiastic, but as the studies keep coming in… At this point, I’m not sure how much time is worth putting into DNB for just the WM benefits. Probably not much past D5B though.
Thanks for the information! That does look pretty damning for dual n-back. As for creatine, I’m not vegetarian but my meat consumption is lower than average, especially when I’m not weight training. At any rate, I stopped taking it after a couple of months because I decided the unknown long-term health risk from increased renal stress wasn’t worth it.
Note that posts aren’t voted up to anywhere; they’re promoted by editors.
Ah, I see, thanks.