How Memory Works

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"# How Memory Works Here's what Hermann Ebbinghaus did in eighteen eighty-five that nobody had tried before. He sat alone in his study... and made himself memorize thousands of nonsense syllables. ZUK. QAF. BEJ. Not words. Not poetry. Just meaningless sounds. Then he tested himself, over and over... tracking exactly when he forgot. Why would anyone do this? Because memory was still wrapped up in philosophy and vague theories about the soul's filing cabinet. Ebbinghaus wanted numbers. And ..."