Incremental Reading Add-on (unofficial clone)

[cliff]

I think writing/thinking is the important third component. Adding personal relevance, interconnecting existing knowledge but also creating new knowledge on top of what you already know. And also very good, write to set the knowledge into action. Especially with AI that can give you many point of views you didnt consider before:

Or here written a bit longer by ChatGPT

I’m very intrigued about the idea of using Anki not only for spaced repetition but also for incremental reading and writing. This approach can help develop highly individual knowledge by integrating and interconnecting the knowledge ingrained through spaced repetition. By leveraging AI augmentation, we can create new and fascinating ideas, which can then be consolidated into our spaced repetition system. This way, we can rapidly build up knowledge by reading books on a topic, ingraining it with spaced repetition, and then using incremental writing to make it actionable and relevant to our lives.

The three components at play:

1. Spaced Repetition: Efficiently builds connections in the mind and ingrains selected knowledge items that are extracted or created through incremental reading and writing.
2. Knowledge Consumption/Creation - Incremental Reading: This method processes and queues up text and videos to integrate into your mind. It’s more passive and less creative, focusing on absorbing structured knowledge from external sources.
3. Knowledge Creation - Incremental Writing (with AI): This method involves developing original thoughts, scenarios, plans, and ideas from your knowledge base. It interconnects previously acquired knowledge that might not have been well-integrated during incremental reading. Unlike reading, which often follows the author’s structure, writing allows for a more individualized approach to knowledge creation. AI can act as a rocket fuel for your thoughts, enhancing your ability to develop unique insights. Snippets from your writing can then be added to your spaced repetition system.

I think its very interesting, what you can do if you use AI plus your thinking and writing plus spaced repetition.

Is anybody combining writing with spaced repetition (plus AI)?

Personally, I often copy and paste a lot of ChatGPT answers about certain topics into my cards. But this alone lacks coherence.

After a while, I need to plan and think in a more structured way. It’s like when you get overwhelmed by so much stuff to do; you start by making a list to break down the complexity, then you structure it more.

I’d love to do this in Anki. But for that, it would be nice to have proper folders with documents. Currently, you create decks or subdecks to simulate a folder structure, and then you add notes as documents (number the decks and cards so you don’t lose order). Maybe adding a text editor addon for better word processing abilities in Anki, like different fonts, would help too.

However, I think what’s missing is the ability to do hyperlink between notes. You might want to connect different notes when things are related but split into different cards. For example, writing about a topic inspired by other notes that are too complex to fit entirely into your writing note—so you make links.

I believe all this would synergize well with incremental reading. If you could switch between these modes or have them very intertwined, it would be incredibly powerful. Writing and incremental reading built around the excellent spaced repetition features of Anki would synergize very well.

Imagine reading a complex book, incrementally extracting and organizing the key ideas into Anki, then using incremental writing to create detailed, actionable plans or develop new ideas based on this knowledge. You could interlink notes for easy navigation and deeper understanding. Then after some time you come back to the document and write more. Without having forgotten the stuff because you added the important points for spaced repetition. This approach could make your learning more cohesive and applicable to real-life scenarios.

Is somebody doing something similar? Can you share your process or combination of tools? I think some people are also using things like Obsidian and RemNote, which might be good options too.

[cliff]

sounds interesting. How are you doing incremental writing currently? Can you describe it?

[cliff]

cant we just fuse stuff like that together and make anki document based with hierarchies?

#hjp-linkmaster
https://vu2emlw0ia.feishu.cn/wiki/wikcnZcvoqg7x7R2eeQM4IxsNXd

this kind of looks like it could be suited for incorporating something like incremental reading functionality.

this looks also interesting

#Graph View
https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1077002392

does anybody know the developers?

[krstoevan]

hjp’s developer say he’s working for phd? so wont have large changes in recent future.

and indeep the only function i use it, would be the URL ankilink:// in windows.

one could use 3rd party software to use that instead of “stuck on” hjp.

i myself use mindmanager to use that URL to point to an anki card,
and mindmanager’s map/topic already support URL point to.

same would be for obsidian etc.

i mean,
hjp aims to provide the “linking” and as a process, it made the URL to anki card possible.

however, the best thing for me, is only use hjp’s URL function, and handle the linking thru 3rd party software, for me it’s mindmanager.

otherwise beside the “2nd brain” software like mindmanager/obsidian/notion etc, you now HAVE to add a layer i.e. hjp’s chart.

i have posted some old post that you can search and digest what i talked.

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i am not natively speak english,
i use GPT to smooth it:

Here’s a summary and an expression of your idea regarding HJP’s Anki add-on and its use with other third-party software:

1. Developer’s Status: HJP’s developer is currently focused on pursuing a PhD, indicating that significant updates or changes to the add-on may not occur in the near future.

2. Primary Use: You primarily utilize HJP for its URL linking capability, specifically the ankilink:// URL scheme in Windows, to connect directly to Anki cards.

3. Alternative Methods: Despite HJP’s functionality, you suggest that third-party software could alternatively perform the linking tasks. For example, you use MindManager to create links that point directly to Anki cards, leveraging MindManager’s existing support for URLs.

4. Integration with Other Software: You point out that other “second brain” software like Obsidian and Notion could also be used in place of HJP for linking purposes. These platforms support URL integration and can potentially bypass the need for HJP’s chart layer.

5. Personal Preference: Your preference is to use HJP primarily for its URL function and handle the linking process through third-party software like MindManager, which simplifies the workflow by eliminating the need for an additional layer of software (i.e., HJP’s chart).

6. Community Engagement: You have shared these insights in previous posts, which are available for further reference and detail on your usage and thoughts regarding HJP and its integration with other tools.

This summary encapsulates your approach and rationale for using HJP in conjunction with other software tools, focusing on efficiency and integration capabilities.

[Shigeyuki]

I’m interested in developing an add-on for reading (fork or create a new one) but it’s a low priority since there are few Anki users who like to read. (Not many people read books in first place)

At the moment I would like to develop an add-on for just reading, not to reproduce the incremental reading of SuperMemo. (I think if the advanced features of incremental reading are important to you, you can simply use SuperMemo.)

Basically it is better to separate add-ons like link master and graph view instead of incorporating them, as they are more fragile when add-ons become more advanced.

[Durasba1]

I’m always coming back to this add-on and the topic of incremental reading… Finally bought SuperMemo just to check their implementation of IR. (Quite nice to use, but I expected a lot more features from all the hear-say)

To be honest now I’m strongly leaning towards the old unix philosphy of doing one thing well. SuperMemo’s entities (Topics and Items) are already built for IR and it still feels a bit unhandy (Could be in part an effect of the GUI, too…).

I wonder if it’s better to create a dedicated IR application and an Anki add-on that communicates with that app? Maintaining references and extract hierarchies would be way easier.

[Keks]

Maybe there is already an open source reader that implements something IR? It seems to me that it will be easier to make a plugin than to make an application from scratch.

[Shigeyuki]

I think Polar can be used to export to Anki, but probably this is a paid subscription option.

[Durasba1]

FYI: Polar is discontinued, the website is there, but the backend is dead according to the old discord channel - I do have some old forks from the open-source era, though.

From my experience sometimes it’s a lot easier to make an app from scratch than to force ones will upon another app… But if there was a recent open source reader with IR, that would be lovely…

[sorata]

I have seen one YT video Notion being used for IR.

[cliff]

@Durasba1 are these forks or polar public or can you share?

@Shigeyuki
There are too many problems with supermemo.

• You cannot import stuff properly, it looks shitty and and it would be too time consuming to format all stuff manually all the time.
• If you want to add missing functionality I think its not possible as its closed source
• it has no mobile app. I review my cards mostly on mobile. Much nicer sitting on a lake in the sun in summer than inside in front of computer.
• and probably much more…

@sorata
do you have a link to the incremental reading in notion?

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Btw this tool with the name “Heptabase” looks very cool. (see some pictures below). Here is a link https://heptabase.com/.

I was told on their discord channel that they are currently implementing spaced repetition. But I think it will only be rudimentary. (if anybody is interested you can talk to daniel_newhart on heptabase discord. He is designing the spaced repetition feature and they are open for suggestions, feedback.

But they also plan Apis so you can develop plugins or integrate with other programs.

Currently there is readwise and pdf integration. see PDF Annotation & Readwise Integration | Heptabase Public Wiki

Would be nice if they have an Api. Who knows then you could maybe add the connections between Anki cardids and then visualize them. But its not free also.

Mindmapping overview of cards. Incremental writing and reading, spaced repetiton, document structure and planning tool. that would be crazy Probably soon with help of AI.

[sorata]

Read Faster, Remember More | Incremental Reading with Anki, Notion and notion2anki

[ccscanf]

I feel compelled to reply since you are posting a video I made a while back. First, thank you for sharing my video.

When that is said, this video was made 3+ years ago. Since that time, I have started using SuperMemo and can with confidence tell you what I am doing in this video is not incremental reading and it does not come even close. To experience incremental reading I would recommend using SuperMemo for 6-8 months at least.

I have not read all the messages here but check the links from Guillem posted earlier. He has good videos on incremental learning and focused on SuperMemo.

[sorata]

I didn’t expect the creator to be here. Thank you for your suggestions. It seems IR is this magical thing people don’t understand really well unless they experience it.

Can you make videos on your recent experiences with IR? I would love to watch them.

[Durasba1]

I’d like to give SuperMemo the 8 months, but almost my entire reading stack is based on real books or pdfs… Diagram- and imageheavy books
Do you have any tips how to handle that?

[Durasba1]

I’m trying to get the code to run currently, but if there’s interest I can share it as-is It’s mostly javascript

[krstoevan]

from the picture, the mindmapping here looks more like marginnote3/booxnote in which you highlight some text, and the app extract that text and link to other text FOR you. however this is not always what i want.

with mindmanager, you have to handle the text manually, however you could express yourself in any way you want.

there is some difference between the two.

[ccscanf]

There is no magic to it. You can download it for $70 on the SuperMemo Store. I wish I had more time to make videos, but unfortunately have to focus on other things.

The reason why I suggest you wait a while before making your mind up is that due to the nature of spacing and time it will take you sometime to notice the effects. Also the more experience you have with the user interface the more benefits you get to handle vast amounts of information.

If you have lots of paper books then incremental reading is not a good solution. It works best with electronic material. You could scan your material and use OCR but I would not bother. There might be alternative or PDF version online. Search.

[Durasba1]

After following some trails, I found this quite complete github org: polar-app · GitHub (my forks were missing the modified epub.js repo)
If anyone wants to revive polar bookhelf and turn it into an powerful incremental reading tool, this might be everything you need.

Personally, I’ll go the route of doing it from scratch as a selfhosted solution for my homelab - I hate JS and TS too much to bother updating all outdated dependencies and figuring out what was done before And I just prefer Python and .NET…

@cliff Btw. You gave me a good idea with AI… AI is honestly useless 99% of the time, but converting screengrabs (including long formulas) into processable text is actually something that I succesfully did multiple times already… Might as well use this for text extracts from PDF.

[cliff]

1. Here an incremental reading implementation just a couple of days ago released for logseq which has pdf viewer (GitHub - mochar/logseq-incremental-blocks: An incremental reading/writing/watching/listening plugin for Logseq with a dynamic priority queue)

2. And here is a mentioned plugin for syncing your cards between Anki and Logseq (from entirely different dev) GitHub - debanjandhar12/logseq-anki-sync: An logseq to anki syncing plugin with superpowers - image occlusion, card direction, incremental cards, and a lot more.

3. Also some additional interesting information from my conversation with the developer:

Yes I have looked at both of james plugins. They both lack a priority system, which I do have and with many ideas to extend as well. Mine is most similar to his remnote plugin.

I use logseq’s flashcards because you can very easily during review edit your cards, kind of what SM promotes

But logseq also has an excellent anki plugin to sync your cards with anki

But my current system is a mix of both: i use my plugin to review stuff and after enough reps, having refined the content within it, I add it to anki. At the same time I use logseqs flashcards in a more casual way, for less high priority, self-free learning stuff"

4. I also asked him several questions regarding my use case using it for incremental writing for developing thoughts or to use it to incrementally read whole chapters/books:

I want to have several queues. Some queues I want to use as todo or tasklist, and some for IR.

For tasks, in logseq you can just jot them down in your daily journal, and reference/tag them apprioriately, they will show up in the tag/reference page. You can also build a logseq query to show you your tasks. You can also schedule them for a date, they will popup under that day’s journal. For timer you can use pomodoro plugin. For the IR queue I use my plugin.

I would like to have documents also. In anki I only have single notes. But I want to develop my thoughts on a certain topic. And for that it would be nice to do that in like a document, where you write about a topic.

You can make pages for whatever in logseq where you can write your thoughts down. Even better, you can use the same workflow with the tags I mentioned: In your daily note, reference the page and start wtiting down your thoughts. It will show up under that page’s references on the bottom. For scheduling these thoughts i use my plugin.

Currently I mainly want to do IR for books. I want to separate for example a book by its chapters and then put them in a queue. Then I want to use a reader e.g. pdf reader and there I would highlight the contents that I want in IR

Logseq has a builtin pdf reader. Each highlight will be saved as a block in the pdf’s annotation page. When you click on it, it opens the location in the pdf of where the annotation is. You can reference / embed that block anywhere. I use my plugin for putting not only books, but the annotations themselves in a queue.

But its because I read articles or books best by just clozing out the contents that I want to remember instead of creating cards that are atomic without context

You can make clozes in logseq, tag it with #card and it will be scheduled for review

5. He also asked me what I am looking for in an IR system, so he it seems he is open for suggestions/ideas. Also if somebody wants to contribute. Contact information is on his github or also to find in the supermemo.wiki Discord channel under the name of @mochar.