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Philosophy

Who was Hermann Ebbinghaus?

Episode 541 12:13

In this episode

Have you ever crammed for a spelling test, got a perfect score, and then completely forgot every single word by Saturday? Join Mira and Finn on Kidopoly's Philosophy is Not Boring as they travel back to the 1880s to meet a German psychologist named Hermann Ebbinghaus. He wanted to understand how human memory works, so he did something totally bonkers—he tested it entirely on himself! By memorizing thousands of funny nonsense words (like DAX and ZOL) to the steady tick of a metronome, Ebbinghaus discovered the Forgetting Curve. He proved that our brains naturally wipe out almost half of what we learn in just twenty minutes! But don't panic! Ebbinghaus also discovered the ultimate cheat code for your brain: the Spacing Effect! It turns out you don't have to study harder or longer. You just have to chop your study time up over a few days! Find out how this brilliant 140-year-old discovery can help you ace your math tests, learn to juggle, or master the piano without doing a single extra minute of hard work!

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