January 5, 2026
Memory flex or mental hex?
I did 301,432 flashcard reviews in 2025
Fans cheer the memory marathon; skeptics ask why memorize in the Google age
TLDR: A super‑committed learner did 301,432 flashcard reviews with 89% accuracy and zero off‑days, sparking a brawl over whether massive memorization is useful or just trivia grinding. Fans praise the discipline; skeptics say Google makes facts cheap, while others debate how tiny retention differences create huge workload swings.
Forget productivity apps — one person just crammed 301,432 flashcard reviews across 52,764 cards in 2025 and never went 14 hours without studying. Cue the comment section cage match. The metrics crowd is fascinated by the author’s 89% correct rate and home‑grown scheduling quirks, while skeptics question if this is brain gains or trivia treadmill. One commenter said it sounds like the old‑school Leitner system, and another wondered how a tiny retention gap could balloon into triple the review load. Meanwhile, the year’s “final boss” card — a musical trivia prompt missed 39 times — became a mini‑meme for memory nemeses. The author’s surprising 5pm shower‑cram bump? Even AI says the effect isn’t statistically real.
Then came the utility war. “Does this solve a problem?” asks one minimalist, while another declares memorization low‑value in an internet search era. Defenders clap back: memory is mental muscle; less tab‑switching, more instant recall. Comics keep it light, joking it’s all prep for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Hardcore fans salute the streak since March 2023 and the “no off‑day” flex, while skeptics side‑eye the grind. Result: half inspiration, half interrogation — with a soundtrack of Sondheim facts and shower‑study swagger.
Key Points
- •The author completed 301,432 flashcard reviews in 2025 across 52,764 distinct cards.
- •Overall correct-answer rate is ~89% on randomly selected cards from a library of over 55,000.
- •Apparent higher accuracy on due cards is explained by the prevalence of recently created/missed (easier) cards; controlling for interval, random reviews are easier than scheduled ones.
- •The longest gap between reviews in 2025 was 13 hours 55 minutes, with a continuous daily streak since March 25, 2023.
- •Time-of-day performance differences (morning and ~5 p.m. modestly higher) were found not statistically significant based on checks with ChatGPT and Gemini.