Sometimes when working on Uniplay I’m reminded that one of the most important discoveries about learning is not new at all. But in a time where AI is pushing all of us into continuous learning mode it might be more important than ever?

So, in 1885, a German psychologist named Hermann Ebbinghaus ran a series of experiments on memory. What he discovered became known as the ”forgetting curve”. In simple terms, it shows how quickly we forget new information if nothing reinforces it. And it’s a lot. Wait for it..

In some cases, 70% of what we learn disappears within a day. Ouch.

The finding itself might not be controversial. It has been replicated countless times since. What is more surprising is how often modern learning systems still ignore it?

Much of corporate learning is still designed around long sessions, passive consumption and the occasional test at the end. From a memory perspective, that is almost a perfect setup for forgetting.

At the same time, if you look at how games tend to work, they follow a very different structure. Short sessions, repeated attempts, immediate feedback. Progress over time. In other words, many of the things learning science has been pointing to for more than a century.

So the real news from 1885 might simply be this: we have known for a long time how people learn.

But I guess people just read poor Hermann’s study once – and forgot about it the day after.

Now please read this again!