SCARS Institute Insight: 

Why Leaving a Comment Helps YOU!

Having to learn so much, it’s easy to feel like new knowledge slips away as quickly as it comes.

Research shows that:

  • About 50% of new information is forgotten within an hour
  • By the next day, that number jumps to 75%.
  • Within a week, up to 90% of that information can fade from memory.

This is known as the “forgetting curve,” and it’s a common challenge for anyone trying to learn and retain new things.

However, there’s a simple and effective way to combat this: leaving a comment or summarizing your thoughts right after you’ve learned something new.

This practice can help you retain up to 80% of the information permanently. The reason it works so well is that it engages different parts of your brain, creating a stronger memory trace.

When you take the time to think about what you’ve learned and write a comment about it, you’re not just reviewing the information; you’re actively processing it.

This process involves retrieving the information from your memory and reconstructing it in your own words, which strengthens the neural connections associated with that knowledge. It’s like giving your brain a workout, making the information more resilient to the passage of time.

Plus, writing a comment creates an emotional connection to the material. When you reflect on how the new information makes you feel, or how it relates to your personal experiences, you’re adding an emotional layer to your memory.

Emotions are powerful memory anchors, and they can significantly enhance your ability to recall information later on.

Research backs up the idea that active engagement with new information leads to better retention. Studies have shown that students who practice retrieval through writing and summarizing tend to perform better on tests than those who simply reread the material.

Writing forces you to organize your thoughts, identify key points, and make connections, all of which contribute to a deeper understanding and better retention.

Leaving a comment also serves as a form of self-explanation, where you explain the information to yourself in your own words. This helps you identify any gaps in your understanding and reinforces the concepts you do grasp. It’s like having a conversation with yourself about what you’ve learned, which can clarify your thoughts and solidify your memory.

The benefits of commenting and summarizing extend beyond academic or professional settings. Whether you’re reading a book, watching a documentary, or learning on the SCARS Institute websites, taking a moment to reflect and write a comment can make a big difference in how well you remember the information.

So remember, leaving a comment or summarizing your thoughts immediately after learning something new is a straightforward and effective way to improve information retention. It engages different parts of your brain, creates an emotional connection, and provides a context for the information, making it more memorable and easier to recall. By making this a habit, you can overcome the forgetting curve and retain a significant portion of the information you learn.

Also, you help the next person to read it, to better understand, because you add your context and understanding.

Will you start leaving comments?

SCARS Institute Management
December 2025