A “like” or “clap” doesn’t tell me much about the value of an article, but if I see that someone I respect has durably memorized 30 details from an article written in the Mnemonic medium, that would be a very strong signal.
Such signals might also create interesting social pressures: if several people are discussing a complex climate issue, and you can see that all of them have durably memorized hundreds of foundational facts about that topic, you might be more likely to go engage with that foundational knowledge before wading in.
The mnemonic medium establishes a more explicit standard for reading foundational material. If you suggest that someone should read an article, that doesn’t mean much: maybe they skim it; maybe they read it once; maybe they take detailed notes. All those activities feel like “reading the article.” But if the reference is a mnemonic essay, then “I think you’ll understand X better if you finish this article” establishes a higher and more explicit bar.
Part of a broader theme: The mnemonic medium can generate interesting author analytics
An early experiment: Early 2021 proof of memory experiment on 1729
A striking framing from Balaji Srinivasan: “It’s like a way to track active installs for ideas.” https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1291146642003906560