On Math, The Science Of Mnemonics And Memory Modalities

In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, we discuss visuality, science and a new book on memorizing numbers and math.

Note:

If you are visiting by no later than Sunday, October 27th, then How to Learn and Memorize Math, Numbers, Equations and Simple Arithmetic is free on Kindle.

If you don't own a Kindle, you can get a free app for most devices on the US Kindle Store.

I want to thank you kindly for visiting and look back to this page soon for a full discussion of the episode, the Method of Loci, mnemonics, creating a Memory Palace network and all of that good stuff that we tend to talk about.

Here is the correspondence I received as referred to in this episode of the podcast:

Hi Anthony,

I have a question I would like to ask. Using mnemonics what have you committed to memory?

I'm interested in using mnemonics to educate myself, to learn and be able to remember a vast sum of knowledge, that I find enjoyable, and I find it inspirational to hear, what others have achieved using such techniques.

Kind regards.

This is a great question, and answering it helps me describe just how versatile the Magnetic Memory system – and mnemonics in general – happen to be.

Over the years I have memorized:

* Foreign language vocabulary

* Musical notation

* Dates and facts

* Seat numbers on airplanes and trains

* Poetry

* Famous quotes

* Randomized decks of cards

* To-do lists (which as Derren Brown points out, Memory Palace to-do items are for more likely to get done)

* Philosophical concepts

* Names of people I meet

* Street and city names

* Addresses

* Phone numbers

* Film and book titles

* Recipes

* Call numbers at the library

* Appointment times

* … and I'm sure there's much more.

For me, the ultimate trick has always been to use locations. Some people toss their visual associations "into the void" of their minds without locating them some place.

And for some people, that's just fine.

But I'm an advocate for localized organization.

Why? I've talked about this a lot before in other editions of the Magnetic Memory newsletter, the key idea being that we have an unconscious fear of losing things (especially our minds).

Thus, when we create a visual image to help us remember something and then stick it in a clearly visualized mental location based on an actual location with which we are intimately familiar, we eliminate the fear and anxiety we naturally have a losing things and can focus on embedding that information instead.

Just a theory?

Perhaps.

But the theory is irrelevant.

This stuff works.

And there's science behind it too.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have very limited patience for anything that can't be empirically demonstrated in front of a council of disinterested men and women in lab coats.

That's just the way my Magnets roll.

Further Resources:

In Praise of the Mnemonic Peg System

How to Memorize Numbers with the Major Method

Method of Loci article on Wikipedia

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