This isn’t clear at all from the interview, but apparently he uses a modified version of the major system (source: https://www.tofugu.com/japan/akira-haraguchi/)
Now can I be an arrogant asshole for a moment here? I really admire his patience and dedication, but I must say I’m impressed, but not that impressed by that record… I think there are many many mnemonists out there who could break that record with a fraction of the time he has invested in it*. This isn’t because he’s not good at memorizing numbers, that would be a crazy thing to say, but mostly because pao and the other systems many of us are using these days are much more efficient than the major system. At the last WMC, an 8 years old girl memorized more than a 1000 digits in an hour, while Alex Mullen memorized 3000. Now I know we can’t simply do a quick multiplication to calculate the time necessary to memorize 100,000+ digits, but still it gives you an idea. So why hasn’t anyone done it? Simply of course because it requires a huge time investment and all those who could do it have other priorities.
So none of this really matter. I’m not really hoping for anyone to rush and break his record. He deserves it, and he seems like an awesome dude. I’m just being an asshole wondering out loud how long it would take for someone else to break his record. What do you think?
** “I have been reciting more than 15,000 digits per day (since 2006). That takes up about an hour every day.To me, reciting pi’s digits has the same meaning as chanting the Buddhist mantra and meditating. I’m actually trying to do more these days, making it a daily goal to recite more than 25,000 digits, which takes me about three hours.”
Just learned that Alex Mullen uses the major system. So… yeah… so much for my affirmation above that “pao and the other systems many of us are using these days are much more efficient than the major system”.
One can use both the major system and the PAO system at the same time. Check out this video about number memorization for an overview of the differences.
“Von Essen has taken a break from competing, but he’s hoping to break a world record next year for memorising pi. So far he’s reached 10,000 digits, but by next year, he hopes to have increased that to 100,000 digits.”
It sounds like Akira memorized these 80 stories verbatim. Which is amazing in of itself. Let’s say the average number of consonants per word is four, that’s 27,925 words he would have had to memorize in perfect order. To give a frame of reference, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is 76,944 words; so it’s about equivalent to memorizing a third of book.
It’s good for people to keep expanding in the number of digits of pi memorized. The difference between 10,000 and 100,000 memorized might not be novel in terms of method used, but it broadens the horizon of possibilities, and shows us what the human memory is actually capable of doing. Also, it’s an achievement of monumental self-discipline.
I probably will never take the time to memorize that many digits of pi, but I have a better idea of how many I could memorize if I really wanted to.
I’m sure somebody, somewhere will touch 1,000,000.
William: After reading that he uses a modified major system I just assumed that he was also using journeys, but no apparently you’re right and it’s all based on a bunch of stories memorized verbatim. Some 28,000 words according to your calculations. Very impressive indeed (and it makes me wonder how far he would have gone if he had used the journey method instead.)
Cappricio: I agree.
Mayarra: Your record is impressive, but did you know that Chuck Norris can recite in order ALL the digits of pi, three times in a row, in just a few minutes?