Hi Ben,
Your posts here are interesting enough that I decided to finally register for these forums and contribute for once…or rather, goad you into continuing contributing. So, two questions:
- I only very recently (a few weeks ago) got into the whole memory thing (starting from Dominic O’Brien’s books), and use a system, like many people, that involves coding digit groupings into people (a PA system). Later on I discovered that in your system, you code digit groups in general to objects rather than people. This was surprising to me at the time, however, in this thread you write:
I don’t actually know what either of those actors [Richard Gere and Sylvester Stallone] look like, if you were wondering how I could possibly get them confused. They just had convenient names when I was creating my system.
A comment like this suggests to me that you did not and do not watch many Hollywood movies, considering Sylvester Stallone (and to a much lesser extent, Richard Gere) is considered one of the most instantly recognisable actors in the world. If this is true, did this influence your decision to create a system that wasn’t based so heavily on people? Or am I reading too much into this, or over-estimating the popularity of PA/PAO systems?
- Having learnt three 52 stage loci, I thought, for fun and as an experiment, I’d try my hand at creating an artificial memory palace for the purpose of memorising pi. I have no aspirations to compete in anything at the moment, so I’m not too fussed about maximising efficiency in ways that you hinted at. However I am still wondering about the limits and usefulness of artificial memory palaces. I explain what I mean by first describing the palace:
The palace so far consists of a large central atrium, where I can place various useful facts about pi. To the west and east are two wings, with the floors strewn with shredded paper and straw/hay to delineate them respectively. Each wing branches into five corridors, each corridor branches into five rooms. Now, each of these five rooms functionally are more or less based on a house, i.e. bedroom, study, bathroom, kitchen, sitting room, so as to maximise uniqueness. However, there are still ten bathrooms, ten kitchens, etc. so to try and delineate them the obvious thing to do is to vary the interior design (like I have done with the paper and straw).
Now, with only ten or so copies, it doesn’t seem likely I’ll run into to many difficulties. However, how scalable is a system like this? For instance, I could easily imagine that one would confuse easily if they attempted a hundred floor monstrosity, say using ten different wall colours, furnishing types, and floor patterns. (e.g. “was it Napoleon scratching decks here in the kitchen with the tiled floor, burgundy walls and wicker furniture? Or am I confusing him with Amy Childs using the spectroscope in the kitchen with the hardwood floor, grey walls and mahogany furniture?”).
So after that ramble, I suppose my question is: are “mass copy” systems like these feasible for artificial palaces, or is it simply too easy to confuse images with them? Do you ever use systems like this, or if you find yourself creating artificial palaces, do you find it necessary to slowly craft a meaningful and unique setting?
Thank you for reading 
