There is nothing you can do … some people are like that !!
Holy Cow, Nightwalker, you are 1337! You need to compete ASAP - your card and digit scores are competitive at every level.
This is true, and I am told that “Brain Gym” is very popular in your country Ben, so that’s something you could look into as well xD!
Spot on about hats - I may not have been a finalist, but I did get first place in “hats,” as always.
How would you go about making 10k images? You mentioned something above about using the first two numbers to make a consonant sound, but that really went over my head. Would you try to stick with a phonetic system, or try something new?
hi,
a guide about hot wo manipulate images would be greate.
Make our pictures(images from imaginations)
manipulate them:
changing
size, colour, adding and removing stuff/pictures, seeing pictures in detail, rough, zooming in and out etc. etc.
Manipulation scenes (imaginations)
How to add a new thing, how to delete something.
How to expand a scene, how to reduce a scene
Change size, colors
Getting it more detailed or rougher(more general)
regards
Hi Ben,
The 2 cards per image system, which you invented has, as far as I know, inspired the current world record holder, to create a similar system that has helped him to break the world record at Speed Card.
Now my question is this, you have invented a system that apparently allows some people to reach a level of excellence in memory never before achieved in human history. Do you feel you have been adequately rewarded for your invention?
Ho! By the way, my email is [email protected] please send me a copy of your book.
If you had invented something else, say something that helped a computer to work faster, you would probably hold a patent by now that would be worth huge amounts of money to you. Help a machine memorize things faster and you’ll be a multimillionaire. Help a human brain to reach new level of excellence and you get… to give away free copies of your book? In your opinion, do you feel the values of society are skewed as it rewards greatly people who help machines more than it does people who help the human intellect? Or perhaps you feel that everything is fine the way it is right now? Thanks for your thoughts on this and thanks for your kind comment regarding my last question.
Simon
When I try to memorize using the journey method, it takes me a long time.
If I have to memorize a list of random words the algorithm is:
- I read the first word and visualize it: the object, the color, the size ( Ex: the carrot It takes me around 1-2s )
- I go to my journey and see the first place (in my memory) (Ex: Billa supermarket. It takes me around 1-2s)
- I try to link the carrot to the Billa supermarket using minimum 3 senses. Right? (It takes me around 3s)
And so on for the next items…
So, for a single item, the cost is around minimum 6 seconds…and when I try to memorize all the items, the time is increasing with random unwanted delays 
Please tell me:
- It’s normal this time for a beginner in the journey method ?
- If yes, it’s possible to compress the time for the above example? What is your time to link the item to the place like in the above example?
- Is my algorithm correct? If not, why? Where am I going wrong?
Any other suggestions are welcome from everybody.
Guys, let’s talk a little more “concrete” to increase our brain power. It’s a forum, not a book :bigsmile: Let’s make big steps H)
No no no, please, everyone comment on this thread about anything you want! I’d prefer it to be a free-for-all friendly chat kind of thing - having a thread about “memory champion Ben” makes me feel horribly big headed… 
Answers to other questions follow shortly!
We gotta defferentiate here.
We can manipulate, what we are trying to imagine or we can manipulate what we already imagined.
Though imaging has always or at least it startes with ideas(thought) so beginning here is a good choise i would guess.
Would appreciate more insightes of an pro like op.
More questions:
A chronoligical to do list to become good in as short time as possible.
Stuff Op helped the most or books who contains everything we need to know. (helped op the most)
Could Op become one of the best in 2014?
Why not?
What changed in terms of competition? Why?
Faszination thread, thx for it.
regards
hi,
i am to tired right know and cant even think straight, will try to explain my opinion on this topic tomorrow.
regards
How would you advise me to learn my PAO 00-99 system? Is it better to use something like Anki and learn ~20 a day for 5 days or to just start memorizing digits with a cheat sheet in front of me until I learn them all?
Same thing for cards, how would you advise me to learn them? (although its probably the same as with the digits)
You’re taking me just a little bit too seriously, Khuram. Self-deprecating humour is big in England, but I suppose it doesn’t always translate well into other languages. I don’t need a cheerleader to inspire me, don’t worry.
I haven’t really settled on a good way to make a 4-digit system, this is what’s held me back from doing it so far. I really want to stick with something that translates all four digits into a one-syllable sound, because otherwise I think it would be slower than the three-digit system and a waste of time creating it. But phonetic systems don’t really stretch that far, and to do it in any other kind of way introduces another mental step to the process and, again, slows the whole thing down. So I’m still trying to think about it…
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Well, my techniques are just used for memory competitions, where the key is quick and accurate, so I just make my pictures and basically let them do whatever they want to do, to make them memorable.
This kind of manipulation and detail is more useful in long-term memory tasks. I’ll reply at greater length about this in future, because it’s a very interesting question and needs more time spent on it! Stay tuned!
Yes, basically, I feel everything is fine the way it is right now.
Here’s the thing - I don’t think that I’ve “helped a human brain to reach a new level of excellence”. At best, I’ve contributed to making someone a little bit better at a party trick. There are people who think they deserve to be millionaires because they know something about memory techniques, but I’m not one of them - it’s a pretty pointless thing that I just do for fun, and I’m always grateful if occasionally some of these people see fit to give me money for it…
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Hi Ben how will you memorise this
Mgjptgjga1mgj22gtpm45!magtgjm0go64ki? 
Sorry i know it is just a bit… yet i am curious to know
Hi ben
Simple question : if I review some images in one file so many times that the image immediatly come in my head when I think in that file … Will that affect ( in a bad way ) other images that I put them in the same file at another day but without review ? Or that help my brain separating the images that help me to remember it all
I would picture a MuG, pouring its contents onto the 10th Doctor’s trench coat (janis JoPlin gave it to him). Then I’d have a TiGer drinking from a JuG of water. Next I’d picture A1 steak sauce, another MuG. Next would be Jesus, then Bilbo Baggins (my Person for 22). Next would be a GoaT, the moon with a clock (P.M. is night time), then Doctor Evazan (this guy from Star Wars - my person for 45), an umbrella (the image I use in poetry for an exclamation point), a MAGgot, a TiGer, some strawberry JaM, an orange (my image for a single #0), a GO-kart, a JuDoon [platoon upon the moon] (my person for 64), and then finally a KIte.
I’d picture all of these on a journey/at loci, of course.
What is the most effective method to memorise usable information?(for exams etc.)
Which book would you recommend? (Guess i couldnt find: How to pass exams from dominic).
regards
I think that kind of time is about normal for a beginner, yes. Obviously it varies from one person to another, but that’s the kind of thing I’ve heard from a lot of people.
The best way to speed up is not to think about the algorithm! If you stop and think to yourself “Now, how can I link this carrot to the supermarket using at least three senses?” it’s always going to be a slow process. Personally, I’ve never done that, but then I’ve only ever memorised things quickly rather than long term. I suppose if you’re wanting to memorise your list so that you’ll remember it forever, it’s a good idea to be more thorough.
I don’t ‘link’ my items to my locations. I just see the location more as a backdrop - I link my items to the next item on the list, and the location just acts as a sort of backup, to make sure I remember the order. I also don’t concentrate on visualising the images so much - I’ve heard the ‘minimum three senses’ thing before, but I don’t know anyone who actually does that.
All of these things, I think, will just fix themselves with a little bit of practice. The more lists you memorise, the faster you’ll get, and the less you’ll be consciously thinking about the algorithm! It’ll all become an automatic process. I think you’re on the right track, just don’t think about the method so much. Good luck!
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I really do like being called ‘Op’. Makes me think of Optimus Prime. But I prefer ‘Ben’ or ‘Zoomy’
Now, ‘become good in a short a time as possible’ is something that a lot of people aim for, and it’s great, but a lot of them are looking for a secret short-cut that will make them a memory expert without having to do any work, and I’m afraid there’s no such thing.
The best way to become good quickly is to go to a memory competition, talk to other competitors, and most importantly have fun! Because doing those things will motivate you to learn the techniques, practice them and know exactly what you’re going to use them for. Trying to learn memory techniques without a concrete goal in mind doesn’t really work, but if you’ve got targets like world records or beating some rival in a championship, it works a whole lot better.
Books? Well, I’ve only ever bought one memory book - “Use Your Memory” by Tony Buzan. And I’ve still only read two chapters of it, the ones on remembering cards and remembering numbers. That taught me the journey method and the Major system, and really, that’s all you need to know - the basic principles, which can be found on this website or anywhere else on the internet! Everything else is just window-dressing, and the important part is taking the basic principles and using them for whatever your goals are.
I think I still count as ‘one of the best’ - I’ve only fallen down to number five on the ranking list… But the only way I could become really one of the best again in 2014 is if I rediscover some motivation to do all the hard work and training that would take. I don’t think the World Memory Champion level has yet got high enough that it’s beyond the limits of my brain - it’s still possible for me to win it again, with a lot of effort, but I just lack a certain something that drives me to do it. Dominic O’Brien told me he suffers from the same problem - maybe we need to get together and develop a rivalry…
What’s changed in competitions? Well, it’s a whole lot more international nowadays. The original rules were thought up when it was still a basically English-speaking thing, so they’ve had to be adjusted to take account of different languages, and there are still problems that need to be fixed, so I’m sure they’ll be adjusted some more. And with this international growth come much, much higher scores, and a whole lot more competitors and competitions. It’s all got so much bigger since I started.
I don’t actually know what Anki means. I have a feeling that I probably should, but there’s all kinds of memory jargon that means nothing to me. Sorry!
What I did when I was remembering my list of images was have a cheat sheet. Just practice running through the list in your head, and look down at the sheet only when you really can’t remember what your person/action/object was. The point of the Major system or whatever you’re using is that the number itself should give you a clue about what the image is, so in most cases you should be able to remember it after a moment or two’s hard thought. And if you keep on and on running through that list in your head until it all comes to you straight away, that’s the best way to remember.
Then, if you’re memorising numbers and you get stuck on an image, you can go back to the list in your head, start at 00 or 20 or 50 or whatever starting point is closest to the one you’re stuck on, and it should (hopefully) come back to you. I still have to do that on rare occasions with one of my 2704 images, even after ten years…