I usually have a great time leveraging different memorization techniques say for example Method of loci but whenever I finish a memorization session it feels like I had made a terminal image of what I need to remember exactly. I can’t add or remove any piece of info from it afterwards, otherwise it becomes too hazy and fades away.
It’s causing me frustration as I need to study multiple resources for each single subject, some resources are complementary to each other and some are contradictory so I have to be able to add or remove correct pieces of information from my data base regularly.
Does anyone have experience with a similar problem? What could help with it?
It’s probably ghosting (old images that you overwrite aren’t completed faded yet).
If I understand the situation well (please correct me if I’m wrong), your problem is that you memorize too soon.
I mean it happens of course that a subject “evolves” and you have to update your knowledge when new discoveries are made. But here it seems that you haven’t made a final decision about which information you want to keep. Or that, because of a lack of knowledge you realize that your understandig was faulty (or more nicely said, your understand grows and your info isn’t up to date anymore) shortly after memorizing.
I would rather spend my efforts to understand well all the sources you feel you need to have a good solid overview of the subject (mind mapping, taking notes, whatever you do to distill the knowledge). And then, when you have a “final” version, put it into memory palaces.
I put “final” into quote marks, because it doesn’t need to be truly final. It’s very much possible to update, add, replace informations in a memory palace, but if you have to do it too much, it’s going to be confusing (and it’s a symptom that something isn’t quite right in the system used).
Missing parts, mixed with other images, sometimes I remember scattered abstract pieces of information instead of remembering the whole image linked to them.
Thanks for your reply, Hari,
Yes that’s exactly my problem; I tried merging things into a “final version” before memorization but it takes me a huge amount of time as I have to put selections of all what I need to keep from different resources into one place (e-books, hard-cover, digital and paper notes, photos, records etc).
I’m curious to know if someone has developed a system flexible enough to add and correct data regularly in memory, or if there is an easy way to reach this “final version” mentally, rather than on paper for example.
Hey this is just the musing of a beginner, but could you maybe have separate memory places for the temporary or developing information. And only after you have decided that your information is complete enough you encode it in the memory palace you use for long term retention and repetition. That should avoid the ghosting.
Phil
It’s really hard to tell what’s going on here because I don’t know what you study exactly.
My feeling is that you’re simply taking too many notes (in copy pasting mode, figuratively speaking). You don’t need to “save everything”.
I used to have that problem, and may again depending on the nature of what I’m memorizing.
For now when I’m fed improper information I’ve already encrypted I destroy it. Just blow it up or break it in some way, similar to the card counting system mentioned in The Memory Book, where you destroy cards that have been played.
I also take my time before encrypting so I’ve assembled as much correct info as possible.
The technique I use for reading is synoptical reading, Instead of reading/studying one source at a time, I’ll start with one book and as each topic arises, I’ll open the other books to the same topic and read them all while taking notes, noting the differences in theory, opinion, etc of the experts in the field. Then I form my own understanding of each of the topics and commit the details of the material to memory after being thorough first.
The Zettelkasten method is written, but it requires taking and making notes along the way. The forum has a lot on that, and I really think it’ll help you do precisely what you want long term, and be helpful immediately because if you can’t cement your data in place then you’re only stirring a bowl of alphabet soup each time and causing yourself a lot of frustration. It takes a lot of concentration and mental energy to do, undo, re-do, rinse, repeat, erase,… if your memory palace were a piece of paper it might resemble a page with crossed out lines all over it, erasure holes through it, illegible smudges etc.
To start (before you get more familiar with the Zettelkasten method, get 3x5 index cards for when you’re researching so you can effectively organize your cards, bibliography, and footnotes all at once.
(I got this from Irv Brechner’s "College Survival Kit, 1975-79, btw - it works well)
Master Reference Card(s) (MRC):
First list all your sources on a card (books, magazines, websites) and assign each a letter of the alphabet. So if you have 3 study guides you name them A, B, C. With websites you can do the same D Microsoft dot com etc, E etc, etc.
Rough Outline Card(s):
This is the list of topics you think you’ll need to take notes on - helps you focus - you can add to it, obviously.
Now when you take notes you only need the MRC with you. To create any new cards you just write A, B, C, D or whatever plus page on top, (or website remaining URL after letter, and date as "last accessed on mm/dd/yyyy), put the study topic (for easy cross referencing and sorting), and put your quick note, fact, “quotation”, opinion etc, and then you’ll have 50 or 100 cards you can sort by topic or by source, and lay them all out as needed to gather a cohesive whole of all sources on each topic AND have all your references and quotes and footnotes ready.
I’ll chime in too because yes I’ve encountered the problem and am very specific about how I choose to memorize varying materials on a topic especially when there are differences in account, opinion, perspective or (and most commonly for me) versioning.
I do a lot of driving, so more complicated solutions I’ve had ended up boiling down to the simple system I use now because I can’t “write” or “type” or “scribble” when I’m driving for hours at a time. But I still want to take notes on numerous subjects and ideas etc etc.
Well, for “a beginner” you must be doing alright because you just described more or less what I do!
I pick a “temporary” palace and memorize the information with it.
To keep it extra flexible (because I continue to run into this issue again and again and just needed a something that wouldn’t fall apart on me), I minimize the struggle of “picking a palace” by just picking whatever strikes me as convenient. Many “temporary” palaces were chosen purely because I was standing in a particular area and need to memorize something and the area was “good enough for me” to be a temporary palace.
There is one last piece that I haven’t mentioned.
It holds the system together.
It’s simple, and obviously thats my preference.
I scribble down (or somehow note) a brief description of where I placed the info (eg, “Hall to bathroom”, “Dojang Parking lot”, “Football Mural”, “Grade School playground”, etc) and a brief description of what info I put there.
It also sometimes helps to count how many “things” I memorized because if I remember that I can double check to see if I’ve forgotten anything.
Then I just keep the notes (of my “temporary” palaces) nearby and periodically quiz myself (if i memorized “how many”, I use that to grade myself).
If I’ve forgotten some things as is inevitable, I already have a place for them alongside related knowledge in the “temporary” palace and review the materials to freshen up.
Some palaces are my own careful and elaborate concoctions, typically when I’ve gotten to a point with the info where I want to formulate my own thoughts and “play” more with the material. That’s not usually my first step though. Certainly not if I’m new to the material or I need to remember a lot of minute details.
I recommend reserving your mental energy for studying (and good visualizations) via using “good enough” temporary palaces and creating regular, semi-convenient opportunities to “review” the palaces and respective materials.
