Connecting locations, anyone with ideas?

[erikfromholland (Erik de Jong)]

According to some famous ultra runner who’s name I have forgotten, the best feeling connected to ultra running (running more than a marathon, much much more) is the feeling you get when you stop.

gym class:

I remember a typical gym class from my high school days in which we had to run laps around the basketbal court. The gym teacher felt a need to pretend that his presense was worth his salary, so he blew his whistle every so many seconds and it was our job (not getting paid a single dime for it) to touch the floor with one hand every time he did so. I imagined how wonderful it must be to run in straight line rather than in circles and not having to touch the floor at all.

reverse memory palace:

I have to admit, that my feelings regarding the reverse memory palace that I have been working on for some weeks (see: Abstract memory journey of sequence of animals) are becoming very simular to my feelings regarding this typical (sadistically stupid) gym class; I’m imagining how wonderful it must be to not have to use this animal sequence (in the latest version: persons and animals with their unique set of actions) in combination with the numbered memory palace. In a nutshell: it’s just to complicated and I am afraid it will not become fast any time soon.

minimalistic numbered memory palace:

Would it be possible to memorise numbers (fast) with nothing more than a set of 100 locations each numbered with a 2 digit number? I’m asking, in part, because after the (let’s call it) failed attempt at the reverse memory palace method I’m left with exactly that: a memory palace with numbered locations. Ironically the part of this memory palace that is most vivid in my mind is the highschool gym or more precise:
78 = gate outside the school
79 = basketball court outside
80 = stone stairs leading to the gym
81 = the big and long windowsill (most of gym class time we sat there freezing our asses off)
82 = basketball board hanging on the gym wall

Now imagine the following number sequence: 78, 80, 82

Given that this topic has a strong basketball vipe, I will throw a basketbal (used as a marker of the starting location) against the gate, I take a piece of the gate and place it on the stairs, I grap a piece of stone from the stairs and use it to break the basketball board in half.

The technique I’m using (in case it wasn’t allready obvious) is taking something from location X and placing it at the next (as determinded by the number sequence) location.

I would like to know if any of you have done (or know about) something simular or different regarding simply connecting locations? Also, as a somewhat related question: can you relate to this feeling of relief resulting from stopping with a (initially promising) but ultimately very complex/boring/ time consuming memory system/project?

[erikfromholland (Erik de Jong)]

@user_7e

There was a time where I was almost afraid of using memory techniques. It was around the time I undertook a massive project and spent 13 hrs over 2 days memorising my physics textbook. Recalling it at the time felt as though it took more time than I thought it took to memorise it (still 5 hours less). Since recalling is easier but tedious, I still did it regardless of how long it took. I had dreams of looping my locations again and again… and again. Every-time I thought about using memory techniques I had pretty much cold sweat.

I have a suspicion, that when someone uses a memory palace to memorise a lot of information like your physics textbook there may be a problem, that is feeding on itself. Let me try to clarify, by using some of my own study experiences:

first year in highschool:

For some reason, when I started highschool I was super morivated to learn just about anything. I would memorise multiple pages of English/German translations without any effort to the point that I could literally look at blank pages and see the entire memorised text (knowing precisely where every word was on the page). The same applied to history class: I would not just remember the most important facts of a text, I would litterally memorise the entire text and as a result get a straight A every exam. Not suprisingly I had the highest grades of the entire school (there were like 120 students in the first year).

myopic vision:

The following year i started developping myopic vision and it took me a long time to realise this. It was only after trying on a pair of glasses that a fellow student left on his desk, that I realised how bad my vision was; for an entire year I had spent a lot of my mental energy trying to decipher what on earth was written on the blackboard (or overhead projector). Needless to say it didn’t help my grades in a positive way.

concussion:

On top of that, propably as a result of my myopic vision i got in a bycicle accident hitting my head on the pavement, with a major concussion with short term memory loss as a result. I didn’t go to school for 2 weeks and a couple of days after I had a mathematics exam for which I got the worst grade of the entire class.

forgetting:

Simular to I guess most other students I started to realise that at some point you will forget (most) of what you have learned, most notably in foreign languages, so I started to develop a “what is the bloody point of all this” mindset.

Studying economics:

After highschool I studied economics. Some of the economic related topics like political history (and economic policies) were so mindblowingly boring that I took my refuge in memory techniques. There is a big difference between memorising a sequence of numbers as part of a memory hobby and using those same techniques for memorising something you simply do not want to memorise, for any other reason than that you are in big trouble if you don’t. It becomes clear, that the use of these memory techniques is possibly a sign of an underlying problem (like having no natural curiosity for the subject); put in another way the use of memory techniques reinforces how stupid/boring/… the stuff tou are trying to squeeze in your brain really is.

[erikfromholland (Erik de Jong)]

@user_7e

Or that you shouldn’t really carry 15 kg back and forwards for 10 hours a day on your back everyday for your entire life when you can get it delivered for free or even build transport.

I’m guessing this an analogy of some sort that connects to learning, but I don’t really grasp the full meaning. My best guesses:

• learn, but do it efficient;
• choose what you want to learn carefully, so don’t waste your time trying to get all the available information your head (and therefore study everyday of your life).

Are my guesses somewhat on the mark, or am I missing the point completely?

[erikfromholland (Erik de Jong)]

@user_7e

(2)Ah I was just saying that you may find something so straining that instead of forcing yourself to continue with it, you devise an alternative, perhaps better method.

The above statement, I understand

(1)Also that you may have been doing this so often that you know simply enjoying the activity may not be the best choice.

This part I don 't understand.

I don’t know what the “this” is referring to, is it:

• straining
• enjoying

Are you of the opinion that efficient learning is not compatible with ejoying, or is enjoying while learning often not efficient?

[erikfromholland (Erik de Jong)]

@user_7e

I will break it so far down that it is no longer neuroscience but the branches that make up neuroscience. Those branches are not as enjoyable as the subject. It’s kind of like learning to play a game vs playing it. Learning it isn’t particularly more enjoyable than playing it

You just hit the hammer on the nail regarding my failed basketbal carreer. I played basketbal every day in highschool (also competitive for 2 years) and not once have I thought about learning even the simplest tactics or offensive move sequences; I just played intuitively and enjoyed the flow state. If I had spent just 10 procent of that time learning a hookshot move sequence (like Kareem Abdul Jabbar) I would have been so much better. But also:

• I can’t run to save my life;
• I could dunk a basketbal, but only on a good day (never in real competition).

So not much is lost.

Playing it after learning it, may however be more enjoyable.

In a somewhat ironic way, the reason I focus so much on developping a new memory system is because I don’t really enjoy memorising in the standard memory palace kind of way. Put in another way: the magic of being able to memorise 100 digits in 2 minutes or so goes away rather quick. So in this regard I’m mostly focussed on technique and tactics and not on playing like in my “basketbal career”.