Examples of Non-PAO Systems

[Josh (Josh Cohen)]

This is a response to the comment here:

Card deck memorisation - post your times here!

Yep, the less human the better. I was just reading a post where Nelson says 10 of his characters are from ninja turtles. I wouldn’t be able to pull it off since they’re shaped similarly. What do you use if not PAO? Cards are images yes, but just nouns, or also verbs or adjectives perhaps? How many do you slap in a single loci and do they interactor just hang out side by side?

I didn’t want to hijack that thread, so I thought that I would start a new one.

@DoubleHelix

@Josh Cohen

I use a lot of objects and animals mixed in with people. (Not PAO)

Yep, the less human the better. I was just reading a post where Nelson says 10 of his characters are from ninja turtles. I wouldn’t be able to pull it off since they’re shaped similarly. What do you use if not PAO? Cards are images yes, but just nouns, or also verbs or adjectives perhaps? How many do you slap in a single loci and do they interactor just hang out side by side?

At the moment, I use one image per two digit number or card, and two images per locus. Here are some examples:

11 = At-At from The Empire Strikes Back
05 = Salvador Dali – basically his moustache
22 = an onion
65 = pot of boiling water
99 = pufferfish
89 = was Buckminster Fuller, but I realized that I can picture a geodesic dome better than him

Locus 1: 1105 – an at-at walking along Salvador Dali’s mustache
Locus 2: 2265 – an onion rolling off the rim into the pot of boiling water
Locus 3: 9989 – a pufferfish stuck to the left side of a geodesic dome

My card images are the same, but I don’t practice cards because of my hands. They start going numb if I shuffle them even a few times. They got a bit worse lately, and I don’t think I will be able to compete by March.

I think that Wang Feng uses a similar method. The Ben System uses three images per location, with three digits (or two cards) per image. PAO is just one method…

If I had to use the Ninja Turtles, I would focus on their weapons: sai, katana, nunchaku, bo. Maybe the bo would be striking with a downward swing and the katana would be held away from the opponent (not sure how to describe it).

[LociInTheSky]

Thanks for the lowdown. How are your speed numbers? I downloaded icue today and seem to average about 80. Which usually includes error. (Damn, looks like I may not be ready by March either :))

[LociInTheSky]

Josh, I saw some threads from 2011 where you were really gung ho about costructing your Ben System images. Is there a reason that you have chosen not to use it?

[Josh (Josh Cohen)]

I haven’t been training, so I don’t know how many I can do in five minutes. I will practice this week if I don’t come down with the flu. (Not feeling well tonight.)

I had most of the Ben System images finished but not learned yet. My life has been very chaotic for a long time, so I was never able to finish many of the other memory projects I was working on. The first part of the story is here: The Past Year’s Journey and My Memory Training. I will write a follow-up soon.

I still want to finish my Ben System images for 000-999 and 0000000000-1111111111, but I don’t think that I will make a 2-card system. I already started redoing all of my images from scratch based on categories.

I guess there is a chance that I will someday finish a 2-digit card system if my hands get better, but I can’t practice cards at all at the moment.

In the meantime, my two-digit system is fine. I think that Wang Feng uses a similar system (2-digits per image, 2 images per location) and it seems to work well for him.

I’m not really a competitive person, so I don’t have any plans to win memory competitions. My main interests are in using memory techniques to learn new things, and promote memory techniques with this website.

[Ryan]

Many people talked about wang feng already but I think he has his own unique way to combine the pictures. maybe the 2 images he creates become one and he puts that image on a locus. Boris and one other person on this blog was able to memorize a deck of cards in 20 something seconds by putting 1 image on a locus(52image/52loci) so theoretically they can memorize a deck of cards in 12~15 seconds if they perfect 2704 system(2704image/26loci). I think Wang Feng does the same but just combines 2 images to create 1 or associate them in a very unique way. Maybe I’m completely off but that’s just what I think. I wish Wang Feng competed in 2012 so people can ask him more questions but unfortunately he didn’t…

[Ryan]

Josh how close are you to finishing your Ben system?
I’m working on 2704 system(not Ben’s) myself but it’s gonna take a while for me.
Hopefully I can finish by this month

[Josh (Josh Cohen)]

@Ryan

Many people talked about wang feng already but I think he has his own unique way to combine the pictures. maybe the 2 images he creates become one and he puts that image on a locus.

Do you know any of the details about it? All I’ve heard is that he uses a two digit system system and places two images per locus.

@Ryan

Josh how close are you to finishing your Ben system?

That project is on hold. I’m just going to stay with my 2-digit system for now. I’m redoing it from scratch based on categories, so I’ll keep gathering pictures from around the web until I have all 1,384 images. (000-999 and 0000000000-1111111111)

I don’t think I will do a 2-card system, because of my hand injury.