Exploring mnemonics. Part 1: The true definition of mnemonics

General Memory Chat
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There are many definitions of ‘mnemonics’, but not all of them can reflect the depth and systematic nature of the concept.

Let’s look at what definitions exist:

  1. Mnemonics - the art of remembering

  2. Mnemonics - a system of internal writing

  3. Mnemonics - a set of internal writing for certain types of information; special techniques for remembering…

Definition № 0 isn’t bad, but doesn’t say much about anything. № 1 and № 2 look rather dry and cannot fully explain the essence of mnemonics either. One has a feeling that there are only 2 methods to remember information: rote learning and some strange mnemonic methods. As if a person has a choice how to memorize? Today I will memorize a poem in mnemonics and tomorrow I will repeat it many times until I master it. Sounds silly, don’t you think?

There is a conflict between the old and the new. If on the other side of the scale there is the notion of rote learning, then until you have a correct understanding of mnemonics, you will not go anywhere and will go back with a negative or other state.

To prevent this from happening, let us formulate a definition: mnemonic technique is the driver of your brain with reality, which allows you to record information directly into the brain using images.

Now we can highlight the key words here:

Mnemotechnic is a driver for the brain.

A driver is a program that allows a computer operating system to identify and use a device. (Mnemonics).

Device - memory.

To cement these connections we need to understand one important detail. Understand that our memory is perfect. I am not a doctor, brain specialist, etc., but you do not need to be one for this understanding.

Proving this thesis is quite interesting and you can find new evidence each time:

  1. You can remember any film you watched after watching it for a few minutes, even if it was a very long time ago.

  2. You can remember a favourite song you haven’t heard in 5 years and play back a fragment of it, or maybe even remember the words and the full lyrics, the title.

  3. Memories from life. Childhood. Youth.

3.1 It is especially interesting to remember how you lived your day at school or at home when you are 7 years old. I can remember small events, locations, school days, and time at home. Even days that were monotonous would still be remembered without your involvement.

The clue is that the right stimulus = allows you to remember almost everything.

Imagine a person complaining about their poor memory. Then imagine your mate buying a powerful computer, but without drivers:

- Hi, DUDE, I have a bad computer, everything is bad!

One of the reasons for this situation could be the influence of media on our perception of ourselves. Why is it so popular that our memory and attention span are bad? And why should I develop anything if we have worked out that everything works as it should? Why is my brain a muscle and needs to be pumped like they do in gyms? Why am I using 6-10% of my brain? I don’t agree with all that.

Memory is perfect. Attention (watch a film or do an interesting thing) is perfect.

I can indirectly agree with the notion of ‘memory development’. It’s a trick to attract new people. It starts with mastering mnemonics and realising that you are not developing a memory but a skill, awareness comes, there is even some romance to it.

The brain is an ORGAN! X % is a tenacious myth, there is an official refutation (1999!). But a little clarification needs to be made here. By brain function, we can understand:

a) All parts of the brain work - can be measured.

b) The capacities that a person has realised - cannot be measured.

Percentages are redundant everywhere.

Conclusion: we do use all parts of the brain, but we have not yet realised all of its potentialities. If that were not the case, we would say bye to learning and skills, huh.

Back to mnemonics.

No matter how many facts about the effectiveness of mnemonics are presented, no matter how many memory demonstrations are published on YouTube, only a few will accept the information. Negative phrases about “brain training”, flash images in your head, improve the phrase in 1-5 days - rubbish.

You need to learn how to use your memory. Make your life better and more interesting with a driver. Don’t move down the standard path. Good luck!

Bonus: Mnemonics is a skill about how to create neural connections. Fast, reliable and easy.

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List of Facts
7 years a mnemonist. My thoughts
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Thanks for the post !

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Sounds overly rationalized to me.

Let’s look at what definitions exist:

I don’t go farther than Wikipedia and

None of your supposedly existing defintions fit that. And the wikipedia defintion is actually broad enough.

Today I will memorize a poem in mnemonics and tomorrow I will repeat it many times until I master it. Sounds silly, don’t you think?

No it does not sound silly. Rote memory is different, and usually associates the information with muscle movements, usually tongue. It’s not the same as associative memory that uses mental imagery. Rote memorizing a poem is not a wrong way to memorize it, but is inefficient because rote memory wasn’t made to handle that type of information.

mnemonic technique is the driver of your brain with reality, which allows you to record information directly into the brain using images.

This actually is even more vague and misleading than your previous suggestions. I say misleading, but I’m not sure even about that, because it’s impossible to understand what you mean.

A driver is a program that allows a computer operating system to identify and use a device.

That doesn’t directly translate to how neural networks work, and the brain isn’t a simple one. Information is remembered based on its perceived importance, and mnemonics are a way to tell your brain that certain things have bigger importance than they seem to. And even then you need to revise the information lest you forget half or all of it. And even then you will still forget some of it if your memory isn’t good enough. This isn’t like a computer program at all.

Memory is perfect. Attention (watch a film or do an interesting thing) is perfect.

Not really. Memory is actually quite faulty, especially long term one. Mnemonists fix it to a degree, but I am not sure if their memory is perfect all around as they say. I think they only can remember things they labored to memorize.

Not sure what you mean by saying that attention is perfect. In what way is it perfect? It’s quite common to pay full attention and yet omit a number of details, does that count as an imperfection or not?

only a few will accept the information

I believe it’s a display of common sense to ignore the YouTube garbage, and other internet garbage for that matter. What started me with mnemonics was a TV series and only because I liked the protagonist well enough to care about his opinion. I was aware of mnemonics prior to watching it.

Don’t move down the standard path.

The standard path is usually what most people end up doing, though. There isn’t that much to mnemonics as such. Image, sound, smell, taste and touch used in an exaggerated and unnatural way describe mnemonics in a single sentence. The rest of the theory isn’t even related to memorizing itself and just deals with questions of representing random information in a convenient way, i.e. translating numbers into sentences, because sentences are easier to imagine.

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@Xadawn,

Sometimes mnemonic enthusiast like me get frustrated about these techniques and try to standardize them without proper communication capabilities. The upper is the result of that. Same you will see in my thread as well.

Therefore I always refer to Ad-Herennium and discuss what I might not understand to chatgpt. CHATgpt does a pretty decent job on explaining given you know the materials somewhat so that you could flag or filter misinformation provided by it and rewrite prompt to your need. It would be safe to say atleast in my experience that gpt is the best to learn core mechanics of these techniques because it has no biases, does not get frustrated by repeated questions. has the most eloquent way of explaining, can relate directly to neuroscience or behavioural psychology directly and even provides with decent diagnosis of the present situation I am in from my conversation with it. The skill you need to develop is to make decent conversation with and if you are in prompt engineering than you are in goldilock region of learning.

I recently realized that I was not that efficient with the technique in image creation. I read the book where it says " Let art than imitate nature and follow as she directs" regarding images. The eloquence in word choices and direct instruction as such made me realize that I had never questioned the rule for images. There as as many rules as mnemonists but it is I who has to determine what quality of those images work for me.

Debating or correcting this detailed would not get us any where. I am pissed to the core how people spread misinformation from yt regarding memory techniques,I fell for it and had to figure them out on my own when their insturctions did not work which is both tricky and overly complex.This robbed me of significant amount of time and some of their wrongteaching which is giving me problems even today(like regarding to images that I discussed above) but I am glad atleast I mentored a dozen people who learnt it free of hardships I had to endure.

Almost all people duplicate ideas from Method Of Loci and add their own marketing strategies like adding magnetic to it or saying a cool trick or presenting it to be like a tape recorder which can be learnt in just a week of practice. I am atleast happy that Lynne Kelly among them is the one who has solid research under her belt, has field visits to actual tribes who utilize these techniqes. She provides with the balanced perspective, answers generously and lucky for us, is present in this forum.

You should be mad at me as well seeing my past comentaries and perspective and I shall not mind it.

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