I need many memory palaces to memorize my whole 2 years of inorganic chemistry but I don’t have many places, I want something so I don’t get empty , I know you are a great memory man if you have any tips please share it to me,
Thank you
Create all kinds of places—they aren’t just physical. Remember that anything with a certain order can serve as a place. For example, Bruno used the alphabet in all kinds of combinations; number systems are also forms of order; animated series you know or have watched where the characters are organized can also be used; as well as categories of objects like the kitchen, bathroom, palace, etc., In other words, you have plenty of material to work with.
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Thankyou for answering me, So.. you mean I can use anything which has order like for example a knife 
and make loci using it’s tip, handle, edges etc.. , for memory palaces?
Yes, anything you organize for yourself can work… since there are so many things you can use as backgrounds or settings, I highly doubt you don’t already have thousands of things to use… you just need to organize them; you can categorize everything—movies, objects, video games, etc.
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There are quite a few threads on here with some suggestions for places. I’ll see if I can find some bookmarks.
But also don’t forget that they don’t even have to be real. Do you watch TV? Use sets from TV shows that you have watched. For example, if you watched a lot of Friends, you can use the coffee shop, Monica’s apartment, Joey’s apartment, etc.
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Thank you, for replying to this amateur
Other suggestion is to use the linking method to increase the images per loci ratio. You can connect images with themselves, making them interact in the same loci. You just need the first image to be an anchor to the link in some loci of the memory palace and then you can extend it. But beware:
- these links require more review (at least initially)
- don’t make links that are too big, because you can both risk losing one of the images and then forgetting all the other links (as a solution to this problem, you can try to remember any link after the forgotten one and go backwards, but preferrably the first one) and you can require information that is closest to the end of the link, and if you have a big link it will be tiresome and slow to go through all of the links. As a solution, you should always make links to things that make sense to always be recalled together. For example, Acids and all their different definitions.
- They generally require more effort/time to make the connections betwenn the images than if you did these images individually, each one in a individual loci.
They are a more advanced technique. Train using one, two, at most three images per loci at first (always making them interact). When you did a big amount of images this way, and are able to have an excelent retrieval of them, then you can try to start using bigger links.
I recommend that you do 2 things:
- When you start using links, always review every link after some number of images are added to the link, while you are doing it: for example, after every 5 images to a link, do a review of this 5 links. But like I said in beware 2., don’t make big links.
- Train with subjects that don’t give you too much stress/anxiety first. That is, avoid using this technique the first time while you are close to do a very important exam or something. Memorize some poetry, or other less urgent demands, and after you see that you are retrieving with excelency, go for the more stressful things.
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Thanks, I tried this and it worked but it causes more cognitive load than placing a single image per loci, but still workable
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Hello Vini and everyone in this chat!
I would like to ask for your advice on how to memorise scientific terminology. I noticed Vini briefly mentioned the definition of acids as an example, but I would love to go deeper.
I am a secondary school student specialising in environmental biotechnology. As you can imagine, there is a massive amount of information to learn, even before reaching university. I honestly worry that once I get to university, the only way to survive will be to either master every memory technique in existence or just give up entirely!
Beyond my general concern, I have a few specific questions regarding memory techniques in a school context:
1. **Specific Techniques for Science:**
Are there dedicated techniques for memorising formulas, definitions, and complex structures (for example, the components of photovoltaic solar panels)? I am struggling to understand how to apply mnemonics to these specific technical areas.
2. **The Memory Palace:**
How should I organise a Memory Palace for different school subjects? How do you construct them effectively, and what is the best way to integrate them into a daily study routine?
3. **Practical Examples:**
Could you provide a complete example of how to apply these techniques to a very complex, multi-faceted topic? I am finding it quite difficult to create mnemonic images, organise them, and recall them later. I sometimes feel like my brain isn’t wired for this because even when I make a connection with a word, I often forget it (perhaps because the association isn’t strong enough).
4. **Essential vs. Obsolete Techniques:**
Which techniques are actually essential for modern study? I have read about the methods of Giordano Bruno, Ramon Llull, Cicero, and Aristotle, as well as systems like the PAO (Person-Action-Object) and phonetic conversion. It is quite overwhelming, and I don’t know which ones to prioritise and which to discard.
5. **Historical Methods:**
I am particularly curious about older methods that aren’t discussed as much today, such as Ramon Llull’s memory wheels or the Aristotelian alphabet. How do these work in practice?
I have spent a long time trying to use AI to learn these methods, but it tends to lose track of the conversation after a few messages, making it difficult to learn anything substantial. I have worked very hard to learn on my own, but I haven’t had anyone to guide me until I found this forum.
I am so happy to be able to talk to experts like you. If you could recommend any books or provide some guidance on creating mnemonic images for complex science topics, I would be incredibly grateful. I am looking for a mentor or tutor who can help me create my own systems (unfortunately, I cannot afford the high prices charged by many online “gurus” who charge thousands for very little substance).
Thank you all for your help!
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I wanted to tell you something: I used Google Translate to write that message to you. I don’t actually speak English, and that is exactly why I want to learn memory techniques.
I have a specific request for you regarding how to use memory techniques for language learning:
1. Which specific memory techniques should be used?
2. How should the material be reviewed?
3. Could you share everything you know about using these methods to memorise and learn a new language?
This is very important to me. I want to learn English completely from scratch because I currently know nothing at all. At school, no one teaches me; the teachers have essentially abandoned me in my difficult circumstances because I am a foreigner in Italy.
I am asking if you can help me learn English. By using memory techniques to learn the language, I can practice the methods themselves. Mastering English will also give me access to information from all over the world, since almost everything is in English. This, in turn, allows me to further strengthen my memory skills.
Everything I do is to enhance my brain and my mind, so that I can gain the absolute knowledge I need to survive in this cruel world. I truly hope you can help me and understand my situation.
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Yes, it requires more effort and makes us more tired. Bear in mind that if you have a lot of memory palaces available, maybe you don’t need to do this many images per loci.
One advantage of doing this links is that it will make it a lot easier to go back and only do less images per loci afterwards. It will feel like going up a slope after climbing a mountain.
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Finally found the thread I was looking for.
I get it—use everything… any place where you can put images… use whatever technique works best for you… there are many ways to memorize information, and I usually combine them and expand on them when I need to, that’s why I started with a system of over 100 images at first, then I created a PAO with 300 images, then I expanded that PAO to 500 images, then the larger system to 1,000 images, then I moved on to a PO system with 1,000 images, then I created an alphabetical system with 200 images, then 676 images, then 2,000, etc… Don’t expect to make quick changes. To memorize words, Bruno has about 30 methods, which are easy to apply, and 5 of them are the most effective—for example, substitute words. I’ve been making all 30 of them easier to understand.
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I am by no means an expert. I am maybe just a little bit better explaining things and like to help people, but as you can see in my posts, I too struggle with some things.
But to answer your questions:
- I don’t think that there is a very big difference between subjects (at least knowledge, “book-based” ones) to how you apply the information. If you can find some image to turn the information on, that is all you need. Visual mnemonics is simply this: how to write in images what you have in text. You can use both images and their interaction to create meaning. Using chemistry for example: using acids again, you don’t need to make an image for every word in “acids are substances that when put into water (in Portuguese we would say “soluções aquosas”, but I don’t know the correspondent expression in english, so bare here with me in this simplied, non-precise definition) liberate an H+ ion.” You could simply do an image of a green skeleton (that was probably bathed into acid, here you have to be creative) jumping in water and then vomiting something that represents a Hidrogen to you (for me is Megamind, because of a word play I can make in my language). So you have to learn how to make images that represent words and their relationships.
- I think that it is nice to have different subjects in different memory palaces. That way, you can retrieve them easier by not having to think where you placed the images you need. And then, try to train remembering where different subjects are.
- Just gave an example in 1.
- Focus primarily on the memory palace. PAO is just some “vocabulary”, that is, some images that you have ready to use when you need to memorize numbers, generally. It is very useful and you should do at least a PAO of 100 characters. Phonetic ones I never tried. I would recommend reading some Dominic O’Brien books. But even the free material in this site (On Guide and Resources on the upper tab) will probably be enough for you to start. While you are studying and using the techniques, you may experiment and find new ways to use them. Always think about what is going right, which images are not sticking, and try to learn from it. Later on, when you are more experienced, try this Linking Method that I mentioned in my response to our friend up above.
- It has been a while now but I read the passages on Aristotle about memory that people often reffer and I didn’t find anything of value in the perspective of findind some insight on how to improve my mnemonics. I really can’t speak about Ramon. I have found some nice things to think about in Giordano Bruno though; the book I read from him was “O canto de Circe e A arte da memória”(the name is in portuguese, but google it and find the equivalent in your language). But first practice the basics. Otherwise, you will just be confused. Even if Giordano suggests something, it is build upon the basic principles of the memory palace. So get these principles nicely trained first.
Answering the question on your other comment:
- Talked about it up above already.
- In increased intervals: do a review after some amount of images right when you are adding them, like I said in the comment answering our friend above. When you finish a session, review everything you did. At night, if you can, review it all again. Then the next day. Then 2 days, then 4, 8 etc. You can use spaced repetition software like Anki as a scheduler of your reviews. The response would get even bigger if I entered in detail of this software here, but I think that you can find french resources about it that can guide you. (Je soupçonne que vous vienez de l’Afrique francophone, non? En raison de votrê nom.)
- You can use mnemonics to learn grammar rules. Like I said in 1. above, the principles are not that different. Just make images that represent the knowledge you want to memorize. Although you must always see if it is necessary to use mnemonics to learn it. In my post, where people sadly didn’t answered, I struggle on exactly when to use mnemonics sometimes, since you can, absolutely, memorize everything with it, but there are a lot of things that you can learn without them, since they can take more time, etc. I never used it for vocabulary and I don’t recommend that you use memory palaces for them. I would recommend that you go and search how to use Anki for vocabulary, which can also be used for grammar rules. It uses flashcards to help you learn. I would recommend that you use flashcards only for isolated fact, not things that require a greater connection between the information that you are memorizing. Grammar and vocabulary is exactly the type of information that it can be helpful. Sadly, here we face the same problem on deciding when to use what technique, but any of the two can be useful to learn a language: flashcards or memory palaces. A criteria that I used is: if I am failing while trying to memorize the information with flashcards multiple times, than I resorted to the memory palace. Generally it helps in such indecisions.
I really hope that you can overcome this difficulties you are facing in Italy. Teachers shouldn’t abandon students like that. I will try to help you with any further answers as best as I can.
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I really want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you so much for the advice; it is truly invaluable.
I honestly don’t know what to say. Thank you very much, you are all truly extraordinary.(By the way, you were right; I am Francophone.)
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