I was recently told that just about everyone used the major system to find their person/action/object for each number in their 0-99 PAO. Otherwise, they would forget what number was associated with what person/action/object.
I’m about 90% of the way through memorizing my 0-99 PAO, and I’m wondering if I screwed up, because mine isn’t based on the major system. I haven’t used it for anything practical yet, but as I’ve been going through and reviewing groups of 10 numbers, I always at least remember the 0 and 5-based PAO numbers (20, 25, 30), and can count back in my memory palace if I’ve forgotten what’s in between. I assumed the rest would come with use.
But is this a dead-end approach? Does everyone use the major system for selecting?
I started out using the Dominic Method, which I liked but didn’t get on with so decided to switch to a perfect major PAO system. I think it was the right decision. It still has strong associations even though the action isn’t linked directly to the person - and the consonant sounds really helped me encode/decode. And every now and then I find myself looking up a number.
Modified major. 00-99 and I recently added 000-999.
Plus a shaper for 1-31 (to encode the day in dates). And I sort if hate it, but it’s new so maybe I’ll get used to it. Major feels easier (but I’ve used it for years now).
That’s being said, you can begin using major even without doing a whole 99 list. Just learn the phonetic associations for the digits and you’re good to go. It’s going to be slow to come up with words on the spot, but that way you’ll see if you like how it feels before spending lots of time creating and learning a new list.
Edit: Thought I should explain this better, so from analysis, I do find that the method is like a category system, with the images depending on both digits. Like for most numbers ending with 4, they’re mostly boys and reasonably close to me, (I was 4 in my system before revising it, the vibe for 4 is nerdy, quiet boy in case you were wondering, now it’s Oliver Twist, I seemed not to be visualizing myself well enough). So 04 is a cousin, 14 was my brother (before revising, now it’s Charlie from Charlie and the chocolate factory), 24 is Harry Potter, but 34 is a girl for some reason, so both digits have a part to play. Like most 6_ are female, only 64 (Percy Jackson) and 67(Young Sheldon) are male among them. But in the end there isn’t much of a rigid rule set.
So that’s it, for a lot of concepts and objects, I have a feeling association, though they aren’t always at the fore front of my mind. Acids are male, Bases are male too, Metals are male, non-metals are female (still doesn’t stop Carbon from being male though ). Now, I think I will attempt taking this to the next level and see where this goes.
PS: I guess I should add that I can ‘edit’ the feelings if need be.
I’m the same as deeptravel. My system is based on characters that I can easily visualize. I put them in a memory palace and after using it a lot, I’m very quick with it. I did not need the major system to know what numbers they translate to.
It’s not that major stops you from forgetting (you still have to review your list), but that, in case you forgot the association, you can always decode, and, for encoding, you can come up with a new association on the fly (though you lose speed).
Also it means that you can have several different associations for each number which is both a blessing and a curse.
But there are plenty of people with other systems like free associations or shaper which seem to work well.
I use a combination of the major system and random things.
You’re fine, the major system is useful because it isn’t as easy to come up with random 300 images, but the point is for them to be memorable, if your current list is memorable to you then you’ll be ok as long as you keep using it.
For example, my number 18 is Android 18 from DBZ, there isn’t anything about the major system in that image, it’s just very memorable to me so it works.
, for a lot of concepts and objects, I have a feeling association, though they aren’t always at the fore front of my mind. Acids are male, Bases are male too, Metals are male, non-metals are female (still doesn’t stop Carbon from being male though 
). Now, I think I will attempt taking this to the next level and see where this goes.