So what exactly is “Taijitsu memory?”
Its a way of ninja!
A way of life, of thinking of dreaming.
It doesn’t matter if your system doesn’t work if you have bad memory if you don’t have time. you just dont give up trying!
My memory technique:
I can’t memorise without subvocalization. So my technique use subvocalization to make memorization better.
As a amateur magician, let me interject.
Harry Lorayne is a true legend in both Card Magic and Memory Techniques.
He certainly has a lot of experience in both (he is a very accomplished magician, and he used to tour very successfully doing ‘memory shows’) and is more than qualified to talk about the stuff.
That being said, I would not say he is ‘still top at the profession’. Everything moves along, and he cannot keep with the times. Although he is one of the pioneers that started it all, he is much too old to learn new stuff and still be at the top. He uses what works for him, and that’s it. That 's why he is not interested in memory competitions.
He has become very defensive of himself these days (As is often seen in the magic cafe). I doubt you could have a productive conversation about linking/loci with him.
Although his advice about the loci is outdated, there is much to learn from his books.
Even though it is a bit outdated, there is a reason his book is a true classic.
All in all I respect the man, but you don’t have to take his advice at face value.
Yeah, makes sense. I have been reading more modern books that are available as PDFs, like “Moonwalking With Einstein,” “How to Develop a Perfect Memory,” and some of Tony Buzan’s books. I like a lot of the techniques in these books and plan on learning a card system (either PA or PAO) with a journey method. I’m still using linking for some things, like short lists on topics, or blindfolded speedcubing (on 4x4x4). But after reading more, I think a journey/room method is more powerful for things like numbers or cards, and taking Liam’s advice, I don’t think I will encounter a problem with the number of loci I have until I need to store a lot more info. Thanks for the input.
I have never found a basic link system much use to be honest. There is far too much leeway for confusion. As has been mentioned losing one of the links can lose the rest of that chain.
A numeric sequence is a huge help. You can go the belt and braces route of linking to a numbered peg and then linking to the next item, using both the numeric peg and the basic link system to strengthen each other.
There is a big emphasis in these forums on techniques for memory “sports”, which is fine, but these techniques are not always the best for non mental-athletes.
I’m a quizzer and we tend to learn lots of lists, top tens for instance; mountains, rivers, lakes, etc. Or longer lists, say the table of elements or a list of presidents, monarchs, battles etc. Speed is not a big issue, though ease of use is.
Numeric pegs lend themselves very well to this, but how many would you need if you used a unique peg for each piece of information? Thousands. I have been down that route and it is hard.
Reading about the “modifier” or “wardrobe” method, eventually, led me to one of those “light-bulb” moments.
The idea is to use the the same basic set of numeric pegs with some kind of modifying element to the image for each separate list. This is quite simple, just create an image or symbol for each list, a crown for monarchs, for instance, and add that to each peg image.
I did this and it was going well, but after a while I realised that, for most lists, such a modifier was just not needed.
I know the difference between a president and a monarch or an element already, no need to add an extra step to differentiate.
I have dozens of, soon to be over a hundred, lists of items/people/events all using the same basic set of numeric pegs and they do not get mixed up. Sure I will often see several images from other lists, when recalling one specific list, but I know which is which and what belongs to the list I am referring to. In fact, like the belt and braces method I mentioned earlier, this automatically links to other images using the same numeric peg. More than once I have been led to a “lost” item by association with another, otherwise unrelated, item using the same numeric from another list.
I even use the same basic set of the first six numeric pegs to remember the wives of Henry the 8th with no confusion with the first six monarchs of England. A lot depends on your pre-existing knowledge of course, but this method should be useful to all list makers, to some extent.
It makes use of pre-existing “modifiers” in our memories.
I do use an entirely separate set of pegs for dates or numbers themselves, to avoid any confusion…
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There is a big emphasis in these forums on techniques for memory “sports”, which is fine, but these techniques are not always the best for non mental-athletes.
I’m a quizzer and we tend to learn lots of lists, top tens for instance; mountains, rivers, lakes, etc. Or longer lists, say the table of elements or a list of presidents, monarchs, battles etc. Speed is not a big issue, though ease of use is.
Numeric pegs lend themselves very well to this, but how many would you need if you used a unique peg for each piece of information? Thousands. I have been down that route and it is hard.
Reading about the “modifier” or “wardrobe” method, eventually, led me to one of those “light-bulb” moments.
The idea is to use the the same basic set of numeric pegs with some kind of modifying element to the image for each separate list. This is quite simple, just create an image or symbol for each list, a crown for monarchs, for instance, and add that to each peg image.
I did this and it was going well, but after a while I realised that, for most lists, such a modifier was just not needed.
I know the difference between a president and a monarch or an element already, no need to add an extra step to differentiate.
I have dozens of, soon to be over a hundred, lists of items/people/events all using the same basic set of numeric pegs and they do not get mixed up. Sure I will often see several images from other lists, when recalling one specific list, but I know which is which and what belongs to the list I am referring to. In fact this method will often create some automatic links to other images using the same numeric peg. More than once I have been led to a “lost” item by association with another, otherwise unrelated, item using the same numeric from another list.
I even use the same basic set of the first six numeric pegs to remember the wives of Henry the 8th with no confusion with the first six monarchs of England. A lot depends on your pre-existing knowledge of course, but this method should be useful to all list makers, to some extent.
It makes use of pre-existing “modifiers” in our memories.
Sometimes modifiers are needed, to differentiate between the lists of works of the Bronte sisters for instance, or lists of winners of different reality shows or list of winners of sporting events that are different, but similar, like various big horse races, but I find that, for very many lists, a modifier is superfluous.
I do use an entirely separate set of pegs for dates or numbers themselves, to avoid any confusion…
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If anyone is interested in learning Spanish, I have just published a free Android app on google play. It is called THE LAZY MANS WAY TO LEARN SPANISH and it will teach you over 100 spanish words using the Keyword or Link method. Hope it is a useful addition to your learning arsenal.
When I memorize, I create images and try to link from 1 to the next, but these images are placed in an imaginative realistic location. For example, rider-apple, I would link the rider going to the forest and pick apples. The location is the forest. Is that linking and method of loci mixed and used together?
Any comment would be appreciated.
Hey Delay,
There are no real concrete definitions, but I would say that that’s a link story; progresses through different environments as a result of objects being linked together.
Bateman