I had an idea a while back. People look at clocks a probably around a hundred times a day or more. We could set up a journey, preferably circular, to act as a clock. There would be 24 stops(with 3 mini-stops inbetween each), and every time we would look at a clock we would move further along the circular journey. It would only take a second or two.
When practicing using normal journeys, memorizing cards and such, I notice that if I get distracted, I can usually really quickly return to where I left off on a journey because the rest of the journey feels cold or not visited.
The idea is, with enough practice, we would constantly be moving through the journey and through time. We could also remember appointments and such by placing them on that journey, wiping it once we get to that item.
It’s probably most efficient to have 3-4 stops inbetween each hour, and just move along them every time you notice a clock. If you need to be somewhere at 3pm, you set an image at 2:45 to remind you of it. I’ve used places in the past that I knew I would walk through later in the day to remind myself of things. If I knew I would be on a specific street around a specific time, I could set an image and when I walked through that spot be reminded of that image. This would work the same way, except the journey is in your mind. There are some circular buildings we could use.
Good idea! I wonder if after practicing one will get a better sense of time, like comprehend that now has 15 minutes passed and it’s time to move along. And finally do it without looking clock at all.
It also reminds me of Lembran’s post on remembering every day that passes, a mnemonic calendar if you will. He knows how long time takes to pass, he remembers what happened every day.
I have to admit that the instant I read this post I realized that I probably haven’t consciously noticed looking at a clock for several years. When I bother to consult the time, it’s almost always digital. There are a few street clocks around, but looking at these is done only in passing.
I think it’s an interesting idea, however. The idea of some kind of spinning feature in each room of a Memory Palace has possibilities, especially if it’s a limited set. For example, If every room can spin an entire circle with four stops, then you’ve significantly increased the value of that room and can practice building it up to 12 or 24. You could also have multiple imaginary clocks in a room - my preference would be grandfather clocks. Depending on the information, you could use the clockfaces to lock down certain kinds of information appropriate to that kind of space.
Here is an article I once read about using a clock system, but I don´t know if the author though about this kind of use of chequing it each time he watch a clock to get that kind of better sense of time. I use the sorroundings of my local park.
The article is in spanish. I can translate it if someone asks. But I don´t know if it contains some idea you didn´t already have.
I use the agenda for dates that appears in Dominics book and it´s wonderful, I have a much better sense of time in month and day scales since I have it. I think this clock system should work equally well between hours.
I actually forgot about this article, I’ve read it maybe half a year ago(along with every other article on that site)(google chrome translates it automatically). I never really understood it, and after re-reading it I still don’t. It’s using a map as a memory palace, and somehow a clock is related to it, basically dictating a pivot point and the direction of which cities you use.I’ve also read Dominics several books and recall the way he had a mind calendar with 2 journeys.
Metivier, I usually unconsciously look as well, pretty much force of habit at this point. It gets so bad that I decide I want to look at a clock to determine the time, switch into unconscious mode, look at it, then realize I hadn’t actually processed what it said, look again and still don’t know… To me there isn’t as much of a separation between digital and analog clocks, probably because I’ve been exposed to both my whole life.
I think the important idea of the article is using the clock as a guide for making a palace. The Spain map would be one way to do it, but it also talks about placing the clock anywhere you want at the map scale you want (country, region, city, or whatever). I think the important difference between what the article says and what you say here would be the use of the resulting palace ; the article talks about using it to remember appointments and also about using it as a memory palace for anything, making it bigger if you want by including minutes. You talk about developing a better sense of time, also remembering appointments in the process.
Offtopic: I made an adjustment to the dominic agenda for myself. I use only one circular journey, and use phantasmagoric images to imply that I have to pass twice until that happens.
Somewhere in Ian Rowland’s stuff (I think it was one of his lecture notes) he either invented or repeats a neat trick question to ask people that won’t work as often as used it:
Without looking at it, does your watch have Arabic or Roman numerals.
It was amazing how hard I personally struggled to come up with certainty in my answer. I was ultimately right, but it was a weird feeling at the time.
My guess was that it has only lines, but it has double lines on 12, 3, 6, and 9. I like this kind of display because it requires me to look more at the shapes rather than reading numbers.
I wonder if digital clocks are affecting language too. I don’t say things like “quarter 'til five” any more – it’s “four forty five”. There is less sense of “quarters” or other divisions when there isn’t a visual representation.
