I have been doing quite some extensive research on memory palaces but I still do not fully understand it. I understand everything up to finding stations, but how do we connect the desired information with the station? Do you simply imagine the image (of the information) on the station?
5 Likes
I think people do it in various ways, from just imagining images passing through the journey to creating interactions with the locations that make the links stronger. It might require a bit of personal experimentation.
There are some examples in the free ebook, memory palace intro, and the getting started guide.
A quick example: you can create a memory palace on your body by choosing 10 (or more) locations on your body. Then memorize things with it that are real physical objects (so they are easier to visualize at the beginning). A shopping list is a good first exercise to start with.
This example uses 5 locations and 5 facts. The last column shows one way to link the facts and locations together.
| # | Location | Fact | Mnemonic Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | top of head | carrots | balancing carrots on head |
| 2 | forehead | bread | smashing a loaf of bread into forehead |
| 3 | eyes | rice | crying, but it’s rice |
| 4 | nose | yogurt | ate yogurt, but you laughed and it came out your nose |
| 5 | mouth | potatoes | eating a whole, raw potato, but it’s too large |
If you’re trying to memorize something specific, post a sample here and people could brainstorm ways to approach it.
4 Likes
That’s it. You just imagine the images and stories on the corresponding locations. For example, if the images you need to remember are a cellphone, a mouse and a dress, and the locations you find are a table, a chair and a shelf, you visualize a cellphone on the table (you can imagine it ringing, that way it might better stick into your mind), then you visualize a mouse on the chair (once again you can play a bit with it, maybe the mouse is digging into the chair, it reinforces the link between the objects and the location), and then a dress on the shelf (or someone wearing it). That way you’ll be able to recall the objects in order. Also, you can imagine more objects per location, 2 or 3, and you’d have to remember the order among those objects (that’s why it’s useful to create little stories within one location : it reinforces the order and the links between objects, hence a better memorization).
4 Likes
Ohhh I see; I have to link the
1 Like
Whoops ignore my last comment, I’m still trying to get the hang of this website lol. But thank you for your post, I completely missed the fact that I had to link the image and location!
Also, for memorizing multiple things per location, could you go a bit deeper (or recommend another post) about how to do that without becoming confused with previous images?
3 Likes
First, you have to create a story with the 2 objects (let’s begin with 2, but keep in mind that for 3 objects it’s the same idea.) For example, the 2 objects you have to remember are Albert Einstein (I’m saying “objects”, but in fact it’s “images”, as it works nicely with people too) and a cup of coffee. Then you just imagine Einstein drinking a cup of coffee, or a cup of coffe being poured on his head, etc. Up to you. And you have to remember the order of it. Here, I would first picture Einstein walking or being thirsty, then grabbing the cup. If I had to remember it the other way around (cup of coffee, then Einstein), I’d imagine the cup thinking about who to annoy, and chosing Einstein, then pouring coffee on him (on his bcak, that way it’s clear that the cup of coffee is first and Einstein second.) Once your story is done, you simply attach it to the corresponding loci, the story has to happen in there. While you search for a good story, you can imagine the background of the loci at the same time, which you can also use in the stories btw.
Sometimes, especially when there are 3 objects and no animal/person in there, I only picture it as a little static scene, with the first image being on the left of the location, and the last image on the right, that way I can read it the same way I read a word. (Btw, that’s why I almost always go clock-wise around a room to create my locis, in order to read everything (the locis and the stories within them) the same way I’m reading words in a book since I’m 6. It’s more natural.) One of the last stories I pictured recently is a great example : 261 879 853, which for me is a birdhouse, a satellite dish, and an igloo. So on a hedge next to a window (the loci), I’m picturing the birdhouse, and in front of it on the right, a satellite dish, and even more to the right, touching it, an igloo. And boom, done.
1 Like
Thanks for the reply! Also, I never thought of using body parts as loci, but I’ll put that into use now 
Ohh I see! Thanks for your answer, it really helped clarify things
Also one last thing; I’m assuming that there really isn’t a limit on how many images can be placed on a loci right? (for example, for the purposes of studying/memorizing info)
Indeed, you can place as many images as you want on one loci. But almost nobody uses more than 3 afaik, only one, two or three. I personaly use 3, I feel like it’s a great balance between the number of loci and the information density. It’s up to you, how clearly you can see images, create links etc, and also how many locis you can product related to the amount of information you wanna memorize.
1 Like
That makes sense. Thank you so much once again! : )
1 Like