Terrain theory

[erikfromholland (Erik de Jong)]

The motivation for this gallery is that perhaps a peg list of different “terrains” can be visualized much faster then an traditional peg list.

Possible use:

if you have a person and an object for each 2 digit number or single playing card (forget about the actions for now), you only need respectively 25 or 26 terrain pegs for a 100 digits or a deck of cards.

Advanced option:

By creating a course with parallel terrains, you can have the option of parallel processing of information. So for example a train track with next to it a river, followed by a hill with an escalator on the left and an staircase on the right.

[TheHumanTim]

@erikfromholland

perhaps a peg list of different “terrains” can be visualized much faster then an traditional peg list.

Sooooo… A peg list of different “terrains,” or any organized sequence of loci, is usually referred to as a memory palace.

[thinkaboutthebible (Doug)]

To be a peg system, you need a traversal rule. How do you get from train tracks to swim lanes and then to gravel? Right now it’s a gallery of locations/terrains but not a peg list.

Doug

[erikfromholland (Erik de Jong)]

@TheHumanTim

Sooooo… A peg list of different terrains, or any organized sequence of loci, is usually referred to as a memory palace.

Call it what you like, but in my humble opinion there is a significant difference between a traditional memory palace and a peg list/memory palace made up/designed of different terrains.

In the traditional memory palace you may have a stronger sense of where you are (relative to the whole memory palace), but that may not be all that important for memory. One “problem” with the traditional memory palace is that is the navigation isn’t always easy; corners and a zig zag route through locations may slow you down. Another issue that I encouter quite often in my own memory palaces, is that the terrain of the different loci are not all that different, I mean in my home just about every room has a wooden floor and the doors also look very similar.

I’m not sure if this method will be better, but I think it is worth trying out.

[erikfromholland (Erik de Jong)]

How do you get from train tracks to swim lanes and then to gravel?

The gallery is just to show examples of different terrains. A peg list would be less viewer friendly, as you have to scroll down more to see all images (and I have not completes one yet). The order in this gallery is random, so the peg list is not going to look like the gallery in that regard.

Obviousely you have design the peg list (I’m opting for the parallel loci version) in a way that makes it easy to learn and navigate through. So using logic like water slide and a parallel normal slide is followed by a swimming pool and gravel would make sense.

Once a peg list is created as described above, the transitions will feel natural and not difficult to learn. I think that this what makes it more promissing then an “simple” object peg list as it is (in my experience) a disaster learn in a way that allows you to go through all pegs with high speed.

[TheHumanTim]

@erikfromholland

the terrain of the different loci are not all that different, I mean in my home just about every room has a wooden floor and the doors also look very similar.

This may be an issue of focus and of what you are actually using your as loci?

Here are some consecutive loci in my house:
Parking space,
outdoor trash bin,
steps leading inside,
bathroom toilet,
bathroom sink,
dining table,
entry door,
couch.

While the “general terrain” of my house is similar… If I focus on each loci as its own little world and allow everything except the current loci itself to fade away, each of those loci present very different textural and visual feels.

The parking lot is hard pavement, dark colored and slightly dirty.

The trash bin is smooth plastic, bright green, smelly.

The steps inside my garage leading into my house are wooden, slightly rough with a wood stained visual texture.

The toilet is bright shiny porcelain.

The sink and counter is speckled stone, animated with rushing water from the tap.

The table is like a ledge, bright wood, smooth, spacious.

The front door is a vertical face, white painted, sectional.

The couch is lush, red fabric, squishy, soft.

So taken as individual bits of “terrain” they are very distinct. Plus, they have a distinct advantage of being logically connected in a natural path that I’m already intimately familiar with. As Doug pointed out, the “transversal rule” is the natural and easy flow through a singular meta-palace. In the palace version of my house, there aren’t sharp turns or really any other items or loci, I’ve culled the space down to just those “terrains” and it is effortless to navigate and differentiate.

[Rajadodve786 (Raja Dodve)]

@erikfromholland

Another issue that I encouter quite often in my own memory palaces, is that the terrain of the different loci are not all that different, I mean in my home just about every room has a wooden floor and the doors also look very similar.

I’m not sure if this method will be better, but I think it is worth trying out.

I guess, the position of the location matters most, the furniture may look the same but the position is different.

It’s like a 3 dimensional graphical structure. there is a chair on xy co-ordinates.
and same shape chair on yz co-ordinates. but it’s different.

When I put the objects on loci I see the location like I put that specific object in the kitchen, let’s say in almirah.

And another object in Bedroom, there is a same almirah in bedroom but I feel it’s different. I can consider it a wooden almirah and the kitchen one as aluminium almirah or any other theme I can apply on the furniture. At last even if I don’t apply theme. I clearly see the location is different.

[fred2 (fred)]

Would it not be easiest to ascribe the most logical terrain (loci) to each of your cast of characters in your 00 - 99 (PAO Model), hence converting your original PAO to a PAOL (Person/Action/Object/Location) Model?

Here is my list of my first 10 People in my PAO System (01 - 10) which conveniently fleshes out to a PAOL System or a PAOT System as Location and Terrain are terms that can be used interchangeably:

Note I put my 00 in last position as I prefer to count: 01-02-03 … 97-98-99-00

[erikfromholland (Erik de Jong)]

@fred2

Would it not be easiest to ascribe the most logical terrain (loci) to each of your cast of characters in your 00 - 99 (PAO Model), hence converting your original PAO to a PAOL (Person/Action/Object/Location) Model?

All true but I want a peglist/memory palace that allows for really fast (and parallel travel), so not all terrains derived from persons might qualify as such. Speaking of this, it appears to me that for example my skateboard half pipe is not going to work since it forces you to go down and up and thus slows you down to much.

[fred2 (fred)]

I think another possible alternative if you are only interested in getting really quick with ‘single deck memorization’ would be to have a one-to-one correspondence between two people at each of 52 loci. This assumes that you have a 52 Person Peg list of People separate from your card peglist like I’ve already shown i.e:

to which you link your randomly shuffled deck of 52 cards too. For illustrative purposes, let’s use these under mentioned 10 cards:

So in my schemata the card values are represented by the following People (Dominic System):

1st Position = Jack of Spades = Jack-the-Ripper
2nd Position = King of Clubs = Michael Jackson
3rd Position = 5 of Clubs = Eric Clapton
4th Position = 2 of Hearts = Benny Hill
5th Position = 9 of Spades = Nicole Scherzinger
6th Position = Ace of Spades = Arnold Schwarzenegger
7th Position = 3 of Hearts = Captain Haddock
8th Position = 6 of Clubs = Sean Connery
9th Position = 8 of Diamonds = Humpty-Dumpty
10th Position = Ace of Clubs = Al Capone

To illustrate, I can now link my Dominic Card characters to my People Peg List (#1 - #52):

Jack-the-Ripper knifing the Statue of Liberty (1st Position)
Michael Jackson paddling with a Swan (2nd Position)
Eric Clapton eating a Big-Mac with Ronald McDonald (3rd Position)
Benny Hill windsurfing on a Windsurfer board (4th Position)
Nicole Scherzinger pedaling on a Unicycle (5th Position)
Arnold Schwarzenegger picking Cherries with the Cherry Picker (6th Position)
Captain Haddock diving off a Diving Board with Divers (7th Position)
Sean Connery skating figure-of-eights with an ice skater (8th Position)
Humpty-Dumpty being born with his twin Fetus (9th Position)
Al Capone banging on a Bass Drum in a marching band (10th Position)

Thus having two people interacting with one another dispenses with a fully fledged PAO System. Yes the down-side is having 52 People Pegs to start with, a person representing each number from 1 to 52 but that isn’t as hard as it may first appear to be if you exercise a little ‘creativity’. No prizes for guessing my peg person for Position #49, see if you agree?

[erikfromholland (Erik de Jong)]

Very interesting way of thinking.

Strangely enough I also had an american football player for number 49 almost 30 years ago, but I don’t remember if it was shape based (the 4 looks like the window frame thing of a helmet and the the 9 looks like a abstract person) or because of: