Still wondering exactly how to do this whole Hamlet thing. I’ve definitely got the story down for the first two acts, and that is well placed in the memory journey I set up for it. That’s not too hard. But then I’m trying to do peg-method memorization for select monologues from various scenes, and that’s harder. (Fie on 't! O Fie!) And I’m not sure I’ve got enough memory palaces for all these monologues, if I wanted to do that. Lesson learned: loci are superior to pegs, at least in my head.
I might try to “place” one of the other monologues into a small area of the memory journey instead of using pegs. Maybe that’ll work better.
Still, I’m getting somewhere. Maybe I won’t be ready for performing at the Globe any time soon, but I’ve got a few speeches/monologues slowly making their way into my noodle.
Trying to use Lynne Kelly’s Rapscallion method of multiplication table memorization for my kid. We are both having trouble making the story memorable enough, I think, but she likes trying it out, so we are keeping on with it.
73 Dominic numbers already, all lodged in my brain pretty well. Now I’m using the actual straightforward Dominic method, since the remaining numbers are ones to which I have no associations. Even at this incomplete stage of development, my Dominic system is already tremendously useful - I basically have instant recall of whatever numbers it is that I am working with, with no errors. I use a lot of numbers in my work, so this is a great help. I haven’t yet tried combining this with loci method to memorize long numbers, but I can easily see how this would work.
The Hamlet memorization project - well, it’s going. I’m persevering, and pondering what book is next on the list.
Trying a new experiment - a body memory palace for my to-do list at work. I put two items on my arms (one on each arm), one on my head, and one in my nose as a smell. Since my tactile and smell imagery is actually pretty good, this may be a good memory method for me. I am imagining the imagery very vividly.
My calendar is staying well memorized, by the way. I review it every day to avoid fading, and even though I’ve added some items since the project started, they seem to be staying there.
After learning the difference between songlines and memory palaces in another thread, I am now going to test this by encoding the next act of Hamlet in a songline, reading it at the actual physical location I’m placing it in. I’m sure I’ll get better recall. I’d probably get even better recall if I actually recited it, like I would in a real songline, but I’m not sure the neighbors would care for early morning Shakespeare.
I’ve attempted to encode Act 2 of Hamlet in a songline - a tree-lined path close to where we live. I actually read each bit under the tree it was supposed to be encoded in. I’m not sure how much of it I’ll remember tomorrow, but it feels more solid, somehow. I think the Australian Aboriginal people are on to something (not surprising, considering they’d kept their collective memory going for 65,000 years).
Pondering another experiment. My daughter and I recently tried our hand at jewelry making and I now have a beaded bracelet with multicolored beads in random order. I want to see if I can encode information in each bead, but I need to decide what to encode.
Also, another experiment I want to try is if I can encode something in a piece of music. I have a great memory for music and very vivid auditory imagery. I’m sure that a piece of music can be used as a set of “pegs” for peg-method memorization, and I intend to try.
Incidentally - the body memory palace turned out to be a great way to unstupid my to-do list / project list. Everything that’s in there feels very solid. Admittedly, it’s not very much stuff, but I’m sure I can put more stuff on more body parts if I need to add something. I’ve already taken one item off my left arm because it’s been completed, so there’s room there.
The one item that doesn’t feel as solid is the smell-imagery one. I still remember it, but it’s not as easy as the tactile imagery. I think the entire to-do list needs to be tactile for easier recall.
Reviewing the songline today, I understood why this method is superior to standard memory palaces, especially for me, due to the aphantasia. When I review an imagined (or recalled) memory palace, I don’t get anywhere near the same amount of detail as I do when I am actually in a physical location, looking all around, listening to the sounds, feeling all the sensations of being in the place. It is a lot easier to pick a feature to hang a memory peg on when you’re actually there.
@meepster, 90 days of training is workable to most disciplines, such as words, numbers, images and others. Today, I had finished my LVL 10 in numbers. Though, I was in around 100 days of training in numbers.
Wow, @Antelex, that’s amazing! You’re right - 90 days can do a lot.
I’ve been at it for 28 days, I guess, and I can definitely see an effect. I guess I’m not really training a particular memory discipline as much as finding real-world applications for these disciplines and applying them, and using that as training. I’m already, even at this early stage, finding memory training to be so useful that I really want to continue and keep learning.
By the way, the real-world test of songlines versus memory palaces - songlines win hands down. The second act of Hamlet was a cinch to memorize. I got it already.
Now, I peeked ahead at the third act and am currently attempting to memorize the famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy, verbatim. To my surprise, it’s sticking very easily and I can pretty much recite it already. I had tried to memorize it before, years ago, and I guess some memory traces are left.
I had an appointment today. The Magic Appointment Ring worked flawlessly.
One of the wonderful effects of “internalizing” my calendar and to-do list has been a decrease in anxiety. I know exactly what I’ve got on my plate, I know exactly when it’s due, and I don’t need to worry that I’m missing something. It’s all there.
Pondering what to encode in my nice little memory bracelet. In general, pondering what I want in my memory and what I want to internalize and really know, deep in my bones. So far, I’ve come up with:
The stories of my ancestors and family history (as much of it as is known, which is not much, alas)
My own story and memories (as mentioned elsewhere, my autobiographical memory is no good and needs a bit of help)
The stories of my favorite books
Information - historical facts, science, and so on
The nice little memory bracelet would probably be good for a linear list of something-or-other, so I’m thinking about what that linear list would be.
Oh, and one more thing - I now have 87 Dominic numbers, so I decided to try to memorize my bank card number (16 digits). It was so easy that I can’t believe how easy it was. I know it means very little to a memory champion, but as mentioned, I’m looking for practical applications, and this definitely is one.
Just tested out my memory of my bank card number by ordering something online. It was 100% there and it was very easy to remember. I feel like I’ve gained a superpower.
Ok, yeah, that’s dope as hell. I love this diary/captain’s log thing- I love being able to follow along with you, and I celebrate every time I see something good.
meepster, Wow! What a fantastic journal! I am so pleased to be part of this journey. Thank you for the privilege. You are doing so much. I suspect that you now know Memory Craft better than I do.
I look forward to hearing more about your History Walk over time. I find myself using it almost every day as so many things arise in the news or conversations which link to the History Walk.
As someone with aphantasia and a poor autobiographical memory, I relate to all you say, especially when you said: “HOW COME NO ONE EVER TOLD ME THIS???” Exactly!!!
I love the term ‘geo-tagged’ - I’m going to use that too. I love the way you are combining methods. I find myself doing that too, but you need to get started to understand how naturally our brains do that.
Would you have thought, before you started this, that you would be offering advice on remembering stuff, as you did for LaurianH?
I am loving your diary and inspired to go back to some methods that I have let lapse as current obsessions dominate my memorising day. At the moment it’s French and Chinese. But I want to do it all! That’s the beauty of knowing stuff - it just makes you want to know more.
The big question remains: why isn’t this taught in schools?
Thank you, meepster, I have spent a lovely hour following you journey so far. I look forward to the next instalment.
Thank you so much for your wonderful reply, Lynne! I am honored. I can’t overstate how much of an influence your work has had on me - it’s literally given me an entirely new perspective on things I’d never thought about before. The more I read your books and thought about them, the more things “clicked” in my brain - and when I actually tried out the techniques, I was absolutely amazed. Thank you for your work, and for these books.
My History Walk, I think, needs a bit of preliminary research. I confess to being a bit of an ignoramus when it comes to history (something I was hoping to remedy with the History Walk), so I think I need to find some more books on world history before I’m ready to encode anything systematic in it. I’ve mapped out the entire walk, and I’ve thrown in some random dates/events/people I happened to come across (and they stuck like glue and I know them very solidly now), but I think some reading is in order.
And yes - why isn’t this taught in schools? I can only imagine what it must be like to grow up knowing these techniques and to use them from the start to fill your brain with information (the way that pre-literate people must have done). What would such a brain feel like from the inside?
My daughter is getting into poetry memorization right along with me. Today we had a joint recitation, and she did a very good job with Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” and a few Ogden Nash poems.
I, on the other hand, need to review my memorized material more often and have some sort of system for it. The lovely Elizabeth Bishop poem, “One Art”, wasn’t there when I went to look for it, and I had to look some of it up again. I guess I’d been so focused on “Hamlet” that I started letting everything else go. Lesson learned: memory requires regular review.
For my “musical memory journey” experiment, I am planning to encode the 12 Labors of Hercules in some sort of piece of music I know. It’s a simple enough linear list that I should be able to do that fairly easily.
At this point, the thing my brain is struggling with the most is the last 11 Dominic numbers. I still need some sort of characters for 49, 56, 59, 62, 67, 75, 87, 89, 93, 94, 96. I even tried the People by Initials generator and it just came up with a whole bunch of people I’d never heard of, so that wasn’t helpful. I’m just letting them marinate in my brain and waiting for the “Aha!” moment.
Delighted to reply, meepster. What you are doing is fascinating!
I did all mine by initials initially, but some people just didn’t stick, so some changed to things which just struck me for no good reason. TO became Tootsie, a girl who wears very high heals and totters around everywhere. TD became Teddy bears who tend to have picnics wherever possible.
As for the history walk, I put in all my ‘ancestors’ - so basically lots of people (authors, scientists, composers, kings and queens …) which gave me links to history. I just got lists from the internet such as this one - and picked out the people I wanted to include.
Looking up lists was great fun.
I also put in major civilisations - the Maya go round three sides of the block while the Aztecs and Inca appear and disappear pretty quickly. I knew almost no history and now I am fascinated by it.
Oh cool! I think I’m kinda stumbling on that approach too; the park now has trees dedicated to Gilgamesh and Enheduanna (I’m starting with the Sumerians), a tree dedicated to the Bronze Age Collapse, “King David’s Garden” and “King Solomon’s Temple” (with the understanding that they may not be entirely historical), Homer’s Fire Hydrant and Hesiod’s Tree, and a very sad Babylonian Exile lamppost. This is as far as it got for now, but I do like the idea of adding in the major civilizations - I think it’ll fill this out quite well.
Ok, I think the musical memory journey works too well for me - I don’t think I’ll ever be able to hear that particular piece of music without going “Hydra! Hydra!” at a particular point in the song. I was only able to encode four of the 12 Labors of Hercules, so I’ll need to find two other songs to add to the list.
I was only able to encode four of the 12 Labors of Hercules, so I’ll need to find two other songs to add to the list.