Remembering
I’m by no means a memory expert, but I’ve read some memory experts, and I’ve picked up some techniques that, if I were more diligent in applying them, would make me a memory monster. The fact that I’m not a memory monster says nothing about the techniques, but a lot about my lack of diligence. In today’s A-to-Z post, I want to pass some of these ideas on to you.
The main principle for memorizing things is simple: connect what you’re trying to learn with something you already know. And do it vividly. Think about the things you remember. In a boring day, you remember your co-worker’s spilled coffee that looked like he wet himself, your neighbor leaving the house in a suit and Hello Kitty slippers, the severed hand you found in your lunchbox. Your brain is attracted to vivid images. If you can associate what you want to remember with something you already know using a vivid picture, it’s more likely to stick (especially if it makes you laugh). For example, you want to remember that the French for “apple” is “pomme.” Imagine an orchard, and someone picking a sparkly, red and white pom pom from a tree and eating it. Recall that picture a few times. Eventually, you won’t need the picture, because your brain will have forged a connection between the words. For the best results, come up with your own picture–something that resonates with you. What I find funny, shocking, or incredible isn’t always going to be the same for you. Make it your own.
What about numbers? The problem with numbers is they are abstract and hard to visualize, so we have to make them into something concrete. One way to do this is to associate the numbers 1-9 and 0 with a letter sound. You can then turn any number into a word. In his MEMORY BOOK, Harry Lorayne suggests the following:
1=t or d
2=n
3=m
4=r
5=l
6=ch, sh, j, or soft “g” sound
7=k, hard “c”, or hard “g” sound
8=f, v, or ph sound
9=b or p sound
0=s, z, or soft “c” sound
Note: vowels have no numeric value, so add them as needed. Also, don’t worry about correct spelling–it’s the sound values that matter. E.g., “q” would be 7.
Examples: butter=914 (note, “tt”=a single t sound); colindsmith = 7521031 (th=t=1).
Say you want to memorize PI to 13 places (3.1415926535897). Just convert the numbers into words and associate them vividly. For example:
3: Mo
141: dart
592: albino
653: shalom
58: leaf
97: book
Now connect the words: Mo (Three Stooges?) throws a dart at an albino who bows to a rabbi saying “Shalom” handing him a leaf which turns into a book. Silly? Yes. But if you have that scene in your head, you have memorized PI to 13 decimal places. It’s best if you think of your own words, though. The ones that come to mind easiest are probably the ones to use. Then just connect them vividly.
Any thoughts or questions? Share your favorite memory tricks!
I can’t say I’ve ever found a severed hand in my lunch! Is this perhaps a phenomenon specific to American lunches? I like the idea for remembering long sequences of numbers, but I don’t think it’d work for me. I’d get too confused with translating the important words and remembering which number corresponded with which letter!
You’ve never had the old severed hand in the lunchbox problem? Wow! 😉
You’d be amazed at how well the number system works, actually. Much better than trying to remember numbers by rote. If you look at the number-letter correspondence, you’ll see a pattern. “t” and “d” are both dental sounds, and have a straight back, like a number 1; “n” has 2 legs; “m” has 3 legs; 4 ends in the letter “r”; if your splay the 5 fingers of your left hand, your thumb and forefinger makes an “L” shape; 6 kind of looks like a backward J; the arm and leg of the letter K look like a backward 7; 8 kind of looks like a loopy f; 9 looks like a backward P; and 0 starts with a “z”.
Just remember, it’s the sound of the letters that matter, not so much the letters themselves. With a little practice, you’ll get the hang of it. Just start converting numbers to letters, seeing what words you can make, and also letters to numbers. If nothing else, it’s one way to occupy your mind on a road trip! The most practical application of this for most people is with telephone numbers.
Here’s an example. Since yesterday’s post was about Query Shark, the phone number for Fine Print Literary Management is: 212-279-1282. Convert to letter sounds: n, t/d, n, n, k/g, p/b, t/d, n, f/v, n. Now to make words out of those sounds. As I said, the first ones that come to mind are usually the best to use:knot (remember, it’s sounds–the “k” is silent, so we can use “knot” for 21), nun, cap, tonne (remember, doubles count for one sound, so “nn” = “n” = 2), fan. If you can see longer words, even better–fewer words to link. Now we connect them:
A document with fine print at the bottom is being tied into a huge knot (make it big to make the picture vivid) by a nun.
A nun wearing a bright baseball cap that clashes horribly with her habit.
A baseball cap that weighs a tonne pinning the wearer’s head to the floor so they can’t get up
A big tonne weight being blown through a wall by a large fan..
Trust me, this system may seem like work, but what in life that’s worth doing doesn’t require some effort? And it takes a whole lot less work, and is a whole lot more fun for the creative mind than rote memorization.
A long answer to your comment, but it gave me the opportunity to say some things I wanted to say in the article, but couldn’t because I would have gone over 500 words. So, thanks, Anna! 😀
I was watching one of Russell Howard’s Good News episodes and his mystery guest had been in the news for his memory. His trick of remembering things, say like a long list was picturing and saying a story to go with it, similar to what you did with Pi. There were no numbers to it, just a story involving the objects which worked quite well. I was trying it out as I was watching. 🙂
Incorporating what you’re trying to remember into stories is a good technique–especially for writers. 🙂 Songs work very well, too.
Take shopping lists. You’d be amazed at how many items you can remember if you simply use vivid connections. You don’t have to put them into a story, but if that works for you, great. Next time you go shopping, picture yourself going in and start your list. A big bag of flour drops on your head, and turns into sparkly pink sugar crystals that coat huge biscuits on the floor that crunch when you step on them. You slip on the biscuit crumbs and fall into a pool of milk, but grab on to a huge tea bag to stay afloat. But someone’s shooting carrot torpedoes at you…
That’s just six items. You could keep going. And since it’s a shopping list, you only need to remember it until you walk out of the shop.
If you can’t think of a good story, you can just link the items. Start with walking into the shop and the flour falls on your head. Then continue, for example:
And so on. See how much fun you can have with this! 🙂
I find patterns in phone numbers to help me remember them. And repetition is always a good tool. If I repeat something enough times, it’s mine forever. And writing things down helps, too. I found once that writing an account # a few dozen times made the number easy to remember. When I make grocery lists, I create a word from the first letters of each thing I want to buy. But I have been known to wander up & down the aisles trying to remember what I needed that began with P.
Kathy @ Swagger Writers
Repetition can work well, though having done both, I find the vivid pictures and associations are a lot easier and more fun, and work just as well, if not better. But to each his or her own. Each person is different, and some systems work better than others for different people.
With shopping lists, I’ll actually make a mental note of how many items there are on the list, and then use word linking to remember the items. Sometimes I’ll even picture myself walking down the aisles (if it’s a store I know well) to get each item (using the ancient memory system of “loci” or “places” where you associate items you want to remember with places in a familiar room or building). Then before I go to the checkout, I count the items I have to make sure I haven’t forgotten something.
Thanks for the comment, Kathy! 🙂
If I’m trying to remember a list of something I try to make it almost into a rhythm, like with a phone number. I do find myself remembering phone numbers and car registration numbers from years ago but the other day I had to ask my 12 year old what day it is.
I have quite a good memory though and find simple repetition helpful. And writing things down. When I went back to studying recently and had to revise I write my notes out again and again and used different coloured pens, so that I associated certain facts with certain colours.
I also used to play a game called ‘My aunt went to Paris’? where you have to repeat a list of things and each time start again from the top, maybe that’s helped my memory now I’m (as my daughter calls me) an old lady…
Rhythm and song work in similar ways, I guess, giving your brain something to latch onto when trying to remember something. A lot of these memory tricks are really just work-outs for the brain. They often serve to help you be more aware when information’s coming in, and increase your ability to retain that information. The problem with many of us is that we don’t exercise our memories enough. That’s one of the pitfalls of the digital age: why remember it when you can Google it?
And with that “My aunt went to Paris” game–using the link system I describe above, you could win every round. 😉
This is a really interesting concept, though I’m not sure it’s a system that would work for me. I’ve always had a pretty decent memory, though the older I get the less true that seems to be. What worked best for me was repetition and writing things out because that triggered another form of memory. I do like reading about other methods, though. Cool post, Colin! 🙂
Thanks, Jaime! Actually, I think this method ought to work best with writers and creative-types since it taps into the imagination, and our ability to play with words, picture unreal scenes, and tell stories. Maybe the next time you have something to remember (particularly lists or numbers), you could give it a try? 🙂