Memory Palace: a technique for memorizing words

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Today's pace of life and the rate of renewal of scientific and practical knowledge used by a modern person at work, and in everyday life, raises the question of how to memorize more and remember significant amounts of various information for longer.

Unfortunately, in most educational institutions they do not teach such a discipline as mnemonics, which teaches various techniques, ways and methods of memorizing and storing knowledge. "Memory Palace" is one of the oldest mnemonics. In this article we will talk about its history, various modifications and practical applications.

How does memory work?

Without delving into scientific research, let us recall what kind of process is memory. Information entering our brain goes through four main stages:

- remembering;

- save;

- extraction;

- forgetting.

The process of memorization involves all the senses that fix the incoming information: the eyes, note the color and brightness of the font, the nose catches the smelllibrary or fresh printing ink, the ears hear the rustling of the pages, and the hands "remember" the heaviness of the book and the texture of its cover.

After receiving all the information, the brain, through nerve impulses, transmits all the information to the hippocampus - a special paired area of the cerebral cortex that performs the function of controlling the quality of the stored information. According to studies, it is this part of the brain that retains important data isolated in the stream of nerve impulses for some time, and then redirects them to the cortex of the hemispheres, where the main storage is located. Thus, the hippocampus is responsible for short-term, and the cerebral cortex - for long-term memory.

However, the problem of finding the necessary information at the right time in the "back streets" of one's memory has always been acute for a person.

A bit of history

In the process of narrating about the art of memory and the techniques and methods used by mnemonists, the catchphrase that everything new is a well-forgotten old is constantly recalled. Most of the mnemonics that are successfully used today were described as early as 82 BC. e. in a short guide to rhetoric Rhetorica ad Herennium. The mnemonic ways, techniques and memory training set out in this tome were quite widely used both in ancient and in the Middle Ages.

Jurist Peter Ravenna, who lived in the 15th century, used techniques such as memory palaces to memorize words and quotations. Moreover, the number of palaces in his case was calculated not in tens, but in thousands, and in them inkey phrases and quotations on topics important to him were stored in alphabetical order. He spoke about this method in his book "Phoenix", published at the end of the 15th century.

Along with logic, grammar and rhetoric, memory development techniques were the basis of classical European liberal arts education. Students were not only forced to memorize the material, but also explained how to do it.

Modern politicians and businessmen know perfectly well how to build a memory palace and use this mnemonic to achieve their own goals.

Who is the author?

Today it is impossible to determine exactly who was the first to create and use the technique of memorizing a huge number of names, historical dates, quotes and facts - the ancient Greek poet Simonides or the Roman orator Cicero. The essence of the technique they used was that they had the necessary information in a building they knew well. In their imagination, they filled the rooms of this building with images, keywords - in general, with everything that they wanted to remember. In the future, at any time, it was possible to reproduce the building itself in the imagination, walk through it and remember everything that was needed. Later, this technique was called the memory palace, the Cicero method, the road technique.

Roman rooms, or Cicero's road

Given the age of the ancient Roman orator and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero, it is not surprising that he is credited with several uses of mnemonics. According to one version, preparing for publicspeeches, he walked through the numerous rooms of his own house and placed in them various theses, quotations and dates. Speaking, he mentally repeated his path and gave out the necessary information. Another version says that this Roman rhetorician used the road that he had to walk every day to remember. Of course, being an observant and attentive person, Cicero knew all its features, to which he “attached” the objects, facts, etc. he needed.

Religious history

In the Middle Ages, especially during the time of the Inquisition, the ministers of the church faced the problem of remembering large amounts of various information. Religious figures of that time needed not only to know the Holy Scriptures and prayers, but also to remember all types, types of adultery, sins, and even the signs of witches … It was at this time that mnemonics became a secret field of knowledge. A person who was able to teach others to remember all the most important things was very much appreciated at that time. It is unlikely that the Catholic priests of that era read or heard about such mnemonics as the memory palace or Cicero's road. They came up with and used a similar technique called memory theaters. In imagination, they created a room with four walls, each of which had several tiers with many places. Filling such "theatres", the clergy memorized all the religious information they needed.

Giulio Camillo went further and created a real theater of memory, built of wood, which was presented to the Frenchmonarch. Two people could enter there: Camillo himself and the king, where the ruler was explained how to remember anything.

What is Matteo Ricci famous for?

Medieval Catholicism became famous for its desire to "bring" peoples who professed other religions to their "true" faith. One of the Catholic missionaries in China in the 16th century was the Jesuit Matteo Ricci. He was the most educated man of his time: a mathematician and cartographer, a translator who for the first time managed to establish permanent cultural relations between Chinese society and Christian Europe. In addition, his name has been preserved in history because of his brilliant mnemonic abilities, thanks to which he became the first, and for many years the only European, who managed to pass the exam for a high government position in China.

Jesuit mnemonics

For ten years, Ricci, who took the name of Li Ma-dou in China, not only managed to learn the Chinese language and several regional dialects, but also passed for a very wise and learned person. In this he was helped not only by an excellent education, but also by the possession of the Jesuit mnemonics, which he taught the Chinese. Matteo Ricci built the Palace of Memory based on the amount of material needed for memorization. In the most difficult cases, this building could consist of many structures of different heights and sizes, interconnected. Ricci believed that for better memorization, you can use not only palaces, but also various bureaucratic institutions and temples, decorative gazebos and publicbuilding. It was in such a "composite" memory palace that he suggested to his Chinese students that they place the images and concepts necessary for memorization. The Chinese used the method he proposed, but did not convert to the Catholic faith. It should be noted that modern Buddhists revere Matteo Ricci as the patron god of all watchmakers - Li Ma-dou.

What is the essence of the method?

Regardless of how this mnemonics is called - the technique of support images or locations, the method of matrices or geometric places, the palace of memory or the palaces of the mind, the basis of its effectiveness is always the same. A person creates in his imagination an image of a well-known and emotionally close space, no matter whether it is a room in a student dormitory or the Knights' Hall of the Hermitage, a work office or a favorite level of the computer game DooM or Heroes of Might and Magic.

The factual information that needs to be remembered turns into bright associative images placed in a well-known and emotionally pleasant space recreated in the human imagination. When the need arises to recall this or that fact, remember where you placed it, and go on a mental journey through the memory palace, your room or the level of a computer game.

Psychological mechanisms

Mnemonic techniques such as the memory palace or the locus method use the transformation of memorized information and facts into vivid visual pictures that are placed and associated with certain points of an emotionally significant and familiar space. ATAs a result of such intellectual manipulations, the brain creates new neural connections and associations between the information that needs to be remembered and later reproduced and the image of a particular place. Due to this, as a result of figurative visualization and elaboration of associative links, human memory develops.

How to build a memory palace?

If you need to remember and save, as well as have quick access to boring and voluminous information, you can build your own "intellectual halls".

At the very beginning, just mastering this technique, it is better to limit yourself to a small and very familiar room, for example, your own room. So, what needs to be done to “build” your own memory palace? The technique is simple, here are the main steps:

1. Decide on your memory palace. At first, in order to decompose memories, a desk and a bookcase may be enough. If not enough, then you can use the rest of the furniture and space. Instead of a room, you can “line up” facts along your path to class or work. The memory palace or locus method works best by allowing more memorized information to be stored when the imaginary space is realistic and detailed.

2. We lay out the route. Having created your own "mental" palace, it is important to think over the ways of your movement through it. If you need to remember information in a strictly defined order, then the route of movement must be very clear andpreferably simple. The easiest way is to use in the imagination the same path that exists in reality. For example, when you enter a room, the first thing you see is a TV, then a sofa, and only then a workplace.

3. Select storage. A very important step, because when using the technique (memory / mind palace), you have to put all the necessary numbers, facts and names in these places. It is worth remembering that one thought can be imposed on one subject, otherwise confusion is possible, and the method will be useless. It is desirable that the objects are noticeably different from each other, so it will be easier to remember.

4. Remember: the memory palace is a technique that works effectively only if you know the palace you created like the back of your hand and remember all its details by heart. Those who practice this method recommend drawing a blueprint of the mental storage and marking on it the places where the information is stored. By comparing the virtual image with the scheme you have drawn, you can check how accurately you tied it to the object.

How to use it?

But now all the preparatory stages have been completed, and, finally, your memory palace is ready for memorization.

The method of filling it is quite simple: you need to fill in a small amount of information for each item. The more features, the better. Imagine the smell, color, texture and texture of each object, endow it with one or another emotional coloring. If you have to remembera large amount of coherent information, then place the associative objects sequentially, linking them together. The more extravagant and even absurd the keys and images you use, the better. For example, the Polar Bear in Boots size 6 Maximum will help you easily remember the make and model of a new supercar from a well-known concern.

Instead of a conclusion

Don't expect memory palaces to be an easy and quick way to prepare for an exam or public speaking. In fact, this is an affordable technique, thanks to which you can really improve your memory. But you will have to do it regularly, constantly training your own imagination and various types of memory. You can start small - from your workplace or room. The main thing is that each memory "lies" in its place, because then it will be easy to find it. The ancients said that the road will be mastered by the walking one, so maybe it's time to go?