My memory isn’t as strong as it once had been. For example, when I started this post, I had to search the site to make sure I had not already written about this topic. I have written a lot about memory and it is something I am fascinated by more and more as I grow older. No surprise there. I think all of us become more interested as we grow older and as we watch those around us who are even older. Memory starts to fail.
The Mind (AKA Memory) Palace has been used since ancient Rome as a way to enhance memory. It is a mnemonic device adopted in ancient Roman and Greek rhetorical treatises, such as Cicero’s De Oratore. People use this technique to recall faces, digits, and lists of words. It is based on the fact that most of us are very good at remembering places we know.
“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.” ― Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Memory Palace is a metaphor for any place you know really well and that you’re able to easily visualize.
If it sounds less than serious, you can call this method of loci (Latin for “places”) is a method of memory enhancement that uses visualizations with the use of spatial memory, familiar information about one’s environment, to quickly and efficiently recall information. The method of loci is also known as the memory journey, memory palace, or mind palace technique.
There is even a poetic connection, such as with William Wordsworth’s The Recluse.
“The idea of the mind as a palace or church, whose individual rooms can be explored with training, is familiar from the memory treatises of antiquity and the Middle Ages. The “memory palace” as a mnemonic device was widely used before the advent of printing to organize and remember vast amounts of information. By memorizing the spatial layout of a building and assigning images or ideas to its various rooms, one could “walk” through the imaginary building and retrieve the ideas relegated to the separate parts.”
“Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.” ― Leonardo da Vinci
What do you need to do to try the mind palace approach?
Choose a place to use that you know very well and are able to mentally walk around that place remembering everything in detail. Most people use their home, but it could be where you work or even your childhood home. You need to mentally walk around this place and see the specific order of things.
You will need to be able to focus on particular features you remember very well. If I imagine my home, I can start at the front door, entering the porch there is a storage bench on the left. Entering the house itself, there is a mirror on the left, then a window seat, then a large bookcase, and so on.
Visual learners are undoubtedly better at this technique as you need to really imprint the location and specifics. From what I have read, some people find it effective to walk through the place mentally and say the specifics aloud. You could also draw the location. Always use the same perspective for looking at the features.
When you know this place and every feature, you have your mind palace. Now what?
First, build the visual associations between the features and the information you want to memorize. You could use it to memorize a list in a particular order. More challenging would be to use the palace to remember the parts of a presentation.
I tried this for a presentation I was going to do without notes or PowerPoint slides. I created “memory pegs.” On each peg I would hang an item I associated with it. The association should be strong, perhaps even a bit ridiculous, but memorable.
This step is similar to other mnemonic systems which often rely on memorized spatial relationships. Similar techniques are known as the “Journey Method” (for lists of related items) or the “Roman Room” (for storing unrelated information).
Maybe you should start with a shopping list, rather than a presentation.
Walk your Mind Palace from the beginning to the end of the route. It is said that you can strengthen your memories by walking backward. I have not found that to be true, but then again I have trouble saying the alphabet backward too, and I know that really well in the normal order.
Using this technique can improve your memory in general, and it can improve your visualization skills.
“If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered.” ― Edgar Allan Poe
I think Ed could have used a lesson about the Memory Palace.
Weekends in Paradelle 