Anthony Metivier's Blog, page 6

German Phrases: The Ultimate How To Learn German Phrases Guide

How I Memorized German Phrases Every Day For A Year

Guest post by Richard Gilzean

Note: What follows is a deconstruction of the steps I took (and continue to take) to improve my German. But rest assured, these same steps will work for memorizing phrases in any language.

Sound good?

Regardless of whether you’ve been learning a second or third language for a while, or just starting out, this approach to memorizing foreign languages will help you.

In the beginning was the Word SENTENCE.

 

You might be wondering: Why learn German phrases and not just individual words?

Good question. The answer is that we all read, write, listen and speak in sentences, or fragments thereof. The sentence is at the core of any language and learning to master the sentence should be considered. Even the most basic language guide book for travelers teach simple German phrases that follow syntax.

Don’t get me wrong. Words are beautiful in their own right. We all should invest in the time to learn what a word means and how to best use it. And this is achieved by working those words into sentences as you work on your bilingualism.

 

How I Built My “Internal GPS” (And You Can Too)

 

Before launching into memorizing my first German phrase, I designed the Memory Palace system that would store them.  I’ve been interested in the art and craft of memory training and self-improvement for a couple of years.  But I only really started to study it closely after coming across Anthony’s book How to Learn and Memorize German Vocabulary which, in turn, led me to the Magnetic Memory Method website.

Recommended resource: The Magnetic Memory Method Masterplan.

Anthony’s approach to teaching anyone how to learn, memorize and recall vocabulary, names, mathematical formulas and pretty much anything that can be memorized is both well-structured and comprehensive. So I’ll just highlight the essential components as they relate to learning languages and all of you who have been following Anthony’s site will be familiar.

Have a store of real locations to house your sentences.Imagine real concrete / tangible objects or people that are creative, vivid, colorful and zany. Therefore, not just an elephant, but a pink pygmy elephant with Dumbo-like ears and with a runny trunk.Schedule time for practice so the sentence can work its way into your long-term memory.

You’ll need to draw from your own personal memory bank a real location in which to store your sentences. It can be a place you know well, like the house you live in, or the place where you grew up that holds its own strong memories. It can be a route you follow regularly, such as a park or your daily commute from home to work.

With a little practice you can come up with more than enough Memory Palaces. While there are some general guidelines about how to make your Memory Palace effective, there is a lot of divergent opinion on how to make best use of your own Memory Palaces because no two thought processes are alike.

Because I knew I would need a large location to hold my expanding sentences, I chose a route that ran from the front door of my house, along the street, through a local park and over to my son’s local primary school – some 400 meters in total.

 

From AA to ZZ: Where I Keep My Memorized German Phrases

 

But before you set off on your journey, you’ll need to figure out your memory anchors. Think of the process like mental orienteering where you go for a jog in your mind along a set trail and arrive at control points along the way.

To help, I created an excel spreadsheet with an index of initials for names of famous people, friends and cartoon characters, running all the way from AA to ZZ. This process took a little time to work through and I made some compromises along the way. In particular, I left out the letters Q – X – Y (just too hard to come up with names).

I ended up with a list of 600 names running from Andre Agassi to the bearded rockers from the band ZZ Top. Six hundred names means, in theory, I am able to memorize at least 600 foreign language sentences.

Running alongside my list of names I also have a separate list of 100 what I refer to as my memory tag words. These words use the well-established mnemonic Major Method which is a technique used to aid in memorizing numbers and has been used in memorize shopping lists, the sequence of a shuffled pack of card and memory competitions. The Major Method works by converting numbers into consonant sounds, then into words by adding vowels.

 

How To Choose Which Phrases To Memorize

 

Armed with my list of 600 names and 100 Major System tag words, I now have the memory anchors in place to hold my German sentences.  I also have the memory route from my house to my son’s primary school. There is a smorgasbord of foreign language sites out there to choose from, but the question is, which phrases should I memorize in order to get the best results for building fluency in German.

I subscribe to the German Flashcards section of a website run by Learn With Oliver for collecting many German phrases. It contains an easy to navigate database of material to assist you in learning several of the most common languages.

The site produces a daily e-letter with a word and phrase of the day, an audio recording of the text plus a whole bunch of other useful resource material.

From this site I have taken almost all of my German phrases. That’s because it’s important to focus on your target language.

Once I have material to work with, my  approach is to review the phrases I want to memorize and make sure that I am comfortable with the grammar and etymology. I then copy the sentences and the English translation into a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is made up of the following columns:

Initials running from AA to ZZThe English sentenceThe German sentenceMy mnemonic interpretation (this is explained below)The full names of my AA – ZZ groupMy 100 tag words

Here’s an example:

Here’s how I’ve adapted my practice from memorizing single words to whole German phrases.

As you can see, I’ve front-loaded three of the components into the sentence. They include the initials of a well-known/memorable name (Michelle Obama), the English translation (no problem) and the tag word (hail).

By splicing these three components into the sentence I’ve built an imaginative cross reference for whenever I need to recall the German phrase “Keine Ursache!” the rest of this mnemonic interpretation follows some established mnemonic guidelines.

German sayings like this are powerful to have in memory – just make sure to also include funny German phrases as you learn the language.

Personally, however, I suggest avoid learning German insults – you might wind up blurting them out at inopportune moments! If you’re stuck on finding any material to learn and memorize at all, one tip for finding good German phrases is to search Google for “German phrases PDF.”

Carrying on: For the word “keine” I thought of Keyser Soze, who some of you may recall as the evil dude Kevin Spacey played in the film “The Usual Suspects”.

For the word “Ursache” I broke it down into two images, one for “UR” and one for “SACHE” and came up with Keith URban (well-known country singer) + SACK.

I then imagined Keyser (rhyming with kaiser and which just happens to be an example of German vocabulary) shoving URban into a SACK. Don’t forget to take the time to imagine this scenario with crazy, vivid, memorable images. Gimpy-legged Keyser shoving guitar-wielding URban into a big smelly potato SACK works for me.

If you have troubles with creating images like these, try these 5 Sensory Memory Exercises.

 

If You Can Imagine A Castle, You Can
Use Memory Techniques To Boost Your German Fluency

 

Let’s take these ideas and incorporate them into a more challenging sentence. Is it worth visiting this castle? = Lohnt es sich diese Burg zu besuchen? Jacques Tati is king of a CASTLE in a MoVie starring Lindsay LOHAN playing the role of ESther who is throwing up SICK over DIESEL (a musician I know) after eating a BURGer served by ZUlu armed with a BAZOOKa.

In this case I’m using some mnemonic shorthand. Again, I’ve loaded three of the components at the front of the sentence Jacque Tati / Castle / Movie. Jacque Tati (famous French film actor and director) is my famous name and CASTLE is a single image I want to use represent the entire sentence. It’s a concrete image that is easy to visualize. (Is there anyone who can’t imagine a castle?)

The third component is the word “MOVIE” which is number 38 in my 100 memory tags. For the rest of the exercise you should be able to make the connection between my sentence and the similar sounding words in the German phrase.

 

How To Make The Most From Mnemonic Shorthand

 

Regardless of whatever foreign language you want to master, you’ll soon figure out the high frequency words and syllables and will want settle on some shorthand images to help you form your mnemonic sentences.

For example, I’ve settled on the following shorthand for these common German words:

es = it. For this word I use an image of a family member whose name is Esther.

ich = I.  Here I just imagine “ItCHy”, the mouse from The Simpson’s cartoons.

der = multiple meanings including:

the (masculine definite article)(definite article for genitive and dative singular feminine and genitive plural)whowhichthat one, this one

I found some mnemonic shorthand harder to imagine than others. In what is probably an understatement, the German language has many words with the prefix ‘ge’. After much trial and error, I settled on an image of GoethE as my go-to guy for the ‘ge’ words.

But if GoethE doesn’t make sense to your imagination and you encounter an issue Anthony talked about in his podcast, you might think that Agent Maxwell Smart from the GEt Smart television series works better for you. Or perhaps someone more contemporary comes to mind.

The important thing is that you learn to link figures with information so that you can recall it at will. This skill comes in handy in many ways, particularly when trying to memorize German genders. For example, in all instances of “der” I use an 80’s television character DERrick from the popular German detective series.

 

How To Get Ikea To Optimize Your Memory Palace

 

Now, you may be thinking: Do I really need to be able to recall all of my mnemonic sentences? Answer: No. I’ve found that once a schedule of recall practice is established you’ll be able to rely on the processing power of your mind to summon the sentence.

The next problem I had to solve concerned mental real estate. I now had in place my daily practice of learning and memorizing new German phrases and placing them along my chosen route. But I eventually realized I was running out of stations along my route and I wanted to get more benefit out of the site of this Memory Palace.

My solution was to use a system of alphabetical modular shelving – think Ikea wall units – in which to place my mnemonic imagery.

So when it came time to assign German phrases to my prepared list of EA to EZ letters, instead of using up 23 separate places (remember letters Q, X and Y are out) along the route, I imagined a rather large E-shaped white Ikea wall unit with 23 compartments at the next station along the path.

And in each compartment I would place my mnemonic interpretation of whatever German sentence I was learning that day. Kind of like the dioramas I used to help my son make for his school projects.

Forging The Memory Chain Using Recall And Difference

The main advantage I’ve found with using what I call my double-bind memory link strategy (i.e. initials plus memory tag words) is that if I happen to forget one when practicing my recall I can usually rely on the other one to help me out. Take up this practice and you’ll see quick results too.

Memory Palaces do not have to be photographic / perfect representations – they just need to be consistent with how you recall them in your mind. Once I’ve memorized a batch of 23 sentences to the point where I can mentally recall the sentences forwards, backwards and in some random order, I use a simple spaced repetition system that involves setting a date in my Google calendar with a title like – “LA – LZ 1 week”.

I then mentally run through my recall, check my responses on the spreadsheet and, if I get them correct, will reset the next recall for two weeks, followed by 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months. If I’m not happy with my recall practice I’ll review the mnemonic sentence I’ve constructed and practice again a few days later.

I recommend you rehearse your phrases out loud because you need to hear the sounds your voice makes. Make a practice of writing them out by hand as a way of reinforcing the learning. For extra bonus points you might like to record the sentences and listen to them when you’re out and about.

That pretty well sums up what I’ve achieved in a short period of time. This method takes the key features found on Magnetic Memory Method site and tweaks them to get the best value out of your Memory Palace. Try creating warehouses in your own Memory Palaces using the alphabetical system outlined. My German phrases continues to swell and grow. So far I’ve gone from Andre Agassi to Van Halen. That’s about 500 sentences.

Sprechen, Lesen, Schreiben und Hōren
(Speak German, Read, Write & Listen)

As I mentioned at the start of this post we all write, listen, read and speak in sentences and German phrases. Learning to speak and understand any foreign language with fluency requires application to all four components in equal measure. The method of memorizing sentences I’ve described ticks all four boxes.

Of course, you’ll need to get out there and road test your German phrases (or those in the language you’re studying) in real world situations to become comfortable with your newly acquired knowledge. All good language learners say so, including polyglot Luca Lampariello when he describes language as a kind of net.

If you’ve found this training on memorizing German phrases helpful, or you’d like some clarification on the points, please contact me at richard@richardgilzean.com.

Viel Gluck!

Richard Gilzean is a writer and blogger specialising in creating content for small business owners, entrepreneurs and corporate clients. He has thirty years of writing, research and training experience in corporate and government sectors. Whether you want to create great content to boost traffic to your website or you’re looking for a professional writer who can tell your story in your voice, Richard can help. Check out his freelance writing website here.

What Is Mental Imagery in Memory Psychology? A Simple Answer

Mental imagery is a confusing topic.

There’s tons of data.

Oodles of opinions.

Zero consensus.

That’s fine. That’s what science is all about.

But when it comes to memory, both in terms of psychology and using your memory better, I’ve got good news.

There are some stunningly clear definitions.

And for those of us who use memory techniques, I’m going to uncover powerful and interesting angles that lead to better results. Quickly.

If you’re not into using mnemonics, you’ll discover how mental imagery compares with perception too.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

What Is Mental Imagery?

Unfortunately, there is no agreement on what mental imagery is or how it should be defined.

For example, philosophers of mental imagery dismiss – albeit not without reflective thinking – some of the most interesting findings in books like The Case for Mental Imagery.

The controversy and debate is certainly interesting, but for our purposes, let’s define mental imagery in a variety of ways. We’ll do so based on a single core principle:

Mental imagery is an experience in the mind that resembles how you could potentially interact with real people, places and objects.

This definition assumes that everything imaginary is based on an extension of something that is real.

But before we get into controversy over that, let’s look at some of the angles that help substantiate this basic definition.

Iconic Memory

Iconic memory typically involves brief experiences of mental imagery. These images reside in short term memory and are typically disregarded.

Daydreaming, for example, is often completely forgotten seconds after the fantastic images enter the mind.

Or, your iconic memories may be striking enough to enter long term memory. They could even be as strong as flashbulb memories.

Some studies show that this kind of mental imagery helps with human movement through space as well.

There’s also potentially a relationship between these rapid mental images and verbal memory.

For example, the experience of mental images may not have any words involved. But experiencing a quick mental image prompts you to speak. It doesn’t provide the exact words per se, but is a deep generator of the message.

In sum: If you do or say something, this theory suggests that the image comes first, then the action.

Imagination

Did you ever play with an imaginary friend? Or even develop an entire paracosm of them?

If so, you’ve experienced a subjective mental state that no one can observe but you.

Your imaginary friend may appear and fade, sometimes feel concrete in your mind, other times abstract.

Either way, this kind of mental imagery leads to more than just fun. It can help you be creative, use memory techniques better and even solve problems.

The question here that no one has an answer to is this: can you invent anything in your mind? Or does mental imagery always need a starting point or some kind of association?

Personally, I think everything is connected in a wave of relations. Anything that seems original is always born out of something that already existed. As the literary theorist Northrop Frye put it, “all poems come from other poems.”

Mnemonic Images

Using associations in pairs is well-known in the psychology of learning to be essential, particularly in areas like reading. Phonological awareness, for example, has been shown in studies to help with many aspects of literacy.

As my colleague in memory, Richard Ruben, has pointed out, people without phonological awareness struggle to use mnemonics. If they haven’t been taught to sound out the alphabet, they struggle later to make paired associations, for example. In fact, every letter of the alphabet is a paired association of at least a shape and a sound.

Overall, mnemonic images are essential to learning faster and remembering more. Mental imagery extensively with the Memory Palace technique as people imaginatively tie associations to loci.

Medical students, for example, rapidly form memories by using mental imagery. In fact, medical mnemonics is a huge industry, covering everything from anatomy, to pharmaceutical terms and information related to nursing.

Without paired associations made possible by mental imagery, people would have to rely solely on rote learning.

Demand Characteristics

Here’s a neat one:

In science, it’s important not to give away too much information. If people predict or intuit what’s going on in a study involving participants, they can skew the results.

This is because participating in a study creates pictures in your mind – think of the icon part of iconic memory.

And it’s not just that you think about what the study might be about. As we’ve seen, iconic memory dictates how we behave physically.

How do scientists deal with demand characteristics?

Their tactics include everything from double-blind studies to outright deception.

Dual-Coding Theory

This theory suggests that there’s a division between what you imagine visually and your verbal intelligence.

Essentially, the dual coding effect started with Allan Paivio who published over two hundred articles on this topic.

I find the theory problematic myself because his distinction between analogue codes and symbolic codes seems problematic. The first deals with anything in your visual perception. Symbolic codes deals strictly with words.

But aren’t words perceived too? And in a variety of ways? I can imagine the alphabet visually without tying it to a sound and imagine a sound wave produced by a technology I might not even know by name.

Alternative theories include propositional representation, parallel distributed processing, cognitive mapping and a number of constructivist theories that you might want to look at.

How Does Mental Imagery Compare with Perception?

Mental imagery and perception are two crucial processes that shape our understanding of the world. While both involve the representation of sensory information, they exhibit unique characteristics and play distinct roles in our cognitive experiences.

Mental imagery, often described as the ability to create sensory experiences in the absence of external stimuli, allows us to mentally represent and manipulate sensory information. Of course, there are people without a mind’s eye (aphantasia) who are still able to do exactly this, creating a puzzle about what exactly imagery is in the mind and imagination.

Similarly, perception involves the interpretation of sensory input from the external environment to form our conscious experience. We need this in order to enjoy the benefits of sensory learning. Yet, there are people who cannot see, hear or feel with their limbs. They still manage to navigate the world and learn all kinds of things.

At the end of the day, I’m convinced that mental imagery and perception are not separate, but joined at the hip in some very special ways.

Unlimited Imagination?

Perception, with its emphases on access to actual learning material and your physical surroundings, is obviously bound by sensory input and material constraint. Our perception is literally limited by the information available from our senses and the physical properties of the objects and events in the external world.

Some people will argue that mental imagery is more flexible and unconstrained by the same physical limitations. They suggest that we can create vivid mental images that defy the laws of physics or imagine events that surpass the boundaries of our sensory experiences.

Although this may be true, the strength of our ability to do so comes down to reference and practice. By reference, I mean how well you read and how much. In order to imagine flexibly, you need deliberate practice with worthwhile books.

We will always be limited by both perception and mental imagery, but we can expand our limits by constantly learning.

How Memory Training Improves Your Mental Imagery

In order to enjoy much more interesting mental imagery that truly will expand your current limitations, you’ll want to start using memory techniques.

I suggest exploring:

The Journey MethodMajor SystemPAO SystemNumber RhymesPegword Method

Although that might seem like a lot to explore, you can rapidly learn each approach by starting with the Memory Palace technique.

Get my free course in order to learn how.

You’ll get four clear, crisp and direct video lessons along with some worksheets that will help you understand mental imagery experientially.

The learning cycle I’ll take you on in this course helps you chunk even the toughest information down into small bits of imagination that you won’t soon forget.

So what do you say? Are you feeling clearer about this important term now? Let me sum things up like this:

Mental imagery is not in the same category as seeing an image on the wall. It’s what you experience when you imagine what a picture looks like hanging either in your home or in an art gallery.

But people use the term in different ways, and I’ve covered the majority of them today.

Personally, I think of mental imagery as a kind of “inner language.” It’s non-linguistic at its core, but still semantic because of how iconic memory uses it to produce words.

One way or another, mental imagery appears to be a process that leads to either representation or action.

And if others happen to see the actions you take and remember them, then that too is another special kind of mental image. The brain is always monitoring and updating its knowledge of the world and we clearly need mental representation to do it.

Enjoy this intensely special aspect of your mind!

Time, Tech and Memory Palaces with Ronald Johnson of The Craft of Memory

The Craft of Memory Podcast and Substack are two of the best sources of information about memory techniques to appear on the Internet for a long time.

Ronald Johnson is behind both of them.

Join us on this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast as Ronald and I delve into the his best tips on using the Memory Palace technique.

We embed his specific experiences and tactics in a larger discussion of history, technology, society and even how streets and roads influence our learning lives.

As you’ll soon hear, Ronald Johnson is an incredibly knowledgeable mnemonist.

He’s also a passionate writer seeking to preserve the joy, beauty, and wonder of natural memory and mnemonics.

Join us now as we embark on a journey through time, technology, and advanced memory palace tactics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N53NP...

Time: Unveiling the Ultimate Secret of Memory Mastery

In our captivating discussion, Ronald and I dive deep into the realm of memory, unraveling the mysteries and exploring cutting-edge techniques that will revolutionize the way you remember information.

We start by addressing the crucial topic of time and its impact on memory.

Time, in its essence, is a double-edged sword.

While technology enables us to access vast amounts of information instantly, it also poses the risk of outsourcing our memory to devices. This can lead to digital amnesia.

To help you avoid that problem, or even worse issues (like Alzheimer’s), Ronald emphasize the importance of reclaiming the power of our own minds and uncovering the joy of natural memory.

Focusing too much on time can also make you miss the beauty of reflective thinking.

Although I’m not sure I agree with Ronald on one point he makes, he does provide a compelling way to think about rote learning I haven’t considered before. Given his take on the relationship between memory and time, he might just be on to something.

The True Art of the Memory Palace

One of the most intriguing aspects we delve into are some of Ronald’s advanced Memory Palace tactics.

As you probably already know, Memory Palaces have been utilized for centuries as one of the most potent mnemonic techniques. It allows you to store and retrieve vast amounts of information through the creation of vivid mental landscapes.

Ronald shares his expertise, guiding us through the intricate process of constructing memory palaces and maximizing their effectiveness. Prepare to be astounded as we unlock the secrets of this ancient art and discover firsthand how memory palaces can transform your learning experience.

The Craft of Memory:
A Unique Call to Embrace Memory Mastery

Ronald is truly unique in his approach to teaching memory techniques.

His writing awakens in me the joy, beauty, and wonder of memory, providing a refreshing and liberating take on freeing ourselves from the constraints of a forgetful age.

I’m confident that by listening to Ronald’s podcast, and especially reading his Craft of Memory Substack, you’ll find yourself adopting the techniques and insights in new ways.

Ready to revolutionize your memory?

Don’t miss out on Ronald’s transformative insights and the many practical tips provided through his media. Here’s where to find him online:

The Craft of Memory on Substack

The Craft of Memory on Apple Podcasts

The Craft of Memory on Spotify

From Nervousness to Mastering Tough Nursing Knowledge

Rose Szwed was doing great with some aspects of learning nursing fundamentals.

But some aspects were much harder to learn.

Especially phlebotomy.

Rather than give up after struggling with one nursing exam in particular, Rose looked for memory techniques online.

When she found the Magnetic Memory Method, she dove in and did exactly as I suggested:

She modified the high-powered mnemonics to her needs.

And then she took the exam she had previously failed and got 98.22%!

The best part?

On this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, Rose shares her journey and her incredible success.

Proper Mnemonics Make Mastering Tough Nursing Knowledge Much Easier

Phlebotomy is also known as venipuncture.

Although it appears simple enough, it involves a combination of semantic knowledge and procedural memory.

First, you have to know all the names of the veins. Then there are the steps involved. And the equipment names, like the cannula for drawing blood.

And it’s not just about drawing blood. There are also other uses, such as intravenous therapy. For that, pharmacology knowledge is also needed.

Then there are situations involving electrolyte imbalances and all manner of medical terminology.

That’s why nursing mnemonics are so precious for medical professionals who want to succeed.

At first, Rose found other Memory Palace books, but none proved particularly useful.

Why?

They usually lack depth. Especially when it comes to figuring out how to deal with advanced nursing topics.

Rose’s Body Memory Palace Solution

As you’ll hear in this episode of the MMM Podcast, Rose combined mnemonic imagery with one of the most direct and powerful of all ancient memory techniques.

Giordano Bruno talked about using Statues in Thirty Statues. It was his solution to dealing with the “chaos” of information overwhelm.

I’ve even turned my own body into a Memory Palace to memorize the classical solar system of the Renaissance period in Italy.

But unlike the way Bruno used bodies with references to mythological figures, Rose went with highly memorable bodies from stage and screen.

She used dynamic figures like Columbo, the detective played by Peter Falk. And Clark Cable in one of his most iconic movie roles.

Although this simple solution helped Rose score 98.22% on her test, what happened next is where the truth path of memory mastery begins.

That’s because Rose immediately started teaching others, one of the most important parts of a learning cycle you can complete.

Episode Highlights

Amongst many things that impress me about Rose’s uptake of memory techniques, she has led an interesting life!

Listen in as we discuss:

The benefits of reading with momentumRose’s past and previous goals with language learningThe value of using libraries for better memoryThe incredible opportunities awaiting people who master their memory

No matter what topic you’re studying, memory techniques can help.

If you’re completely new to the world of mnemonics. I suggest you start with the Memory Palace technique.

Here’s a free course you can take that makes it fun, easy and will start you off on solid ground.

Thanks for listening and if you’d like more of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, check out the previous episode on overcoming learning plateaus.

Struggling to remember even the most complicated information is simply not necessary.

How to Overcome Learning Plateaus with Memory Expert Tansel Ali

Learning is a fascinating journey, but sometimes we find ourselves stuck in a rut.

When this happens, you’re lingering in what we sometimes call a learning plateau.

It’s not fun because you feel like your progress has stagnated. And the enthusiasm that once fueled your learning endeavors seems to fade away.

Don’t you worry.

With the right mindset and strategies, it’s possible to break through these plateaus and continue your educational growth.

In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, Tansel Ali and I delve into the psychology of learning plateaus.

We explore effective techniques to overcome them and share our personal stories of learning everything from complex ideas in philosophy to getting our hands to perform difficult music.

Along the way, we empower you to reignite your passion for learning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ3g9...

Understanding the Psychology of Learning Plateaus

Learning is not merely about acquiring information.

To truly learn involves complex cognitive processes and cognitive training that impact your ability to progress.

When it comes to understanding how memory works as you learn, everything comes down to optimizing how mnemonics and other memory techniques allow us to retain and retrieve information more efficiently than something like rote learning.

What’s the one of the biggest obstacles you face?

It’s not dealing with boring topics.

Usually, it’s cognitive fatigue that makes it harder to absorb new knowledge effectively. It typically haunts you when you fail to:

Eat food that improves memoryAvoid food that is bad for your brainConsistently read books that make you smarterGet sleep and exerciseUse spaced repetition effectivelyFulfill your cognitive needs

Optimizing just that small list will help improve your ability to overcome learning plateaus.

However, if you have a fixed mindset, you will impede your own progress. This kind of thinking is characterized by the belief that intelligence and abilities are fixed traits. The good news is that intelligence is not fixed, so you can change.

All you need is a growth mindset that embraces challenges, views failures as learning opportunities, and believes in the potential for personal development. Reflective thinking helps too, especially with the next step.

Identifying Signs of a Learning Plateau

One common indication is a lack of progress or improvement despite consistent effort.

You may find yourself struggling to grasp new concepts or unable to apply knowledge effectively. Additionally, a diminished interest or enthusiasm for learning can indicate the presence of a plateau. When your passion wanes, it’s crucial to address the underlying causes and reignite your curiosity.

You could also be suffering depression, which suggests you need to see a doctor. Always seek help if you think you might have this kind of issue.

Analyzing the Causes of Learning Plateaus

Usually learning plateaus come from simple issues, however.

Often, you just haven’t challenged yourself enough. Or, you’ve taken on a challenge too big and led yourself into frustration.

In The Victorious Mind, I talk about balancing the Challenge-Frustration curve.

Working on balancing it ensures that your learning journey will never become too routine and predictable. Your mind will never disengage and you will never be hindered while learning new skills.

What else?

Unfortunately, there are many charlatans out there teaching ineffective learning strategies. They think you’re naive, so they teach you pseudoscientific strategies that can impede your progress.

I’m talking about subvocalization, incorrect approaches to skimming and scanning techniques and rubbish like photographic memory.

Those ideas can be interesting to look at if you want to read faster. But usually they just lead you into the plateaus you want to escape.

You also want to take into account factors like chaotic learning environments instead of optimized study locations. Insisting on studying in suboptimal areas can also contribute to plateaus.

Overcoming Learning Plateaus: Strategies and Techniques

There are a number of powerful accelerated learning techniques to choose from.

Let’s examine some of my favorite.

Deliberate Practice

Deliberate practice involves setting specific goals, breaking tasks into manageable chunks, seeking feedback, and making adjustments based on that feedback.

By focusing on deliberate practice, you will optimize the learning process and ensure steady progress. Joshua Waitzkin discusses how he mastered by chess and martial arts using this form of learning.

His book, The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance will help you set clear objectives, stay motivated and maintain a sense of direction.

Vary Your Learning Approaches

Monotony contributes to learning plateaus, so it’s essential to diversify what you learn and how you learn it.

Exploring different modalities, such as visual aids, audio materials, or hands-on experiences, stimulates engagement.

(Don’t worry if you have aphantasia. Some people disagree with me, but I’m convinced there’s an aphantasia cure).

When reading, I use interleaving every time. I literally switch between books normally every 15-20 minutes. It keeps my involvement high and it is a scientifically validated way to learn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U34n...

 

Cultivate a Growth Mindset

I cited a number of experts in my mental training post who promote working on a growth mindset. It truly is the foundation for continuous learning and personal growth.

Embracing challenges, setbacks, and failures as opportunities for learning is crucial to overcoming plateaus. By reframing failures as stepping stones toward improvement, you can adopt a resilient attitude and persevere through difficulties.

Nurturing a love for lifelong learning and understanding that abilities can be developed with effort and practice creates a positive environment for growth.

A lot of people don’t want to hear that they have to work on their “grit,” but it really is the case. If you need help, complete these mental strength exercises. Frankly, I don’t know where I’d be without them.

Become a “Metacognitive” Philosopher of Your Own Mind

Metacognition involves thinking about your thinking, reflecting on your learning process, and monitoring and adjusting your strategies accordingly.

I recommend you dive into this by spending some time learning philosophy. It’s probably the most important metacognitive practice out there.

By asking philosophical questions, you’ll be practicing metacognitive strategies. The process will make you a much more self-aware learner. Plus, you’ll read many fascinating philosophy books, and their challenges will naturally develop your ability to overcome plateaus.

Seeking Support and Accountability

You don’t have to deal with your learning plateaus alone. You can seek support and get accountability from others.

Your many choices include:

Engaging in peer learningCollaborating on projectsHiring a performance coachTaking a courseDiscussing on forumsStarting a group of your own and fulfilling the expectations of your membersCelebrating Progress and Milestones

Recognizing your achievements and providing yourself with rewards along the way is essential for maintaining progress. Celebrate each milestone, no matter how small. Every step signifies progress and growth.

Just be sure to choose your rewards well. Junk food will probably set you back and ruin the effort and dedication you’ve put into your learning journey.

Positive reinforcement with rewards that fuel your interests boosts confidence and propels you forward.

Can You Leave Your Learning Plateaus Behind Forever?

Ultimately, no.

Learning plateaus are a natural part of the learning process.

But as we’ve seen, they don’t have to hinder your progress indefinitely.

By understanding the psychology behind plateaus, identifying the signs, and implementing effective strategies, you can overcome these obstacles and continue your educational growth, just like Tansel and I have done.

If you want to know more about Tansel and his work, check out his homepage, his YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter.

And if you need more help embracing your challenges, fostering a growth mindset, and practicing deliberate, varied, and metacognitive learning techniques, get my free course now:

Remember:

It is possible to stay consistent. There’s no shame in seeking support, and celebrating your achievements along the way.

Learning is a lifelong adventure, and plateaus always present opportunities to soar to new heights.

Spaced Repetition Is The Best Study Hack: How To Use It Perfectly

Spaced repetition learning has a great reputation for one simple reason:

It works.

But there’s a big “if” when using any spaced repetition system.

You have to use this form of rehearsal correctly.

The good news is that it’s not hard to make sure you’re bringing the most effective approach.

And the correct way of applying this spaced learning tactic is exactly what you’re going to learn on this page.

The best part?

There are some unique ways you can apply this scientifically-valid learning approach to many things you might want to learn.

Once you get it right, this memory technique will serve you well. It will be your go-to learning tool for the rest of your life.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

https://youtu.be/2CthE_Napjg

What Is Spaced Repetition?

Spaced repetition simply means repeatedly exposing yourself to information and using active recall on an optimized schedule. In other words, “space” refers to the arrangement of time. And as a memory hack, it’s a legitimate alternative to cramming.

Scholars aren’t entirely sure, but the ancient poet Horace may have been the first to identify this principle when he reportedly said, “Repetition is the mother of learning.”

Here’s the problem:

People don’t like to repeat things over and over again. That’s called rote learning and it’s known to stunt critical thinking skills.

That’s why ancient memory techniques evolved: to optimize repetition in learning so repetition could be reduced.

But it’s not until Hermann Ebbinghaus released his study Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology that we get a scientific examination of just how many times you need to repeat information before it sticks. Basically, he memorized over 2000 nonsense syllables and worked out how much time it took him to forget them. There’s an online program you can use to try and memorize them yourself.

As Ebbinghaus put it, retention has a number, and this number can be increased by defeating what is now called the forgetting curve. Ebbinghaus first described this effect in 1885, and you can still read articles from scientists working to optimize how we repeat information.

Learning to use spaced repetition to defeat the Forgetting Curve started in earnest with the research of Hermann Ebbinghaus.

As Ebbinghaus tracked his rate of forgetting, certain principles emerged that enabled him to remember information for longer periods of time while at the same time reducing the required amount of exposure needed to retain the information. Spaced repetition thus entered its infancy.

How Spaced Repetition Learning Turns Your Brain Into a Powerful Memory Device

As Ebbinghaus and many other scientists have shown, looking at information you need to learn coupled with retrieval practice works to form neurochemical connections in the brain.

Scientists think that the majority of the bonds in your brain form while you are sleeping, a process known as memory consolidation. This is why you sometimes get the advice to study before you go to sleep.

Many people have worked out different repetition and retrieval patterns to try and optimize the system. Some people find that randomness works best, while other studies show that regular intervals provide much faster results.

Spacing the amount of time between exposure and recall is the core of the Pimsleur Method and learning software like Anki. It’s also at the core of the Leitner System and the similar Zettelkasten technique.

The Leitner spaced repetition system helps you manage your exposure by placing accurate and inaccurate flashcards in boxes.

Ultimately, scientists and memory experts don’t know exactly why spacing out our learning periods work. We just know that it does.

Even better, we know how to improve learning revisions sessions, which we’ll discuss soon.

How to Choose the Right Spaced Repetition Schedule for You

The first step is to choose how you’re going to engage in spaced repetition learning. You can do it by:

Manually setting the reviews times in your calendarFlashcardsUsing a spaced repetition softwareUsing a Leitner or Zettelkasten systemUsing a Memory Palace system

No matter what you choose, here are some suggested schedules.

Schedule #1: Irregular Spacing

When learning and coming back to the material, you can space out your exposure and retrieval in irregular doses. In other words, you can randomly choose to review material on an irregular pattern like:

After one dayAfter three daysAfter two daysAfter seven daysAfter five daysAfter one day, etc.Schedule #2: Regular Spacing

As cited above, some studies find that regular rehearsal patterns work better when you want to memorize something fast.

Dominic O’Brien, creator of the Dominic System for memorizing numbers, teaches what he calls the Rule of Five:

Once a day for five daysOnce a week for five weeksOnce a month for five months

There’s nothing magic about the number five, however. You could easily change it to two or seven. The point is that the intervals are regular instead of irregular.

I personally modify this approach for many of own learning projects by repeating new information 5 times a day for the first 5 days. I find this incredibly effective, especially for language learning or tough things like Morse Code.

Schedule #3: Blended Spacing

There are many kinds of information where you don’t have to choose irregular or regular spacing. You can combine the two for maximum effect.

Often, the blending will happen naturally. For example, if you’re using graded readers in language learning, you will naturally receive additional exposure.

A similar effect will happen when reading any book with terms you’re memorizing. You can revisit them on a regular pattern and also get random exposure as you study the topic over time. This kind of blended exposure is ideal whenever you can get it.

In other words, the best repetition schedule is really not one or the other, but both.

The Most Effective Way to Use Spaced Repetition

Once you’ve settled on how you’re going to use the spaced repetition method and decided on the scheduling, it’s time to optimize the entire process.

Many people make a huge mistake:

They simply expose themselves to the information they’re trying to learn. This activity is closer to rote learning, and although it can work, isn’t fun or all that interesting.

Here’s what to do instead.

Step #1: Elaborate While Learning

Never simply read the information. Always interact with it by using mnemonic imagery.

For example, if you’re learning a new word like “brachial plexus,” imagine stomping on brakes made out of plexiglass.

This process is called elaborative rehearsal and it makes information very sticky, very fast. To get better at it, give these elaboration exercises and visualization exercises try.

If you’re skeptical, Dr. David Reser and Tyson Yunkaporta have published research demonstrating that medical students who did this retained far more information than a control group.

In that study, participants used a journey method, which is like the Memory Palace technique. It’s well worth making mnemonic devices like that part of the elaboration process for best results.

And listen, if you can’t quite picture what I mean, here are some powerful Memory Palace examples for you.

Step #2: Let Your Chosen Amount of Time Pass

This part is simple. You really don’t have to do anything. You can go have fun with your friends, play games, music or check out a movie.

Or, as we discussed above, you can get some sleep to help your memories form faster.

Step #3: Recall Your Elaborations First

Here’s two errors a lot of people make:

They look at the information before trying to recall it during the next rehearsal, or…They try to recall the information without using their elaborations as part of the process

You can form memories faster by avoiding these two errors.

When it comes time to review your learning material, don’t look at your flash cards or spaced repetition software first. Instead, write out what you remember from memory first.

This challenge, which is part of active recall, will help you learn the material faster. It’s also a means of boosting your concentration as you study.

Even if you make a mistake, you will still benefit. In fact, making mistakes helps you learn faster because it causes you to think about what went wrong and how to fix the issue.

When writing out your answers, make sure it’s on paper. Research has demonstrated you will learn faster by using a notebook than a tablet or computer.

Step #4: Add Other Repetition Opportunities

I learned very fast in university because some of the places I used to study involved groups of my peers. We would talk about what we were learning and listen to each other. This simple act rapidly improved memory formation.

You can also seek out additional books, podcasts and video tutorials related to your topic.

Finally, write summaries as much as you can. You don’t have to build an elaborate blog to do this. You can leave comments on videos you’ve learned from or share in social media posts.

These are highly overlooked forms of spaced repetition that are very powerful. Please make use of them.

Step #5: Take Test Exams

No matter what you’re learning, you can find sample exams or come up with your own. Self-testing a fantastic form of spaced repetition that gives you rapid feedback.

In fact, you can manually schedule a bunch for yourself and automate reminders so you don’t forget.

Step #6: Visit Your Professor

One of my favorite unconventional memory strategies as a student was regularly taking advantage of office hours.

You might not naturally think of doing this as spaced repetition, but so long as you’re pulling what you’re discussing from memory, that’s what it will be.

And please don’t think this is weird. Teachers and professors regularly have refresher courses and go to conferences precisely because they too need repeated exposure to knowledge. They cannot keep it fresh in memory without themselves regularly visiting the topics of their expertise.

Start Using Spaced Repetition for Memory Recall

The truth is that we’re always repeatedly encountering different kinds of information that we already know.

Spaced repetition studying simply optimizes the process.

Please don’t worry about getting your first spaced repetition schedule 100% correct. It’s not a learning practice like that.

What matters is that you bring a decent amount of regularity to the process and that you use the specific steps we discussed above.

People who get poor results from this form of learning usually aren’t elaborating the material with mental imagery. Or they’re not recalling information in the flow you now know to use.

At first, you may find doing things this way a bit counterintuitive.

But don’t worry. Before you know it, you’ll feel like you’ve been doing it forever.

And you can apply it to rapidly learning many things in life. For example, I used it a lot when giving my presentations as a university professor. And it was an essential tactic for memorizing a speech I gave for TEDx in Melbourne.

Spaced repetition also has applications in the deliberate practice we use to learn music and choreography.

Wherever there is learning, there is space for highly optimized spaced repetition.

If you’re attracted to this process, check out how the ancient art of memory can help by grabbing your FREE Memory Improvement Kit now:

It will help you master the best spaced repetition system of them all:

The one you use purely in your mind thanks to the Magnetic Memory Palace technique.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to learn faster and remember more with the best that ancient wisdom and the contemporary science of learning has to offer?

Dive in and repeat with highly optimized spatial abandon!

What is a Mind-Mapping Method? The Ultimate Guide to Using This Powerful Tool

Do you ever wonder, “what is mind mapping” exactly?

Well, imagine you’re listening to a history lecture. Instead of taking notes, your fingers itch to make a mindmap of World War I events as you hear them.

But how do you draw mind maps?

And, can mind maps alone boost your memory, learning power, and creativity?

In this article, you’ll explore a complete guide to mind mapping, how to draw one, including multiple examples of mind maps. We’ll also examine whether mind mapping alone can improve your brainpower and creativity, and what else you can do.

Here’s what I’ll cover:

What is Mind Mapping?Benefits of Mind MappingWho, When, and How to Make a Mind MapTools You Can Use for Mind MappingCan Mind Mapping Alone Improve Your Memory?How to Combine a Mind Map with the Major SystemYours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch.

>>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.What is Mind Mapping?

Mind mapping is a simple, visual way to organize your ideas for better clarity and recall. Mind maps focus on only one central concept or idea and are based on radial hierarchies and tree structures.

What does all that mean? Let’s get into the details.

A Brief History and Definition of Mind Mapping Methods

The practice of drawing radial maps to map information goes back several centuries.

Some people credit the first mind maps to the 3rd-century philosopher Porphyry of Tyros. Ramon Llull, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Isaac Newton also used mind mapping techniques. Much later, in the 1960s, scientists Allan Collins and Ross Quillian developed the semantic network into mind maps.

However, it was psychology consultant Tony Buzan who first popularized the term “mind map.” Buzan drew colorful, tree-like structures called radial trees where a central topic branched out to several sub-topics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgG8G...

The Tony Buzan Learning Center defines their Mind Map® as “a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It harnesses the full range of cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, color, and spatial awareness – in a single, uniquely powerful manner.”

These pictorial representations introduced by Buzan are now being used by students, teachers, engineers, psychologists, and others in many ways.

So, what does a mind map look like?

Examples of Mind Maps

A mind-mapping exercise is colorful and engaging. And, the result looks analytical and artistic at the same time.

Here are some great examples of how fun and engaging mind maps can be. Some of them look messy — but look deeper and you’ll see they are examples of detailed trains of thought.

Source: Tony Buzan Learning Center

 

Source: MindMapArt

 

Source: MindMapArt

 

Source: BiggerPlate

These fascinating examples are colorful, though in some cases, also quite visually overwhelming.

That’s why I’ve pared down my own style, and am glad I got Tony Buzan’s seal of approval after doing so:

Anthony Metivier with a Buzan-style Mind Map

 

But you might be asking: aren’t these the same as spider maps, concept maps, and other such visualizations?

No. There are some key differences.

Why are Mind Maps Effective?

Nobel prize winner Dr. Roger Sperry’s research proved that visual forms of note making are more effective than written methods.

He showed that the brain is divided into two hemispheres that perform cortical skills like logic, imagination, color recognition, and others. These functions work in sync when you mindmap your thoughts, creating a lasting impression in your brain.

Mind maps are effective because:

They nudge you to ditch the usual, bullet-point style of thinking, which pushes you to use your creativity.They are presented in a brain-friendly format — and people can grasp the linkages quickly.They let you see the bigger picture.They keep you focused on key issues.They give you time for “diffuse thinking” as you pause to change colors and reflect on keywords and images.And, they help you retain and recall more information through patterns and associations.

Next, let’s look at why mind mapping can be beneficial.

Benefits of Using a Mind Mapping Method

Years of research have gone into testing the effectiveness of mind mapping.

In a 2005 study by G. Cunningham, 80% of the students agreed that mind mapping helped them understand science concepts better.

Paul Farrand proved the efficacy of mind mapping as a study technique and encouraged its use in medical curricula.

Mind maps are known to help you to improve your productivity at work, academic success, and even to manage your life.

Here’s how you could apply it in your day-to-day life:

Note Taking: You can map out notes from a podcast, a project discussion, or a seminar.Brainstorming: Helps in real-time collaboration with your team members to make informed business decisions.Studying: You can summarize books.Presenting information to an audience: Use it to get your team’s buy-in for anything through clear narratives.Problem-solving: Sometimes, it helps if you map out your current situation and your desired situation separately. This will help you come up with solutions easily.Increasing creativity: The words, images, and colors you use let you see the information from a very different perspective.Planning: Plan your holiday or your next sales strategy using mind maps.Language learning: Use a simple, 12-point mind map to combine 12 vocabulary words with the Major System. Here’s how:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I7h9...

Who, When, and How to Make a Mind Map

Now that you have a fair idea of mind maps, let’s understand who should use it, as well as when and how.

Who Should Use Mind Maps?

Mind maps are particularly helpful for those who:

Remember a visual image or a diagram better than written pieces.(Or need practice becoming more visual.Deal with lots of information or a project that needs more clarity.Need to brainstorm for ideas from others to build a bigger project or solution.

Mind mapping has also proven useful for dyslexic students and those with ADHD.

When Should You Use Mind Maps?

Create mind maps when you need to achieve some goal — to understand your course material or project better, or to assess the ideas from brainstorming sessions.

Remember — mind mapping isn’t the end goal by itself.

And don’t spend too much time perfecting it. If it takes too long, it may hamper your creative thinking.

How to Make a Mind Map

Drawing a mind map is pretty straightforward.

For example, if you want to prepare a meeting agenda take a blank page and follow these basic steps:

Draw a bubble in the middle of the page with the title of your meeting.Branch out with new bubbles from the central theme, with each branch representing the topics you want to address.Draw lines to connect each of them to the middle bubble.Add new ideas starting from the general to the specific.Repeat this for each subtopic branching out from the topics.Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch.

>>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.What are the Rules for Mind Mapping?

Mind maps are meant to be hierarchical and show relationships among pieces of the whole.

What are the guidelines you can use?

Tips for Drawing a Mind Map

Here are some mind mapping rules to make your mind map project expressive and compelling.

Use colors, illustrations, and pictures: Some of the most effective mind maps have more doodles and symbols than words.Keep the topics and sub-topics brief: Stick to a single word each, or just a picture instead of long phrases or sentences.Keyword for branches: Name your branches or lines using a keyword each.Use different text sizes and alignment: Provide as many visual cues as you can to emphasize important points.Use symbols: Draw symbols like arrows and shapes to classify your thoughts.Space it out: Leave enough negative space between your idea bubbles.Highlight important stuff: Highlight important branches or bubbles with borders or colors.Create linear lists: You can create linear hierarchies using bullet points and numbered lists.Mix up word sizes and fonts: Add in hierarchies of words using different font sizes to highlight their importance.Use varying cases: Use lower and upper cases to highlight the importance of ideas.

Every little effort you put into your mind map project will engage your brain. And, all these visual aids will make your mind map more memorable and easier to recall.

Now, do you draw mind maps on paper, or is there a diagramming tool to do it?

The answer is: both.

Tools You Can Use for Mind Mapping

You can draw mind maps by hand, just like note-taking during a lecture.

Or you can use websites or mobile phone apps to do it.

Traditional Mind Maps

Nothing is as comforting as putting pen to paper when an idea strikes you. This is, in fact, the simplest way to map your ideas.

It is your personal project — your thoughts, handwriting, and your doodles. You can create it yourself or in groups on a whiteboard during a brainstorming session.

The pen-and-paper method works perfectly most of the time, but it does have limitations:

You may not have enough space on the paper to expand your thoughts.You can’t make too many corrections.And, it may not always be presentable enough to share in a formal meeting.

The other option is to use mind mapping software — websites and apps.

Mind Mapping Software

Mind mapping apps and websites help you organize your ideas and store large amounts of data in a single location.

What makes for great mind mapping software?

The best mind mapping tools…

Allow you to create a wide network of ideas, facts, and connections.Let you make quick changes through automatic spatial organization and hierarchical structuring (particularly useful while brainstorming).Let you play with fonts and colors, and even drag and drop files into the mind mapping program.Which are the Best Mind Mapping Software Tools?

Here are three of the best online mind mapping tools available today:

1. MindManager by MindJet: This tool is for business users — a professional mind map maker with MS Office integration. You could even pick a mind map template in the tool to get started.

Source: MindManager

2. XMind: This mind mapping tool has a simple interface and is mainly for enterprise-level users. It lets you convert your mind maps to a Gantt chart that shows the start and end dates and progress of each task.

You can even use a countdown timer to time your sessions on this mind mapping software (this will keep you focused and will stop you from spending too much time mind mapping and brainstorming).

Source: XMind

3. Scapple: This mind mapping tool was built for writers by a writers group called “Literature and Latte.” It is easy to use and comes with great features (minus embedding audio and video).

With this mind mapping application, you’re not limited to starting with a central theme. You can begin with a small idea, then work backward to reach the main idea.

Source: Scapple

You could also experiment with an open-source free mind mapping tool like FreeMind or Coggle.

The point is this: there are a lot of options. For an example of one teacher who uses software and teaches with a specific focus on personal develop is Joseph Rodrigues. Here’s one of his best:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvDcP...

Mind Map + Memory Palace = Magnetic Memory

A mind map is an excellent non-linear visual representation of your ideas that mimics the way your brain thinks.

Once you master it (whether you use a notebook or a mind mapping software), you’ll never go back to linear note-taking ever again. But, mind mapping alone may not boost your brainpower as much as when combined with the Magnetic Memory Method. If you need more mind map examples, we have plenty.

Ready to use this combination to fire up your memory, creativity, and learning? Sign up for my free memory improvement kit today!

The 8 Best Memory Palace Books to Supercharge Your Brain

Are you looking for the best Memory Palace book to help you keep your memory razor-sharp?

Ask any search engine, and it will throw up plenty of memory improvement book recommendations with techniques that may or may not work for you.

Which one do you choose?

And, could there be any alternative ways to train your brain to remember and recall everything you want to?

In this article, I’ll give you eight Memory Palace book recommendations to make your search easier. I’ll also show you three alternative ways to sharpen your brain.

Here’s what I’ll cover:

8 Best Books to Learn Memory Techniques and Improve Your Memory3 Better Ways to Improve Your Memory

Let’s get started.

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch.

>>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.8 Best Memory Palace Books

Several authors – including Mira Bartok, Dominic O’Brien, and Joshua Foer – dive deep into the concept of Memory Palaces.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqZ8x...

Here’s my pick of 8 excellent books on memory improvement for you to read. A compilation of these could create a treasure trove of memory improvement ideas, including the art of building memory palaces.

Let’s get right to it with my first recommendation.

1. Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer

First published in 2011, Joshua Foer’s bestseller debuted at No. 3 on the New York Times bestseller list and stayed on the list for eight weeks.

In his engaging writing style, Foer will take you on a fascinating journey through how the mind of a memory champion works. He goes in-depth about the mnemonic techniques they use to store memories.

A freelance science journalist, Foer learned the technique of memory training while researching the US Memory Championship. At the contest, Foer observed how people would memorize an entire deck of cards in just a couple of minutes.

This fascinated him and got him thinking whether the skill could be learned. Foer discovered that individuals who aced memory contests used special strategies handed down from the ancient Greeks to visualize things.

Most people use Memory Palaces by visualizing a structure (such as their home) in their mind — these Memory Palaces usually have several different rooms and people inside who represent what they are trying to remember.

He decided to test his own memory power.

A year later, he won the US Memory Championships against champion ‘mental athletes’ who could memorize the exact order of ten shuffled decks of cards in less than an hour.

The book draws on thorough research, the history of memory studies, and various tricks of mental champions.

2. The Art of Memory by Frances A. Yates

Published in 1966, this book is still referenced in influential memorization guides and books today.

The author, France A. Yates, traces the development of the mnemonic systems from the Simonides of Ceos era through the Renaissance until the 17th century when scientific methods were initiated.

This is the oldest mnemonic strategy and is also known as the method of loci.

The book narrates the story of Simonides, who was hired by a nobleman to read poems during a banquet. After the reading, he was asked to go outside to meet someone. Before he could re-enter the banquet hall, it collapsed, killing everyone inside.

All the bodies were mangled beyond recognition. The story goes that Simonides used his memory to of every person that was killed. He realized the importance of recalling facts based on their locations or the method of loci.

These ideas hold good even now.

For example, if a defense lawyer needs to recall evidence during a trial, he can first create mental images of a place familiar to him – maybe his home – and peg each piece of evidence to a room. During the trial, he can then recall those pieces of evidence by mentally walking through his house.

But there’s more to it than memory stunts for winning court cases. Witness…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3GGc...

3. The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci by Jonathan Spence

In this book, the author explores the story of a Jesuit priest named Matteo Ricci who lived during the 16th century, and how he used special mnemonic memory techniques to convert the Chinese to Christianity.

The priest joined the new Catholic order, the Society of Jesus, in 1571 and studied law in Rome. At that time, the order was quite young and needed to widen its influence. To ensure this, it would send young priests into the world to convert people to Catholicism.

The story goes that Ricci became a willing member of that mission and sailed to China as a missionary. For more than three decades, he used his vibrant personality to convert the Chinese to Catholicism. I imagine he knew a lot about how to memorize speeches.

During his efforts, the Jesuit priest believed he could convert more people by impressing them with his learning. That was when he started to use mnemonic devices to memorize huge amounts of information.

One of his key tasks was to convey basic Christian principles to the Chinese people in a manner they could appreciate and learn from. So he turned to memorization techniques for help.

He taught the Chinese people the art of creating memory palaces through images in their heads, helping them store several pieces of information in their mind and be able to recall it later.

The images acted as a narrative or a story helping the Chinese understand the Bible and its teachings through their own cultural and spiritual norms.

4. How to Remember Anything by Mark Channon

In this book, memory grandmaster and author Mark Channon focuses on how a radically improved memory can add more value to anyone’s personal and professional life.

It is filled with memorization techniques that teach you how to recall numbers, dates, and facts, as well as ideas on how to remember them by using different processing strategies.

This makes the book one of the most practical ones on the art of memory improvement.

It comes with innovative exercises that can build the confidence and vocabulary of readers. It also includes core strategies that can make memories and mental images more ‘magnetic’.

5. Unlock Your Amazing Memory: The Fun Guide That Shows Grades 5 to 8 How to Remember Better and Make School Easier by Brad Zupp

If your children are struggling with learning in school, this book has plenty of ideas you could use.

It outlines powerful strategies that can improve memorization skills while making it a fun activity. The techniques teach them to remember what they see, read, and hear – three traits that can result in better grades and more confidence in classroom settings.

These strategies are scientifically proven and claim to have helped thousands of students — those who want to improve their grades, who are forgetful, lack motivation, prefer some subjects over others, feel stressed out or bored in class, and those who have a hard time completing their homework on time.

The book is based on The Feats of Memory show which is an assembly program that was created by the author, Brad Zupp himself. Teachers who have used his techniques say that it transformed the way their students processed their lessons and made tremendous improvements.

The guide also dives into the main issues that affect our attention spans – our memory and focus. This makes it especially useful for students in grades 5 to 8. Children in grades 3 and 4 can also benefit from it with some help from parents and teachers.

6. The Victorious Mind: How To Master Memory, Meditation and Mental Well-Being by Anthony Metivier

So maybe it’s cheating a little bit to include your own book, but if you’re looking for the best books to help you learn memory techniques it’s one I highly recommend!

The Victorious Mind tells the story of how I overcame the mental distress that imprisoned me in a “highly functioning manic-depressive” identity and almost took my life. I used just three practices to do so: self-inquiry meditation, memory training, and “biohacking.”

But more than a story of self-transformation, it offers detailed guidance through the techniques I used to release myself from the haze of lithium along with the illusion of self.

This book is ideal not just for those struggling with mental illness but for anyone suffering mental malaise – whether it’s digital amnesia and scatterbrain, depression, or “control freakism.”

Apart from these six, you could also read any other book on memory improvement you may find interesting.

One additional example is The Memory Palace: A Memoir by artist and children’s book author Mira Bartok, which talks about her traumatic brain injury after an accident, finding her mother who suffers from schizophrenia in a women’s shelter, and a poignant comment Bartok hears at her mother’s memorial service. Here, Bartok uses a Memory Palace as a metaphor.

7. Mnemonic Methods by Robert Fludd

Like Giordano Bruno, Robert Fludd believed it was possible to know and understand everything. That said, he also included a twist on the notion of “everything” by suggesting that we need to also know how to contend with two other things:

NothingnessIncoming information

The nothingness part is a bit complicated because he basically says that nothing is always a something. Philosopher Eugene Thacker has explained how this concept works in more detail than we need to get into here.

In Mnemonic Methods, translator Paul Ferguson has cut out everything from Fludd’s The Metaphysical, Physical, and Technical History of the Two Worlds, the Major as well as the Minor that doesn’t have to do with memory.

This helps us as readers focus only on Fludd’s mnemonic ideas, and they are powerful.

In brief, Fludd helps the reader establish:

Memory Palace systemsAlphabet pegwordsA number shape system

These days most of us memorize numbers with the Major Method and build that mnemonic system out to a PAO System. Nonetheless, Fludd’s mnemonic examples are great to go through and can help you arrive at ideas of your own.

8. The Hermetic Art of Memory

I was delighted when Lewis Masonic sent me The Hermetic Art of Memory. Here’s a full video review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArFTg...

I will endeavor to get a written version of that review up soon, and can tentatively announce that some of what I’ve learned from it will appear in my own next book.

But for now, let’s talk about…

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch.

>>> Click Here For This Special Free Offer.What To Do Next

All these books on memory are sure to give you a wonderful insight into the art of brain training using mnemonic techniques, including Memory Palaces.

However, let’s face the facts:

Learning something by reading a long book may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Unless you diligently make notes and push yourself to try out the instructions, your chosen Memory Palace book will end up being just a dusty one on your bookshelf.

What could be more achievable is this:  Make a few small lifestyle changes, or learn from online videos and courses that you can re-read quickly or listen to any time.

Here are three alternative ways to improve your memory based on lifestyle that could be far easier to implement. Work with these and you almost certainly will be able to read more books, more often and get more out of them.

3 Better, Alternative Ways to Improve Your Memory

A few lifestyle changes, and creating Memory Palaces using the Magnetic Memory Method regularly will help you sharpen your memory with just a little daily effort from you.

Let’s look at three ways you can do this.

1. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is about listening to your mind and body, being aware of your surroundings, and being completely present in the moment you live in. Mindfulness expert Jon Kabat-Zinn calls it “moment to moment non-judgmental awareness”.

Practicing mindfulness meditation for just 10-20 minutes a day can work wonders on your memory. You can also do it while doing your daily chores – just by stopping for a minute to take in the sensation of whatever you’re doing – eating a meal, walking to work, or driving down a busy road.

Mindfulness is known to increase blood flow to the brain. It can strengthen the network of blood vessels in your cerebral cortex and reinforce memory capacity.

Meditation reduces stress on your brain and can be effective in improving memory — even after a brain injury.

A recent study proved that mindfulness improves your working memory. A few participants spent a few weeks learning to focus on breathing and body sensations, being aware of what was happening around them, and redirecting their attention when they were distracted.

After this, they took memory tests that clearly showed an improvement in short-term memory and a slight increase in hippocampus volume.

And just so you know that I walk my talk on this one, here you see me recite 32 verses of Sanskrit in front of a live audience while meditating:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgNQ9...

It is really fun and made so much more powerful when you combine meditation with a Memory Palace strategy!

2. Try Word Puzzles and Games

Word puzzles like crosswords, word association games, and Scrabble can stimulate your brain. They activate parts of the brain that deal with vocabulary and word finding, forcing the brain to stay active. It can delay any cognitive decline due to aging and mental illness.

Research proves that using crossword puzzles to teach a second language is an effective strategy of vocabulary instruction. Paper-based and interactive puzzles are used frequently in language teaching, to make learning interesting for teaching spelling rules, lexical meanings, and synonyms.

Opt for the old-school way of doing it — use newspapers or puzzle books you can scribble on, rather than mobile apps that pop up distracting ads or tempt you to switch away to social media.

Remember to vary the type and difficulty of word puzzles frequently. Once you’re an expert at simple crosswords, go for more cryptic ones.

3. Build Memory Palaces using the Magnetic Memory Method

Memory Palace is a powerful mnemonic tool to develop and use your spatial memory in a way that unlocks the power of autobiographical memory, episodic memory, semantic memory, procedural memory, and more. You can also move information into long-term memory faster for years to come.

Building Memory Palaces using the Magnetic Memory Method will provide you with the ultimate organizational system for learning, committing things to long-term memory, and recalling anything.

The trick is to associate information to parts of a location you’re familiar with. This helps your brain file things to remember them easily.

So if you’re learning a new language, peg all words related to travel on your living room sofa, words related to the weather on your dining table, and so on. You could use familiar locations so that you spend your time in quickly memorizing a lot more information, and reduce cognitive load.

The more you practice mnemonic methods for learning and recalling vocabulary, routes, names, and so on, the easier the process becomes.

Improve Your Memory Magnetically with These Books on Memory Improvement

The six books on memory recommended above (and any others like the one by Bartok) will give you a good understanding of the history of memory improvement techniques and ideas on how to build Memory Palaces.

But, creating memory palaces regularly using the Magnetic Memory Method can be the quickest and most effective way to learn, memorize, and recall anything.

If you’d like to get started (for free), sign up for my memory improvement kit.

And before you go, please let me know:

What are your favorite memory improvement books?

Does Reading Make You Smarter?: 14 Books to Boost Your Brain

Does reading make you smarter?

Obviously “yes,” right?

In reality, the answer is more nuanced and quite surprising:

Reading always has an effect on your intelligence. But not always a positive one.

Today, we’re going to focus on the positive ways that reading boosts your intelligence, but one point will help us frame the discussion correctly.

And it’s an important one because history shows that dictators with dark agendas have used reading to make people duller.

For example, George Orwell wrote 1984 to highlight how propaganda worked in Stalinist Russia. Winston Smith works at the “Ministry of Truth” where his job is to remove the truth from newspapers.

As a result, citizens are subjected to rote learning en masse and their intelligence is harmed.

We need to keep Orwell’s allegory in mind when we think about how to improve our intelligence through reading.

With so many people glued to their devices and battling digital amnesia, it can be hard to know whether your reading choices are going to make you smarter or not.

That’s why today we’re going to look at exactly how reading can make you smarter. I’ll share some of the books that are most likely to do it.

Ready?

Let’s dive in!

Does Reading Make You Smarter?

Generally, consistent reading has been shown to improve cognitive ability.

And as Keith Stanovich famously showed with his Matthew Effects, children who we start off with strong reading skills develop stronger vocabulary and comprehension skills over time. Those who don’t, may have a hard time catching up. It’s like the old saying, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” but applied to reading. It’s worth reading his original paper on the matter.

But is Stanovich right?

Not necessarily, and that’s because reading isn’t just about young people. And reading to increase your intelligence is never just about reading.

Reading is just one part of a larger project. And it’s one you can start to help become smarter at any age.

In fact, one long-term study found that older adults enjoyed better cognition, critical thinking and verbal intelligence by reading consistently.

How to Read Consistently – At Any Age

When I was a kid, we used to have U.S.S.R.

(An ironic acronym, I know, given what I warned us about regarding Orwell’s allegory about Stalin in the intro.)

The teachers at my school used this term for:

UninterruptedSilentSustainedReading

No matter how distracting the modern world gets, U.S.S.R. remains one of my key ways to keep focused while reading.

Key point: taking the time to schedule time for uninterrupted reading is itself intelligent.

All you need after that is to make sure you have a solid note taking strategy and books that actually have the ability to boost your intelligence.

In a book called Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, Maryanne Wolf makes the point that you also need to “think beyond” reading itself. And I agree.

7 Ways Reading Books Makes You Smarter

What does it mean to go beyond reading?

Simple: good books that improve your smarts always get you to take action. Even if that action is nothing more than thinking about what you’re reading.

Here’s a list of things that books do to make your smarter and why additional action is always involved.

One: Exercise Your Imagination

I first read Orwell’s 1984 in grade 11. I don’t think my imagination had ever been stretched quite so far.

Imagining the scenarios described in a novel like that can’t help but make you smarter because they involve counterfactual thinking.

Many non-fiction books stretch the imagination too. Gödel Escher Bach, although quite old, still has many relevant things to say about math, self-reference and Artificial Intelligence. It uses images and short stories to help you imagine very difficult concepts and was so successful that it won a Pulitzer Prize.

Two: Increase Your Vocabulary

In my writing on how to read faster, I’ve shown the most likely way to pick up speed and still understand what you’re reading: More vocabulary.

The good news is that it’s fast and easy to memorize vocabulary.

That said, memorizing vocabulary comes with some conditions (each of which will make you smarter).

As Stanislas Dehaene makes clear in Reading in the brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention, kids and language learners also need to learn syntax and morphology.

Three: Connects You to Others

Even if you never talk to another person about what you’re reading, you’re still connected to the author.

But for maximizing the benefits, you’ll have conversations about what you’re reading. This will give your verbal memory a great workout while deepening your relationships.

Not only that, but people will be able to share their reading experiences with you. Often the best book recommendations come from conversations that spark memories and ideas in the minds of other readers.

Even if you don’t have a large circle of friends, there are local bookshop owners and librarians who love speaking about books. Don’t be shy.

Four: Improved Comprehension

Reading improves understanding in a couple of ways.

First, if you work on developing your vocabulary, you’ll recognize more words and the connections between them.

But reading consistently is also a form of spaced repetition that builds pattern recognition.

I mentioned Gödel Escher Bach, for example. When I later started reading The Road to Reality by Sir Roger Penrose, I noted similar ideas emerging. Without having done the previous reading, I probably would have gotten quickly lost.

Now, taking on challenging reading raises a “chicken or the egg” problem: When should you start taking on challenging reading and which are the best books to start reading?

For myself, I push myself a little to take on books I think are too hard for me. If I find myself understanding little or nothing, I then scale back and find a simpler introduction.

But usually, I’m able to keep moving forward, and Penrose thinks so too. He mentions the problem of people talking themselves out of continuing to read in The Road to Reality, and he’s right. At some point, you’ve got to read so that you might understand in order to break free of the chicken vs. egg loop.

Five: Epic Critical Thinking

One major reason people don’t think critically involves passive reading instead of active reading.

But the Renaissance memory master Giordano Bruno taught active reading using questioning – and he suggested we question literally everything. It’s a simple thing, but his ars combinatoria (technique of combinations) included a consistent pattern of asking what you read:

WhoWhatWhereWhenWhyHow

These questions are well known, and they will improve your intelligence – and that’s because intelligence is dynamic, not fixed. But only if you ask them while reading. So not asking questions like these is just one of several critical thinking barriers to avoid. Now that you know to keep asking these simple questions, you’re able to benefit a lot more from your reading.

Keep in mind that critical thinking also needs to be done when you’re not reading. As Bacon said:

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.

Many philosophy books need more digestion, so don’t be afraid to take your time. I’ve had many times when insights suddenly connected years after reading a book.

Six: Boost Concentration

When using the U.S.S.R. model, a key benefit is how reading without interruption improves your focus while reading. There are a number of tactics you can add, such as the “Thor’s Hammer” technique and the “Pinch technique.” I demonstrate both in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAsBO...

Seven: Self Esteem

There are many other benefits to reading. But one of the smartest that makes reading worth your time is how reading can make you feel better about yourself.

As in all things, what you read needs to be considered.

And let’s face it, if something you read makes you feel badly about yourself, you might have dopamine issues or other problems that reading can’t fix.

But generally, a wide variety of reading will help you encounter the many aspects of humanity, good and bad.

The more you extend your field of reference, the more you’ll see yourself in the larger context of humanity. Even just picking up seemingly trivial facts can help you discover new ways of thinking and activities to try and it’s hard for your self esteem not to go up.

With all that in mind, let’s look at some of my favorite reads for increasing intelligence.

14 Books to Read to Increase Your Intelligence

Before we get into this list, it’s important to understand that finding the best books comes down to your goals.

Ask yourself: “What do I want to get smarter about?”

From there, reading on any topic is pretty much a win-win, provided that you’re consistent. You’ll quickly learn who the leading experts are. And even if you read something poor in quality or depth of understanding, you’ll start developing the pattern recognition needed to spot that.

In other words, there are no bad books. Only opportunities for reflective thinking after reading anything on your list.

Okay, enough advice. Here are some books I think anyone will benefit from on the quest to be smarter in a variety of areas.

Happiness Beyond Thought by Gary WeberMastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock HolmesThe Brain that Changes Itself by Norman DoidgeLearning How to Learn by Barbara Oakley and Terence SejnowskiIntellectuals and Society by Thomas SowellPrinciples by Ray DalioMemory Craft by Lynne KellyInfinity by Brian CleggPlato’s RepublicThe Evolution of Modern Metaphysics by Adrian MooreCreating Great Choices by Jennifer Riel and Roger L. MartinHow Enlightenment Changes Your Brain by Andrew Newberg and Mark WaldmanInquiry into Existence by James SwartzThe Knowledge Illusion by Steven Sloman and Philip FernbachHow to Use chatGPT To Get Great Book Recommendations

I could list many more books that have made me smarter, but let me suggest this in the age of chatGPT. Create a template for the topics you want to know more about. Like this:

Please ignore all previous instructions. You are an expert researcher who finds books to help keep the world’s smartest professor keep getting smarter.

I want you to find 20 of the best books on [insert your topic] in the [insert your preferred] language. Please make sure that 10 of the books are less common, but still come from respected sources. In other words, what are the books recommended by the best [insert your topic]? Make sure the recommendations come from experts with substantial credibility and a proven track record of making ideas accessible to the public

Do not self reference. Do not explain what you are doing.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find some books I didn’t know about when using this template for a variety of topics.

Common Questions Answered

Now let’s have a quick Q&A to help us sum up.

How Does Reading Make You Smarter?

Reading specifically makes you smarter when you set goals and seek books that help you fulfil those goals.

It’s really that simple.

After that, it comes down to improving your vocabulary, increasing your pattern recognition and using reading to help you connect with others better.

Reading also helps you set more goals in the future, usually with more focus and specificity thanks to the compound value of continuing to read based on specific goals in a consistent manner.

How Often Do I Have To Read To Get Smarter?

Technically, you can get smarter by not reading at all. For example, we know from deliberate practice studies that you can improve your intelligence about painting simply by painting more in more environments.

Speaking of painting, I watched videos on both Photoshop and AI image generators to collaborate with the Internet itself to make the image at the top of this blog post. Some reading was involved, but the learning cycle needed a lot more in order for me to develop the necessary skills and abilities.

So there’s no “cookie cutter” answer to this question. You either want to read as much as possible with consistency towards a goal (including the goal of pleasure). Or you want to figure out the minimum doses you can take and use a technique like interleaving.

When I use interleaving, I read in blocks of 15-20 minutes before switching to another book or another task altogether.

Other than that, I make sure to read daily. As much as I possibly can.

Does Reading Increase IQ?

I believe that reading could well increase IQ.

The problem comes down to your willingness to establish a baseline and then take IQ tests repeatedly.

Is this the best way to test whether or not your reading has improved your intelligence?

I personally could not be bothered because having discussions with others and applying my reading to completing specific goals is a much better testing method.

If I read a book about writing and produce a better book, does it really matter if it increased my IQ? I think not.

What Kinds of Books Make You Smarter?

This again comes down to choosing the right goals to complete a particular goal.

Generally, you want books written by:

Good researchersClear communicatorsWriters with credibilityWriters with unique perspectives

All of these qualities are fulfilled by a variety of publishers, both on the mass market and amongst independants.

For example, I recently read The Nomads at Large by Monte Dwyer. He’s an Australian journalist who started his own publishing outfit and does what you might call immersion journalism for some of his books. I saw his table in a shopping mall, chatted with him for a few moments, and knew he was a writer I wanted to read.

Just one of his books made me smarter about a specific group of people in Australia, about Australia overall and about his career as an indie author. I’m especially impressed by his ability to write so well and produce such nice looking books on his own – so I also learned through observation how I can do better myself. Heck, I even got smarter about what kinds of companies exist in Australia by reading his colophon page.

All of which is to say that books perfectly suited to make you smarter are everywhere around you. Having goals is always great, but if you keep your eyes open and talk to indie authors, you can find yourself getting smarter about topics you didn’t even know existed.

Why Does Reading Make You Smarter?

At the end of the day, writing makes you smarter for the same reasons it can possibly threaten your intelligence:

Connection.

I used to reject the idea “garbage in, garbage out.”

But there’s truth to it.

Just as your body and mind react poorly to foods that are bad for your brain, if you constantly read poorly researched books filled with poisonous ideas, you might “know” more and remember that kind of content. But you won’t be smarter, even if memory bias makes you feel like you are.

When you read a variety of materials to build your pattern recognition and stretch your critical thinking muscles, you’ll be able to discern what’s good and what’s bad. And just as someone who maintains their diet can tolerate the occasional junk food from time to time – and even enjoy it – you can intelligently enjoy even those books that are filled with toxic ideas.

And if you’d like help remembering more of what you read, please consider getting my free memory improvement course:

These are the tips I use day in and day out to remember more of what I read. That way, I’m able to not only retain the information, but also think about it in a reasoned manner.

Our species still needs to read intelligently (because memory and intelligence are connected), and also listen and view with our best critical capacities switched on. I hope these suggestions help you out and I wish you much more pleasure and positive outcomes as you continue to read in this fascinating world of ours.

Secrets of the Massively Distributed Memory Palace with Richard Rubin

Imagine memorizing seven decks of playing cards.

Now imagine knowing the location of each card in each deck by number. In other words, if someone names the 2 of clubs, you know how far down in the deck it is, such as the 27th card from the top.

Now, you might be thinking…

How the heck is that going to help me pass an exam, get a raise or learn a language?

Magnetic Friends, I believe that memorizing cards will help you in multiple ways that directly relates to each of these goals.

In fact, it’s one path towards what Richard Rubin calls the Massively Distributed Memory Palace.

And that’s exactly what we talk about in this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, amongst other topics of interest:

Harry LorayneBruno FurstThe implications of AI for mnemonistsMemory Palace books and linguistics booksAncient memory techniques and more modern approachesMnemonic imagery in the context of phonics, reading and the implications for comprehending mnemonicsMemdeck considerations, including the Tamariz stack

And of course, Richard’s take on the Memory Palace technique.

Who is Richard Rubin?

Richard is a memory athlete with impressive stats.

He also creates incredible and fun memory demonstrations, often based around magic and mentalism:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8onV...

I think his ideas are fantastic and his insights into memory improvement profound, so I suggest following him on YouTube. And check back here for a link to his forthcoming website when it’s ready.

The Massively Distributed Memory Palace

I’m going to let Richard explain this himself, so please enjoy the conversation.

And the cool thing are the connections to other mnemonic strategies I’ve seen before. For example in Giordano Bruno’s writing and especially the mnemonic writings of Robert Fludd.

What I love so much about this conversation, is that Bruno himself once said that those who think enough about mnemonics will reach similar, if not the same conclusions. It’s a lot like how magicians independently arrive at various moves and wind up calling essentially the same thing a different name.

This point is important because the more teachers we have, the more people will discover the fundamental logic that supports all learning assisted by elaborative rehearsal, properly optimized spaced repetition and tactics like chunking.

My belief is that the Mnemonics Renaissance given full steam by Tony Buzan with the memory competitions and massively supported by books like Moonwalking with Einstein is only going to continue growing.

So my hat is off to Richard and I hope you’ll support him along with all the other great memory athletes and teachers who are out there doing great things to inspire and encourage others.