Joe Riggs's Blog, page 6

New Review from WellReadSherlockian.com! A VERY Interesting Look at my New Book!

This is one of the most interesting reviews of my book I’ve received so far. Not only did Leah take her time to dive deep into my life, she also dove very deep into her own as well as the canon; all which culminate in a most fascinating and thrilling review. I am extremely honored and deeply flattered by the words she obviously put an immense amount of thought and feeling into. Thank you so much Leah Guinn!    Click the title or the image below to see her full review!

Leah Guinn of WellReadSherlock.com Reviews:
Joe Riggs. The Real Sherlock Holmes: The Mysterious Methods and Curious History of a True Mental Specialist. 

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Mom, I wish you were alive to see your dreams come true. I miss you so much. Thank you for Sherlock, Knowledge & Style.

[image error]Today is my mothers birthday. Her name was Dezirae Riggs. She’s been gone three years now. She made me who I am today.

Being raised by psychic readers had a profound effect on me. While they are fake, I was raised by the best of the charlatans. The skills I learned as a young child would form the foundation for who I would become. Mom never knew buying me all those Sherlock Holmes books would turn me away from the very beliefs she had taught me.

My lifelong obsession with Sherlock Holmes is what saved me from their superstitious beliefs and caused me to analyze what it was, I was really doing. Not only that but to break it down and figure out how to use those same skills, for the good of people, rather than to prey upon people. In her latter years, she left those beliefs behind and adopted logic and reason as her way.

Sherlock Holmes is not just a character, he is a way of life. My mothers biggest dream was to become an Author. She never saw her dream come true. However, I feel I have made her proud. Not only becoming an author, but writing the very story, in essence, that changed both our lives. I love you mother. You were crazy, brilliant, outspoken, bold, fearless, sarcastic & witty. So glad none of that rubbed off on me. Miss you Mom.

Here is a perfect example of how my mother, forced me to look cool for school. She, was the coolest.

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Phonetic Encoding: A Linguistic Upgrade For Your Mental Hard Drive

 ”This is my hard-drive, and it only makes sense to put things in there that are useful. Really useful. Ordinary people fill their heads with all kinds of rubbish, and that makes it hard to get at the stuff that matters! Do you see?” -Sherlock Holmes | The Great Game (BBC Series)

Sherlock is right, so let’s put something tremendously useful in there. Right now.
You have thirty seconds to COMPLETELY memorize the following number:
64575307205111718
Seem impossible? What if I said 90% of you already know it by heart?
Interested yet? We’ll come back to this number later. It will look very different…

 

[image error]In the past, many experts were fond of describing memory as a sort of tiny filing cabinet full of individual memory folders in which information is stored away. Others likened memory to a neural supercomputer wedged under the human scalp. But today, experts believe that memory is far more complex and elusive than that; and that it is located not in one particular place in the brain, but is instead a brain-wide process.

They say, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” but when it comes to the brain, scientists have discovered that this old adage simply isn’t true. The human brain has an astonishing ability to adapt and change, even into old age. This ability is known as neuroplasticity. With the right stimulation, your brain can form new neural pathways, alter existing connections, and adapt and react in ever-changing ways.

The brain’s incredible ability to reshape itself holds true when it comes to learning and memory. You can harness the natural power of neuroplasticity to increase your cognitive abilities, enhance your ability to learn new information, and improve your memory. The best part is that it’s not nearly as complex or difficult as you may think!

By the end of this article, you will be able to do things you’ve never been able to do before. If you follow along you will be learning one of the most powerful mental techniques in use today. What I am saying is not only true, it’s surefire. All you have to do is follow along closely, and try. You’ve already memorized the number at the top of this article, so you’re off to a good start. We’ll get back to that number a little later.

You are about to amaze yourself while unlocking the unlimited power of your own mind…

Phonetic Encoding…

Numbers, or digit strings, are considered by many mnemonists and cognitive scientists to be the most difficult data [image error]to memorize. If they are both so abstract and difficult, how did Hideaki Tomoyori of Japan memorize “pi” which most of us know to mean approximately 3.14, to more than 10,000 specific decimal digits further than that? The answer is phonetic encoding, or translation of the abstract to the concrete. Hideaki used what I’m teaching you, here. You will only have to learn NINE pieces of information, and that is it. Let’s keep going…

The average person can only hold seven or fewer numbers in their working memory at any given time, using vocal repetition as an aid. Using phonetic encoding, you could memorize all of the area codes in the United States within a 24-hour period. (or your equivalent) By encoding abstract data first as letters or sounds, then as nouns, one can accurately store and recall hundreds of items (images) both forwards AND backwards at the same speed.

This introduction to phonetic encoding will provide an overview of the consonant system mnemonic, which encodes numbers as consonants of the English language. In this system of encoding, neither vowels (“a, e, i, o, u”), nor the letters “w,” “h,” or “y” have any numerical value. Numbers are converted into consonants, which are then associated with nouns and images that you create. Hang in there, friends, the examples make this method simple to learn and use.

Here are the simple encoding pairs that Tomoyori used to recall 10,000 numbers without error. Numbers are encoded as indicated below, and suggestions for remembering the pairings are provided in parentheses:

1. t or d (both like 1, have a single downstroke)

2. n (two downstrokes)

3. m (three downstrokes)

4. r (the last letter of “four” is “r”)

5. L (you have five fingers on your Left hand)

6. j, ch, soft g, sh (“J” is a near mirror-image of “6″) (Ex: Jelly, CHips, garaGe, SHoe)

7. k, hard g, hard c (“7″ side-by-side with a mirror image form a sideways “K”) (Ex: Kite, Goat, Cat)

8. f, v, ph (“8″ is similar to the lower-case cursive “f”) (Ex: Flame, Vest, graPH)

9. p or b (9 is a mirror-image of “P”)

0. z, s, soft c (0 signifies “zero”) (Ex: Zipper, Scarf, iCe)

Using the above conversion table, 8209 could equal “fan” (82) and “soap” (09), thus a ‘fan of soap.’ Numbers are converted to words by the phonetics (sounds), and spelling is unimportant. Thus: 8762 = FKSHN = fikshun = fiction (vowels possess no value). Use whichever vowels you want. If you then place similar images at 20 preselected locations (Pegs), you will memorize 80 numbers with ease. You can learn exactly how to do that in my article ‘The Memory Palace – From Sherlock Holmes to Designing Your Own.’

Likewise, repeated letters are represented by a single number unless two separate sounds are made: 3230 = MNMS = Minnie Mouse (“nn” represents the single 2)

Phonetic Encoding can and has been used to learn 500 foreign vocabulary words in a single 12-hour session or memorize all of the ticker symbols on the New York Stock Exchange. Increase your recall capacity by 500% and you can literally quintuple your lifetime learning capacity. Learn to efficiently encode the abstract and the results can, and are, almost superhuman. You may want to start by converting phone numbers you already know into words and then images. Then take the next step and file those away in your Memory Palace. I can not begin to list the things you will use this for if you apply this technique. Let your mind run free with the possibilities. Here is one:

Remember This…  64575307205111718 ???

I said earlier that 90% of you likely ALREADY have this number memorized… Take another look.

6457 530 72051 11718
Sh, R, L, K, L, M, S, C, N, S, L, T, D, T, C, T, V

Now we just sound that out and add the missing vowels….

SHeRLocK hoLMeS CoNSuLTing DeTeCTiVe

I told you that most of you already had that SEVENTEEN digit number memorized….

Consider The Implications

Deduce how easily you can now memorize long, seemingly random numbers. When you have to memorize a number, no matter how long it is, you can now break it down into consonant sounds that then will suggest words to you. You get to choose your own words so have fun with it. You are becoming a genius, by the way!

You can take the words that your number suggests to you and turn them into a sentence, whether it is coherent or nonsensical. You will remember this phrase and be able to decode it back into the number when needed. OR…

If you employ a Memory (Mind) Palace, you can skip making a sentence and attach each word to a peg in your memory palace. Just be sure to peg them in the order you walk through your palace, or your number is not going to come out in order. That is rather obvious to those of you using a Memory Palace. The sky is the limit!

I have a surprise for you…

You’ve just completed some rather intricate learning. You deserve to be rewarded! I’m about to do something I’ve never done before. I’m going to TEACH you one of the Mentalism routines from my professional repertoire!

Phonetic Encoding with a Dash of Deception

Amaze your friends by mixing a bit of Deception with your new Phonetic Encoding skills!

EFFECT:

You approach a person or group and ask if anyone has a Dollar, or whatever common currency applies to where you live. When they begin to search for the dollar you take a few steps back while turning your head the other way and tell them “Wad that dollar up into a tiny ball, let me know when you’ve done that.”

When they assure you that they have completed your strange task, you explain that you’re going to play a little game of ‘guess which hand it’s in.’ As you do this, you take the crumpled bill from them, mix it up behind your back, and put both hands outstretched in front of you. Then, you ask them to guess which hand it’s in. Regardless of whether they are right or wrong, you compliment them on either their victorious result or valiant effort, and give them back their bill.

Next, you tell them you will play the exact same game. You let them mix the bill up in their hands behind their back, and to tell you when it’s okay to look. Using your best deductive and people-reading skills, really try to figure out which hand it’s in. It doesn’t matter if you’re right or wrong, because this is all a distraction for the miracle that is about to take place.

Play the game with them three to five times, at your discretion. When you win, feel free to give them a breakdown of how you deduced which hand held the bill. Even if you guessed, give them a plausible set of reasons with which you arrived at your conclusion. When you are wrong, you either explain that you are still establishing a baseline with them, or compliment them on their soon-to-be short-lived victory.

Now, it’s time to snap their minds!

Take a few steps back, and tell them you’d like to try something more psychologically challenging. You tell them for the first time to unfold their bill, and to hold it up close to their face where you can’t see it. Remind them that only one thing makes every bill unique, and that’s the serial number. You then ask them to have a peek at the first number in the sequence, and then look you directly in the eyes. From this moment forward, you will never be wrong. This is where you can redeem yourself if your deductions went horribly wrong in the earlier part of the game.

At this point, give them a strong analytical look, and correctly name the digit they are thinking of. This will impress them, but they’re not yet amazed. You continue to repeat this procedure until you have correctly named every digit in the serial number via what seems to be your uncanny ability to read their facial expressions. People are always completely shattered by this feat.

THE METHOD

1. The Game: While I instructed you to guess during the ‘which hand is it in’ phase, I rarely guess. The more you do this, the more you will notice the signs people give off that indicate which hand the bill is in. Here are a couple of quick tips to improve your accuracy:

    A. The nose knows. You will find that around 70% of the time, people’s noses will slightly lean toward the guilty hand; the hand concealing the bill. To be quite honest, I can’t count the number of times I’ve won every round of the game, using this method, alone. Don’t underestimate it.

   B. This one might seem a bit unusual, but you’ll begin to notice that people’s thumbs tend to be in different positions, and that is the only thing on their hands that doesn’t mirror one another. This does not tell you which hand it’s in, until you’ve made your first guess. Depending on whether you were right or wrong, you can then deduce what their thumbs were trying to tell you, and adjust accordingly in the following rounds.

    C. There are many different tics and tells that can tip you off in this game. You’ll start to notice these for yourself, and gather your own data. The results never cease to amaze me. I would love to hear back from those of you who actually try this, as to what data you were able to assess and what worked the best for you.

2. The Serial Divination: It brings me enormous joy to share with you this deceptively cunning ruse, which combines the skills you’ve just learned about phonetic encoding with a dash of trickery.

     A. Before leaving the house, using Phonetic Encoding, take one of your own bills and memorize the serial number. As outlined above: break down the numbers into consonant sounds, then the sounds into words, and then create a phrase that will be easy enough to remember. For those of you who are already thinking, ‘why not just memorize the number using brute force, as it’s not an exceptionally long number?’ Take it from this Mentalist: in the heat of the moment, when the adrenaline is pumping and all eyes are on you, it is then that you will have wished you had only needed to memorize a phrase rather than a series of random numbers. By memorizing a number ‘cold,’ you are putting yourself in the unnecessary position of having the memory of that number slowly deteriorate with every moment that goes by. The same is not true for a phrase.

     B. After you have memorized your bill’s serial number, wad it up and put it into your back pocket. That is where it will stay until it is needed.

     C. The switch: if you remember, the first thing you do in this routine is to have them wad their dollar up and hand it to you, so they can try to guess which hand it’s in. They always start the game. This is where you utilize the easiest switch I’ve ever developed. While your hands are safely behind your back, allegedly mixing the bill up in your hands, what you actually do is retrieve your memorized bill from your pocket while ditching theirs in your pocket. This happens comfortably under the guise of your mixing the bill up, and this is a beautiful moment. All you have to do now is let them take a guess, and whether they are right or wrong give them “their” bill back. They now have your bill, and all the dirty work has been done. The purpose of the game is time misdirection. You are creating as much distance as possible between the time you touch the bill and the revealing the serial number to them. The game accomplishes this, beautifully. Most people tend not to remember your ever having been involved with the bill at all. This is due mainly to the fact that the only time you do handle the bill is under the pretense of explaining the game to them, and letting them have the first go. By the time you get to the end of the routine, too many significant things have taken place for them to remember the insignificant moment at the beginning, when the switch took place.

Thank you all for your continued support. May the techniques you’ve learned serve you well, and may the deception you’ve just learned destroy your friends. I look forward to reading your comments. Happy encoding!

-Joe Riggs