Master of Memory: Accelerated learning, education, memorization - MMem 0304: Reprise: How do you memorize long numbers with a toolbox of 100 mnemonics?

Episode Date: May 7, 2015

Today Timothy revisits the question on memorizing long numbers with a toolbox of 100 mnemonics, with some extra comments on how he would change his answer today. What do you want to learn? Leave your question at http://MasterOfMemory.com/. Music credit: Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet, 2nd movement, performed by the US Army Band.

This is a reprise episode of episode 31 on memorizing long strings of digits. So basically we're just doing some reprise episodes while I'm out on sabbatical. On this particular episode, the only modification I would make is to emphasize the value of having a major-based system of pegs instead of just a hundred anonymous, you know, names and actions and objects that don't have really anything to do with the numbers themselves. So I like to base the pegs on the major system, like the number 33 would be based on MM for a name like Miami or something like that. Now enjoy episode 31 as it was originally released last April. Welcome to Master of Memory. I'm Timothy and I'm here to answer your accelerated learning questions every day and to inspire and empower you to learn anything you want to learn faster than ever.

Today's question is from Tucker. Hello, Tucker here. As you know, I've been using the major system for a week now, and I'm able to memorize phone numbers in just a few seconds. My question is about what you told me to do to associate names to all numbers from 0 to 99. And my question is, how does that help you memorize even larger numbers? Can you memorize like a matrix of numbers? And how do I know I'm not going to get them mixed up? Thanks for the question, Tucker. Yeah, so what Tucker's talking about here is methods for

memorizing large numbers. And Tucker has been using the major system, which turns any digit into a consonant so that you can turn a string of numbers into a word. Numbers aren't very easy to remember for most people, but letters and words in particular are much easier to remember. So if you turn a string of digits like 957302 into consonants using the major system, you would get BULKMZN, which you could turn into words by putting vowels in between any vowels you choose. And you could maybe have something like bellyache Amazon or something memorable like that. I mean, bellyache Amazon is a lot easier to remember than 957302. So that's the major system. Now what Tucker's talking about is we were conversing on a forum and he's asking

about memorizing larger numbers more quickly. And I recommended that he choose a hundred memorable characters to associate with all the numbers from zero to 99, which is something that I've done personally, and I can memorize large numbers really quickly. So the question is, if you have all these 100 characters from 0 to 99, how does that actually help you remember a number that's, you know, really long? Because basically, you'd have to break it up and create a matrix of, you know, really long because basically you'd have to break it up and create a matrix of, you know, two digit groups, right? So the question is, how do you do that? And how do you keep from getting different parts of that number mixed up? So let's go back to that 957302 and try to memorize that really quickly. For me, 95 is Mr. Peabody from the, you know, Rocky and Bullwinkle show. 7-3 is Roadrunner from Looney

Toons. And 0-2 is Jane Eyre. Those are three memorable characters, right? Or at least they are for me. So the trick is now just going to be to remember them in the right order when I want to think of this particular number. What I would do is I would use a memory palace and place them in a correct order so that I can remember what order they're in. Let's say I have a memory palace in a nearby park that starts at a park bench, goes to a piece of play equipment, and then there's a set of swings right after that. All I have to do is imagine each character in each of those places. So in the first place, the park bench is Mr. Peabody. And maybe he's, you know, in the wrong time period or something because he's a time traveler. And so I'll imagine him, you know, looking around the park bench as if there's something wrong with it.

And then to remember that the second place is 7-3, I would imagine the Roadrunner running up a slide away from Wile E. Coyote or just running up a slide away from Wile E. Coyote, or just running up a slide anyway. And then for the swing set, I just have to imagine Jane Eyre is on the swing, or maybe she's falling off the swing, because that makes it a little easier to remember, and she's getting little pieces of wood in her hair, you know, wood chips from the playground. So that would help me remember 957302, because I'm placing each of those characters along the path. Just choose a bunch of locations and place a different character in each place. Now it doesn't stop there. For even faster memorization, you could memorize not only a hundred characters, but also a hundred verbs and a hundred objects. What happens if you do it this way is that for every six digits, you read that particular character is doing some particular action with a particular object.

For example, 926403. For me, that means that Hermione from Harry Potter, 92, is swallowing, 64, an English horn, 03. And that's a fairly memorable image, Hermione swallowing an English horn. And for me, that means 926403. So any six digits tell just one quick little story that's easy for me to remember. What this means is that, you know, they add up.

So just six digits in five different places with six digits each, or one story in each location, is a total of 30 digits. So all I have to do is read a number that's 30 digits long, and it immediately places a funny little memorable story in five different places in a memory palace. And so I can memorize a 30-digit number really quickly, usually in about a minute, often less. So Tucker or anybody else, if you want help finding mnemonics that work for you or have any other questions about memorization and learning, go to masterofmemory.com, sign up for email access, and shoot me a question. Or leave me a voicemail like Tucker did at masterofmemory.com slash question, and there's a good chance you'll be featured here on the podcast. All right, I hope you've enjoyed this reprise episode. For anyone who has any questions about learning or memorizing anything faster than ever,

feel free still to leave a message at masterofmemory.com slash question, and I'll be able to respond quickly to your message from wherever I am. I just won't be able to record an episode on that topic until I'm back in the States in May. Meanwhile, if you want to support the show, please check out our Spanish course at masterofmemory.com. Or if you want to follow my adventures in Argentina or wherever else I might happen to be, you can do that at timothymososer.com