Master of Memory: Accelerated learning, education, memorization - MMem 0373: Card deck memory palaces: Two images per location

Episode Date: August 12, 2015

Nick asks about memorizing card decks using a memory palace with two images per location. Nick wants to memorize multiple decks of cards without needing 52 locations for each deck. How can he combine images in each loci? BONUS: Here’s a quizzing set you can use to memorize the key words of this poem: Memorize strange […]

Master of Memory 373. 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. Nick submitted a written question at masterofmemory.com slash question. Nick says, when memorizing a deck of cards, I place one image in each Loki. Therefore, I need a journey of 52 Loki for each deck of cards. I would like to place two images in one room or Loki.

When I try this, I have a problem memorizing the two images. I tried to link them in addition to other methods without success. I do okay with the one image per Loki. However, memorizing a number of 52 Loki journeys is difficult and time-consuming. I find 13 Loki journeys works best for me, but with one image in each room, it is time-consuming. I would like to place two in each location. Can you help me in remembering the two images? So Nick, there are several systems that can work for this, but the big bottom line here is I think that you have to have a system. So you have to know, for example, exactly what it is that distinguishes the first image from the second image.

If you're putting two things in basically the same location, there has to be a sequence so that you can consistently and quickly know which image is first in that location. The first basic system I would suggest is using just one type of image. For example, they're all memorable objects or they're all memorable characters. I'm not sure which you're using. But what you'll do is you'll use, you know, two of them in one location, but you'll make sure that they're distinct from one another by what they're doing or by where they are. As an example, you could have them on two different sublocations. So they could be on two different pieces of furniture, or one could be on a piece of furniture if that piece of furniture is your station, and the other one underneath it.

Those are distinctly different, even though you may have previously considered those to be the same station. Another thing that you can do there is one is always above the other in some way, so if your stations are rooms, one's on the ceiling and one's on the floor, and you just do that consistently for all of your stations. Again, it's all about the system. Now what you can do is if you have one above the other, you can use a standard action to sharpen this. For example, if the first one is always above the second one, you can use a standard action to sharpen this. For example, if the first one is always above the second one, you might have the first one actually fall onto the second one. For example, for two objects, if one is a flower and the other is a piece of chalk, you have

the flower fall onto the chalk and have the chalk break and cover the flower petals with dust. But if your imagery is good, then you'll remember that the flower is the one that fell and the chalk is the second one. Another thing you could do is, if they're characters, you have one character fall onto the other, or one character kill the other, or something like that. One falling onto another might not be quite as memorable as objects falling onto each other, so it may be better that one is killing the other, or with the objects, one is breaking the other. And that keeps them distinctly memorable, even though they're in essentially the same place. Now, this whole first idea that I've been talking about assumes that your mnemonic images for the cards are all of a similar category.

Either they're all objects, or they're all characters. But the second system that I would suggest is more standard for experienced mnemonists. And so what you're going to do is you're going to have 52 of one category, all characters, and 52 of another category, perhaps all objects. So if you have 52 different characters and you also have 52 different objects, each of those characters corresponds to a card and each of those objects corresponds to a card. It does sound like twice as much work at first because you have to memorize a hundred four different things instead of fifty two different things,

but in the end this makes the memorization process much faster because what you're going to do is you're going to do, like I said before, two different objects in one place, but each time one of them is a character and one of them is an object. Maybe the first one is the character and the second one is an object. So for each of those stations, you'll imagine the character in that station with that object and imagine him doing something memorable with that object, whatever you think that that character would probably do with that object. So now, even though you've had to memorize 104 different things, 52 characters and 52 objects,

now, in the future, every time you have to memorize a deck of cards, you only need 26 stations and 26 different images, each one being a character or a memorable person doing something with the memorable object you've placed there. And you'll always remember that the one comes before the other because you always remember that the character is consistently before the object because once again, you have a system that you consistently use. Thanks for the question, Nick. And for anyone listening, what do you want to learn or memorize?

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