Master of Memory: Accelerated learning, education, memorization - MMem 0385: Creating mnemonics for abstract logical ideas

Episode Date: August 28, 2015

Sasha asks about applying mnemonics to abstract ideas, such as logical fallacies and psychological biases. I present some examples of visual mnemonics that will help with this memorization project. 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.

Master of Memory 385. 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. Sasha submitted a written question at masterofmemory.com slash question. Sasha says, I'm currently using my house as a mind map to learn some basics of logic and reasoning, but I'm getting hung up on the abstract definitions. What images or objects can one use to convey a concept like a counterfactual or the fallacy of false cause?

I also want to use the same methods to memorize all the psychological biases and heuristics, but I run into the same problem of abstract definitions. What can be done about this? So Sasha, I see a connection between this episode and episode 65 about creating physical relatable images that are easy to remember for laws of chemistry, which seem fairly abstract. So for example, I'll always remember Boyle's Law and the fact that when the space decreases or when volume decreases, pressure increases, because I always remember a kid sitting on a couch squeezing a plastic bottle of boiling water, and that's just always stuck with me from a year ago when I did episode 65. The abstract idea or the really boring sounding idea of volume decreasing and pressure increasing

is really not interesting or memorable. But when you have a kid sitting on a couch and squeezing a bottle of boiling water and it boiling faster and faster, that's pretty easy to remember. So what I would suggest for you, Sasha, in this case is you should create really physical, memorable things that just represent and remind you of the rules and the things that you're referring to, specifically that will help you relate the meaning to the name. So, for example, for a counterfactual, which is, for the grammar nerds out there, interestingly enough, the idea of a past tense subjunctive plus a conditional using Spanish. So, for example, if I were the president, I would be

in the White House. We have something that we know is not true if I were the president, and then something that would be the case if that were the case. I would be at the White House. Something else that we know is not true is the fact that you have a nose, Sasha. So you might say, if I had no nose, I would be very sad. So let's imagine that you have no nose, okay? Now what we'll do is we'll place your head, I'm sorry this is so gruesome, Sasha, and I hate to do this to you, but I'm going to place your head on the counter in the kitchen. And so this is a counterfactual. It's not a fact fact but it's sort of counterfact. I'm going to place your head on the kitchen counter without a nose. Now every time you think of that kitchen counter in your memory palace you're going to remember that something is against what is reality, the idea that

if I didn't have a nose, and it's on the counter so you remember counterfactual. To expand this you can have the kitchen store all concepts in that similar category. Maybe within that, all of the things that start with counter are on the counter, and then you can store a bunch of other things in the refrigerator, some things in the pantry, and so on. So you're storing all sort of related things in that similar category in the kitchen. And then as far as false cause goes, to give another example, whenever I think about the post hoc idea, my image is a bell for some reason, not because of a mnemonic, but just because I always remember that. So for example, people say, every time I come to school, a bell rings. Therefore, the bell must be a result of my coming to school. Now, that's obviously not

true, but it's a thing that I associate with a bell, and if you just physically put a bell in the room that represents all things in this category, then you're going to remember that. So you have a story and a physical object that represents that story, and then you store that in things in a similar category, and you will be able to remember what each of those things represents, and you can review them easily by just going through your palace in your imagination and remembering all of those different things. I hope that helps, Sasha, and I'd love to hear actually how this goes for you. For everyone listening, what do you want to learn? The world's knowledge can be yours. Leave your learning request at masterofmemory.com slash question and I'll talk to you again soon.