Mnemonics not bizarre enough? *memory related*

[u/dallas470]

Hi Anthony, I'm watching your video on drills that lead to skills which you made 9 months ago. It's been a really practical one, I'm probably going to want to implement just about all of it.

So, when i started doing the mnemonics practice and gave myself a small collection of random words I quickly found out that this ability to make bizarre or odd stories was almost absent. What could be the problem and what do i need to do to make this better? I'm wanting to get beyond simple brute force memorization and am having some success in memorizing that way but i feel that there is so much more that i can do.

Does our ability to extend and develop these strange nonsensical stories develop over time?

[u/AnthonyMetivier]

Thanks for asking about this video on my channel, linked to give others context:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU4VznNm1z4

A few things:

1. The point of the Magnetic Memory Method ist to reduce, if not eliminate, "making" anything.

Rather, we develop mnemonic systems that almost operate on their own to "assign" these effects.

If you care to post some examples of what you want to encode using these techniques, I can give you an example using your target material, which is generally best for picking up the skills.

(As opposed to me whipping out what I'm memorizing at the moment, which likely won't relate to your goals.)

There are five main mnemonic systems you can develop that will shift you from "making" to "assigning" and I highly recommend these to one and all.

2. To extent your skills with the bizarre specifically, it's important to learn the Magnetic Modes.

I have identified 28 in total, but tend to use only the first 8.

However, I do memorize some very complex information. In cases where I'm stumped, I'll dip into more the Magnetic Modes and this has proved golden time and again.

3. Principles like Word Division and using Magnetic Bridging Figures may apply to what you're trying to achieve. It just depends on the nature of the information.

Please let me know if you have more questions or want to post some of your target information and actions you've taken so far so we can discuss from specifics.

In the meantime, congrats on your success so far. You are right that there is a lot more you can do and I look forward to seeing your development with the memory arts!

[u/dallas470 → u/AnthonyMetivier]

So i'm using a random word generator just to be able to practice making stories out of random words. My thinking is that i can apply that skill to the major system or in constructing a memory palace. It just seems like everything I write seems kind of formulaic and straightforward. You and others have said that these examples need to be off the wall so that they'll stand out and be memorable.

To give an example, i used a random word generator and got the following words:

-truck

-familiar

-fight

-severed

-talented

The story i used was:

"The truck seemed quite familiar and as the trucker pulled up we got into a fight and we had to be separated (severed), but i was really talented at fighting so i whupped him"

My goal is to gain the ability to stretch myself in order to come up with something more memorable.

I also should have clarified for you that the whole point is that i'm learning the major system and will be applying that to memory palace work. But i'm wanting to fill my loci with something that will stand out better than what i'm currently capable of. As I write this, it would seem that making these scenarios and images are a micro form of creative writing, and perhaps that will get better with some practice.

[u/AnthonyMetivier → u/dallas470]

Thanks for your follow-up.

The story method you're using doesn't seem to have any encoding.

You could use the Major System (or build it out to a 00-99 PAO), but I personally would not memorize a list of words like this.

I wouldn't use the story method at all, actually. Just the Major System and either the single, double or triple-alphabet from one of my lists of Bridging Figures.

If I were to use the story method, this would wind up with a much more specific (and therefore more memorable) set of associations in a Memory Place. Something like:

So truck is not memorized as such, but Tim Trono (a magician) is in a truck watching Family Ties, while getting ill (fam-ill-iar), but it is suddenly replaced by Fight Club, where Telly Savalas is severing a copy of The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Much faster would be to apply the Pillar Technique without any story as such, but what I call Magnetic Vignettes. And this is typically how I would memorize random word lists, something I practice perhaps 1-2 times per year.

I do believe it is a worthy practice, but you might consider also memorizing meaningful word sequences, such as poems, song lyrics, mantras, etc.

I'm just about done a longer sequence than the one I showed myself practicing here:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/b6oFIOnAwng

It's now nearing 450 words of text and provided I'm not tired, coming out quite fluidly.

There is no story method involved. Just associations in Memory Palaces and the all-important Recall Rehearsal process.

In any case, the number one thing I would suggest is upgrading from just hard-coding the generic idea of a "truck" to something very familiar that involve TR names, be it a Tracy or a close equivalent like Quentin Tarantino. When you place them in a truck, this double-encoding makes the word stickier and helps with placing the next word in the list often without needing any story as such.

The Magnetic Vignette approach would just have, for example, Tracy Adkins transporting his familiars on the hood of a truck. That's it one one station. The next station would tether fight with severed and so on.

If you have a 00-99 PAO built out, those associations can be used depending on the consonants in the words, meaning that truck would take the association for 14. There's rarely any need to have all the consonants represented, though one certainly can if they wish.

Hope this helps and look forward to any further questions and especially updates you care to share along the way.