HACKER Q&A
📣 andrei-akopian

Short term memorization strategies/techniques?


For language vocabulary or technical terms/concepts which you will need your whole life, space repetition software, concept maps, Feynman Technique and other methods that "comprehend over memorize", are known to be the best for memorizing.

But what about Short Term memorization of about an index card of (random) numbers/letters/patterns (in about 5-10 minutes)?

It is handy to be able to memorize a somewhat large amount of information for a very short amount of time. Eg. the order of a deck of cards, digits of pi, or terms of a short exam or test that is completely pointless and just not worth memorizing. (Most of such situations come up in friend/family tabletop games or challenges.)

Some techniques I heard of:

- Ancient Roman leaders used body parts "as a medium" to memorize long speeches.

- A friend of mine uses a visual method where he memorizes numbers using something like a pattern of numpad strokes similar to the human benchmarks "sequence test"(https://humanbenchmark.com/tests/sequence)

- Stories or Words are used to "uncompress" text into something that is easier to memorize. Blindfolded Speedcubers use this technique to memorize their sequences/solutions (https://www.speedcubing.com/chris/memo-images.html).

Does any resource/blog/article have more defined thoughts on different strategies or a way to think about it (from someone experienced)?

I couldn't find anything on Hackernews or on the internet. (Also, "how do I google this correctly?")

  👤 tithe Accepted Answer ✓
I second the "numpad" approach: for short numerical sequences (license plate numbers, addresses, etc.), I visualize a telephone dial-pad, and my fingers pressing the numbers. I feel the order my fingers make, visualize the blocks being pressed in sequence, and even the DTMF[0] frequencies, trying to incorporate multiple senses into the visualization.

For grocery shopping lists, I simply take the first two letters of each ingredient and try and make a nonsense (yet pronounceable) word out of it. The more strange / fantastic, the better, as it seems to be more memorable that way.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTMF

👤 illuminant
O'Reilly has that Mind Performance Hacks book [1], and apparently a second similar title I haven't read [2]

https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/mind-performance-hacks/...

https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/mind-hacks/0596007795/

The first covers techniques you seem to be curious about, and more.

👤 watersb
I group it into chunks, usually three or four symbols each.

Sometimes I'm aware of associating the groups with concepts. For random example, it might see '711365dly' and associate this with a popular bodega/gas station brand '7/11', open every day of the year, 'daily'. Actual facts don't matter (don't care if this store is actually open every day); it's just a story association to group the symbols.

👤 satvikpendem
The method of loci is pretty good. Check out the book Moonwalking with Einstein if you want to learn more about the various tricks top memory champions use.
👤 helph67
"You are more likely to remember something if you read it out loud, a study has found." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171201090940.h...