3 ms·

I suspect the method of loci works because our minds seem to remember routes through spaces better than lists. If you’re curious about spatial cognition, watch

by flreln 6y ago

I suspect the method of loci works because our minds seem to remember routes through spaces better than lists. If you’re curious about spatial cognition, watch this intro to the subject from Barbara Tversky: https://youtu.be/gmc4wEL2aPQ https://youtu.be/gmc4wEL2aPQ.

shaykk 6y ago
What if you're directionally challenged?
- lambdaloop 6y ago
  I was worried about this, as I don't have a great knack for directions. However, I found that binding items to locations on the street actually helped me remember the layout of the streets as well. Also, you don't need to use a whole street, you can encode a lot in just a room or two! -- Relatedly, I know some people say that they don't have visual imagery: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia . I'm really curious how navigating spaces works for them. Do they have a problem with directions? Could they use memory spaces, but without visual imagery?
  - zwayhowder 6y ago
    So I am pretty high on the aphantastic scale (It sounds better when I conjugate it like that). I don't have a car license, despite growing up driving vehicles on farms and years of trying to get my car license, I can't comfortable drive a car because I cannot hold in my head the physical size and shape of the car. I have a full motorcycle licence and no problem with a bike, but as soon as I step up to a car I just can't estimate distances or space. (This cost a lot of fence posts on farms and could be deadly on a highway). Navigation I'm mostly fine, because I can remember lists reasonably well. To get from my house to my sisters is left, left, right, left (straight for 30km), right, left, right, left. Do I turn the final right at the 4th or 5th street down the road? I never remember until I'm in the intersection and recognise it. I've tried a memory palace, and it only works for me with a space I know really well and a limited range. For example the 10 rooms of my house I can use, I've lived here for 15 years. I couldn't use different parts of the rooms because I just can't visualise them. But since I can generally remember short lists pretty easily I don't find a 10 room memory palace helpful. Lastly I, like most people I suspect, remember songs and rhyme better. Want to know the periodic table? I can sing it at you (Thanks ASAPScience). The worst part about aphantasia is trying to explain it to someone who hasn't got it. I can recognise my favourite places instantly in a picture, but ask me to describe them and be preparted for a cubist impression. Heaven help anyone who is relying on me to complete a police identikit...

by flreln 6y ago

shaykk 6y ago

What if you're directionally challenged?

lambdaloop 6y ago
I was worried about this, as I don't have a great knack for directions. However, I found that binding items to locations on the street actually helped me remember the layout of the streets as well. Also, you don't need to use a whole street, you can encode a lot in just a room or two! -- Relatedly, I know some people say that they don't have visual imagery: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia . I'm really curious how navigating spaces works for them. Do they have a problem with directions? Could they use memory spaces, but without visual imagery?
- zwayhowder 6y ago
  So I am pretty high on the aphantastic scale (It sounds better when I conjugate it like that). I don't have a car license, despite growing up driving vehicles on farms and years of trying to get my car license, I can't comfortable drive a car because I cannot hold in my head the physical size and shape of the car. I have a full motorcycle licence and no problem with a bike, but as soon as I step up to a car I just can't estimate distances or space. (This cost a lot of fence posts on farms and could be deadly on a highway). Navigation I'm mostly fine, because I can remember lists reasonably well. To get from my house to my sisters is left, left, right, left (straight for 30km), right, left, right, left. Do I turn the final right at the 4th or 5th street down the road? I never remember until I'm in the intersection and recognise it. I've tried a memory palace, and it only works for me with a space I know really well and a limited range. For example the 10 rooms of my house I can use, I've lived here for 15 years. I couldn't use different parts of the rooms because I just can't visualise them. But since I can generally remember short lists pretty easily I don't find a 10 room memory palace helpful. Lastly I, like most people I suspect, remember songs and rhyme better. Want to know the periodic table? I can sing it at you (Thanks ASAPScience). The worst part about aphantasia is trying to explain it to someone who hasn't got it. I can recognise my favourite places instantly in a picture, but ask me to describe them and be preparted for a cubist impression. Heaven help anyone who is relying on me to complete a police identikit...