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A similar method works for what Apple or Google would call "location-based reminders" and get right about one time out of five in practice. Want to remember so

A similar method works for what Apple or Google would call "location-based reminders" and get right about one time out of five in practice. Want to remember something when you get home? Come up with a few words or some such concise thought that will remind you, then picture your front door - just as you'll see it when you do get home - and think those words or that thought. Repeat it to yourself while you imagine unlocking the door or whatever. Do that a few times - it only takes a moment - then forget about it and go back to what you were doing. When you get home, the association thus formed will trigger and remind you. It only takes a moment, and I find that even with very little practice it works quite well. The method generalizes, too. It doesn't seem affected by aphantasia; I don't really find myself able to form vivid mental images and the "Ganzflicker" thing from the other day had no effect on me past a mild headache, but this technique works fine. Maybe it helps that the visual component is based on experiential memory, but whatever the reason, it works well enough even for me that I can comfortably recommend it.

notaclevername 5y ago
The thing I've never understood about memory palaces or location reminders is: do you reuse the same locations all the time? If so, how do you mentally distinguish between your current memorized set, and the set you remembered a dozen times ago with the same palace?
- throwanem 5y ago
  I don't know about memory palaces, but the technique I describe involves no memorization; the association isn't that strong. Once it's served its purpose and I no longer need to remember it, I quickly cease to do so, and I haven't noticed problems with overhang from past uses of the same objects. For the same reason, I wouldn't expect this kind of - I dunno, "mnestic nudge?" - to last very reliably over significant spans of time. I can do it over spans of a few hours to a morning-and-afternoon day, but I don't recall having tried it overnight and I wouldn't want to rely solely on it if I did. I don't really know whether or how well it parallelizes, either; if I've tried that before now, I no longer recall how it went. What I'm describing really isn't like a "memory palace" at all, even if I mentioned it in a thread about those. That concept claims quite a general and systematic sort of utility, while this is just one among a set of tools that for me also includes a pocket notebook, phone reminders, a diary, and so on. When circumstances preclude immediate access to any of the others, I use this one instead, and also by choice because without at least a bit of practice it might not work when I do need it. (Also because it's really convenient, with less friction even than pen and paper - and besides, my phone can't "remind me of something the next time I pick up my diary".)
- nestorD 5y ago
  The memorized set goes away fairly easily. However, profesional mnemotechnicians who do several demonstrations a day will sometime take the time to 'destroy' the pictures in between demonstrations (setting them mentally on fire for example) in order to reduce the risk of confusion.

notaclevername 5y ago

The thing I've never understood about memory palaces or location reminders is: do you reuse the same locations all the time? If so, how do you mentally distinguish between your current memorized set, and the set you remembered a dozen times ago with the same palace?

throwanem 5y ago
I don't know about memory palaces, but the technique I describe involves no memorization; the association isn't that strong. Once it's served its purpose and I no longer need to remember it, I quickly cease to do so, and I haven't noticed problems with overhang from past uses of the same objects. For the same reason, I wouldn't expect this kind of - I dunno, "mnestic nudge?" - to last very reliably over significant spans of time. I can do it over spans of a few hours to a morning-and-afternoon day, but I don't recall having tried it overnight and I wouldn't want to rely solely on it if I did. I don't really know whether or how well it parallelizes, either; if I've tried that before now, I no longer recall how it went. What I'm describing really isn't like a "memory palace" at all, even if I mentioned it in a thread about those. That concept claims quite a general and systematic sort of utility, while this is just one among a set of tools that for me also includes a pocket notebook, phone reminders, a diary, and so on. When circumstances preclude immediate access to any of the others, I use this one instead, and also by choice because without at least a bit of practice it might not work when I do need it. (Also because it's really convenient, with less friction even than pen and paper - and besides, my phone can't "remind me of something the next time I pick up my diary".)
nestorD 5y ago
The memorized set goes away fairly easily. However, profesional mnemotechnicians who do several demonstrations a day will sometime take the time to 'destroy' the pictures in between demonstrations (setting them mentally on fire for example) in order to reduce the risk of confusion.