5 ms·

The Champion Who Memorized 80 Numbers in 13.5 Seconds

29 points by wallflower 2y ago

erikrothoff 2y ago
This app does a terrific job of teaching memory palaces. Ironically it’s made by the guy in the background of the article image. https://memoryos.com/ https://memoryos.com/
- IncreasePosts 2y ago
  Is there a term for the Duolingo-ization of apps? I have no idea why I need to answer a survey question(which took 30s to load) about whether I believe the app will work to improve my memory or not.
  - nilamo 2y ago
    Especially such a long survey. My curiosity died when I was on step 5 and not even 25% done yet. Like, y'all want me to try this, or not?
    - collingreen 2y ago
      I won't even open this now knowing their onboarding is made by someone with zero thought about user experience
      - erikrothoff 2y ago
        I don’t remember the onboarding (ironically :) but once you get in the UX is really nice and perfect for what it does. Maybe it won’t win Apple design awards, but I’m just here for the content.
  - xiande04 2y ago
    Gamification and spaced repetition. Duolingo is really just about combining gamification with spaced repetition.
- grigri907 2y ago
  Far from ironic, shouldn't that be "appropriately," or at worst, "coincidentally?"
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
tromp 2y ago
They say numbers, but apparently it's only single-digit numbers: > They give you 80 random numbers that they display on a screen. You have to memorize all of those numbers as fast as possible, then click a button and a recall sheet appears. I wrote down all of the 80 digits — and I got them all right. Insanely impressive one could do that in 13.5 seconds...
vunderba 2y ago
When I was a kid, I probably spent hundreds of hours playing 3D FPS games like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, Ken's Labyrinth, etc. I was curious as how "transferable" spatial memorization in a video game in the form of a "virtual memory palace" would be since the conventional approach is based off physically real familiar locations. Surprisingly I found using a combination of memory palaces built off video game levels in conjunction with a PAO approach towards compressing three numerical values into a single visual image to be highly effective - though I mostly used it for parlor tricks like memorizing a randomly shuffled deck. If you're interested in learning more about the memory competitions, memory palaces, etc. I highly recommend the book "Moonwalking with Einstein": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonwalking_with_Einstein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonwalking_with_Einstein
- tombert 2y ago
  Ken's Labyrinth is a name I haven't heard in awhile. I wonder what Ken Silverman is up to these days... I've wondered similar stuff. Even in something like Wolfenstein 3D, where most of the rooms kind of feel the same, I managed to figure out how to navigate and not get too lost (even as a kid, and even before I realized that there's a map you can use). I've always wondered if there's a way to convert that relatively fast bit of memorization I was doing into something actually useful. I still need to look into "memory palace" stuff.
  - vunderba 2y ago
    Good question - kind of lost track of him after his work on the Build engine. It seems like with virtual environments like Second life, or even moving around in Google maps street view that there might be lots of ways to build virtual memory palaces that would lend themselves well towards memorization.
- tarentel 2y ago
  Moonwalking with Einstein is a fun book. "Your Memory" by Higbee I read maybe 15-20 years ago and it's more on how to do this kind of stuff. I was able to memorize a deck of cards quite quickly at one point but these techniques require quite a bit of practice to keep. Also, most of this information is freely available online at this point and there are a ton of resources for finding it probably but I remember it being a pretty useful book at the time.
shagie 2y ago
One of the British TV shows that I've been introduced to over the past half decade of YouTube binging was Taskmaster (its British weird / funny)... and one of those tasks was to memorize the order of playing cards in 5 minutes. https://youtu.be/aSQnWQUyekk https://youtu.be/aSQnWQUyekk The winner was really impressive in what was done (second place was also very impressive).
tripplyons 2y ago
Reminds me of the Rubik's cube blindfolded world record, which memorizes the whole cube in under 5 seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdHPag6z2NY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdHPag6z2NY My personal best had 20 seconds of memorization, for context.
leecarraher 2y ago
i'm assuming you have to remember them in order, otherwise, i could do pretty good. let's see there were some 1's maybe some 2's, umm a zero
nickvec 2y ago
Anyone have an archive?
shagie 2y ago
Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/science/vishvaa-rajakumar-memory-techniques.html?unlocked_article_code=1.zU4.x08k.ZnwwJhIWlDGZ&smid=url-share https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/science/vishvaa-rajakumar...

29 points by wallflower 2y ago

This app does a terrific job of teaching memory palaces. Ironically it’s made by the guy in the background of the article image. https://memoryos.com/ https://memoryos.com/

IncreasePosts 2y ago
Is there a term for the Duolingo-ization of apps? I have no idea why I need to answer a survey question(which took 30s to load) about whether I believe the app will work to improve my memory or not.
- nilamo 2y ago
  Especially such a long survey. My curiosity died when I was on step 5 and not even 25% done yet. Like, y'all want me to try this, or not?
  - collingreen 2y ago
    I won't even open this now knowing their onboarding is made by someone with zero thought about user experience
    - erikrothoff 2y ago
      I don’t remember the onboarding (ironically :) but once you get in the UX is really nice and perfect for what it does. Maybe it won’t win Apple design awards, but I’m just here for the content.
- xiande04 2y ago
  Gamification and spaced repetition. Duolingo is really just about combining gamification with spaced repetition.
grigri907 2y ago
Far from ironic, shouldn't that be "appropriately," or at worst, "coincidentally?"
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

tromp 2y ago

They say numbers, but apparently it's only single-digit numbers: > They give you 80 random numbers that they display on a screen. You have to memorize all of those numbers as fast as possible, then click a button and a recall sheet appears. I wrote down all of the 80 digits — and I got them all right. Insanely impressive one could do that in 13.5 seconds...

vunderba 2y ago

When I was a kid, I probably spent hundreds of hours playing 3D FPS games like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, Ken's Labyrinth, etc. I was curious as how "transferable" spatial memorization in a video game in the form of a "virtual memory palace" would be since the conventional approach is based off physically real familiar locations. Surprisingly I found using a combination of memory palaces built off video game levels in conjunction with a PAO approach towards compressing three numerical values into a single visual image to be highly effective - though I mostly used it for parlor tricks like memorizing a randomly shuffled deck. If you're interested in learning more about the memory competitions, memory palaces, etc. I highly recommend the book "Moonwalking with Einstein": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonwalking_with_Einstein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonwalking_with_Einstein

tombert 2y ago
Ken's Labyrinth is a name I haven't heard in awhile. I wonder what Ken Silverman is up to these days... I've wondered similar stuff. Even in something like Wolfenstein 3D, where most of the rooms kind of feel the same, I managed to figure out how to navigate and not get too lost (even as a kid, and even before I realized that there's a map you can use). I've always wondered if there's a way to convert that relatively fast bit of memorization I was doing into something actually useful. I still need to look into "memory palace" stuff.
- vunderba 2y ago
  Good question - kind of lost track of him after his work on the Build engine. It seems like with virtual environments like Second life, or even moving around in Google maps street view that there might be lots of ways to build virtual memory palaces that would lend themselves well towards memorization.
tarentel 2y ago
Moonwalking with Einstein is a fun book. "Your Memory" by Higbee I read maybe 15-20 years ago and it's more on how to do this kind of stuff. I was able to memorize a deck of cards quite quickly at one point but these techniques require quite a bit of practice to keep. Also, most of this information is freely available online at this point and there are a ton of resources for finding it probably but I remember it being a pretty useful book at the time.

shagie 2y ago

One of the British TV shows that I've been introduced to over the past half decade of YouTube binging was Taskmaster (its British weird / funny)... and one of those tasks was to memorize the order of playing cards in 5 minutes. https://youtu.be/aSQnWQUyekk https://youtu.be/aSQnWQUyekk The winner was really impressive in what was done (second place was also very impressive).

tripplyons 2y ago

Reminds me of the Rubik's cube blindfolded world record, which memorizes the whole cube in under 5 seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdHPag6z2NY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdHPag6z2NY My personal best had 20 seconds of memorization, for context.

leecarraher 2y ago

i'm assuming you have to remember them in order, otherwise, i could do pretty good. let's see there were some 1's maybe some 2's, umm a zero

nickvec 2y ago

Anyone have an archive?

shagie 2y ago

Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/science/vishvaa-rajakumar-memory-techniques.html?unlocked_article_code=1.zU4.x08k.ZnwwJhIWlDGZ&smid=url-share https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/science/vishvaa-rajakumar...