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Memrise was started by Ed Cooke, a world memory champion, and Joshue Foer's mentor in the book Moonwalk in Einstein (a great read about hacking your memory). T

Memrise was started by Ed Cooke, a world memory champion, and Joshue Foer's mentor in the book Moonwalk in Einstein (a great read about hacking your memory). The basic technique for memorizing a deck of cards is known as the PAO system - person, action object, and is used in conjunction with the memory palace. For each card, you assign a person (or character), action, and an object. King of hearts - Paul Graham juggling watermelons King of diamonds - Michael Jackson moonwalking on a birthday cake King of clubs - Tiger Woods swinging a golf club King of spades - Homer Simpson eating a sausage You then memorize cards in sequences of three, so if the order was the king of hearts, king of clubs, king of spades, you would imagine Paul Graham swinging a sausage. You would then store that image of PG in a location of your memory palace, which is usually a room in a house you have memorized. For each three sets of cards, you store a vivid image in a room or space of your memory palace. The human brain has evolved to be exceptional at visual memory, so this technique utilizes your ability to remember imagery to translate interesting images to a more boring subject matter (a deck of playing cards). At the end the deck, you can then "walk" through your memory palace, and see the strange images you have committed to memory. In the first room you would see PG swinging a sausage, and know instantly that correlates to the king of heats, king of clubs, king of spades. Ed Cooke explains it in more detail in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xvae0AGUtM4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=x... And here's a list of know mnemonist who use the PAO system http://mnemotechnics.org/wiki/Person-Action-Object_(PAO)_System http://mnemotechnics.org/wiki/Person-Action-Object_(PAO)_Sys...

a_p 14y ago
Moonwalking with Einstein is a fun book, but remember to be wary of books about the brain that are not written by neuroscience experts. From the NYT book review: '(Irregular images aside, Foer’s missteps are few. Discussing the neurological underpinnings of memory, he repeats some commonly held myths about it, for instance, that obscure facts — “where I celebrated my seventh birthday” — are “lurking somewhere in my brain, waiting for the right cue to pop back into consciousness.” In fact, not only are many such memories lost for good, even the memories we do have are often quasi-fictionalized reconstructions.) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/books/review/book-review-moonwalking-with-einstein-by-joshua-foer.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/books/review/book-review-m...
- Wingman4l7 14y ago
  [...] even the memories we do have are often quasi-fictionalized reconstructions [...] Ever since I read about flashbulb memory[1] in my psychology textbook, I've felt uneasy about using witnesses for high-profile criminal trials. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashbulb_memory#Stability_over_time http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashbulb_memory#Stability_over...
  - celticninja 14y ago
    an eyewitness is usually worse than useless, they can be entirely misleading.
    - Wingman4l7 14y ago
      Exactly -- that's why it's so scary to think that their testimony can be so pivotal in a criminal trial.
jschulenklopper 14y ago
See Joshua Foer's entertaining TED talk at http://www.ted.com/talks/joshua_foer_feats_of_memory_anyone_can_do.html http://www.ted.com/talks/joshua_foer_feats_of_memory_anyone_.... He describes the origin and working of the Memory Palace-method, the culture and some people in the world memory championships, and his own participation in the contest. A very interesting talk.
JoshMnem 14y ago
Thanks for mentioning my site (Mnemotechnics.org). If anyone wants to learn, I can show you the basics of the techniques for free in person or by webcam. I live near Berkeley, CA. Send a message through the website.
libraryatnight 14y ago
I enjoyed your comment and explanation, as I just finished reading John Crowley's book "Little, Big" in which this idea is explained and made into a kind of magic. Brilliant book and the bits that deal with the memory arts are fantastic.

a_p 14y ago

Moonwalking with Einstein is a fun book, but remember to be wary of books about the brain that are not written by neuroscience experts. From the NYT book review: '(Irregular images aside, Foer’s missteps are few. Discussing the neurological underpinnings of memory, he repeats some commonly held myths about it, for instance, that obscure facts — “where I celebrated my seventh birthday” — are “lurking somewhere in my brain, waiting for the right cue to pop back into consciousness.” In fact, not only are many such memories lost for good, even the memories we do have are often quasi-fictionalized reconstructions.) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/books/review/book-review-moonwalking-with-einstein-by-joshua-foer.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/books/review/book-review-m...

Wingman4l7 14y ago
[...] even the memories we do have are often quasi-fictionalized reconstructions [...] Ever since I read about flashbulb memory[1] in my psychology textbook, I've felt uneasy about using witnesses for high-profile criminal trials. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashbulb_memory#Stability_over_time http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashbulb_memory#Stability_over...
- celticninja 14y ago
  an eyewitness is usually worse than useless, they can be entirely misleading.
  - Wingman4l7 14y ago
    Exactly -- that's why it's so scary to think that their testimony can be so pivotal in a criminal trial.

jschulenklopper 14y ago

See Joshua Foer's entertaining TED talk at http://www.ted.com/talks/joshua_foer_feats_of_memory_anyone_can_do.html http://www.ted.com/talks/joshua_foer_feats_of_memory_anyone_.... He describes the origin and working of the Memory Palace-method, the culture and some people in the world memory championships, and his own participation in the contest. A very interesting talk.

JoshMnem 14y ago

Thanks for mentioning my site (Mnemotechnics.org). If anyone wants to learn, I can show you the basics of the techniques for free in person or by webcam. I live near Berkeley, CA. Send a message through the website.

libraryatnight 14y ago

I enjoyed your comment and explanation, as I just finished reading John Crowley's book "Little, Big" in which this idea is explained and made into a kind of magic. Brilliant book and the bits that deal with the memory arts are fantastic.