I just got around to reading this in my RSS reader (I rarely have time to read something of this length), and I was sad to see that the original was removed. I don't really have anything important to say but I think these posts have been interesting.
At the moment, I just don't see the incentive of doing something like this. I was hoping to make it more efficient through community feedback; see if my technique gives only me a photographic memory etc. Mnemonics is just not something that interests LW at the moment, I guess.
Additionally, my previous two (2) posts were stolen by a few AI Youtubers. I'd prefer the technique I revealed in this third post not to be stolen too.
I'm pursuing sample data elsewhere in the meantime to test efficacy.
My work seems to have been spread across the internet regardless, oh well. As a result, I've restored the previous version.
Under advisement from @Algon and @Seth Herd, I've included a TLDR:
I intend to code and freely distribute an app which can streamline the Solakios technique some point in the future. At present, I have only my prototype TM. You'll find that the technique itself is quite simple to understand, difficult to master.
Interestingly, Dr Charan Ranganath seems to have been inspired by my trio of posts. I have no way of knowing this, I can only guess and hope. He published his book "Why we Remember" shortly after I originally created this post. From what I've read of the preview, there's also anecdotes that use sentences and jargon I employed. Either way, pretty cool that my experimenting has been cemented by a more qualified individual.
CHAPTER III: CONT'D
I have discovered or been informed of additional techniques since we last spoke. It would make little sense to edit them into my previous post.
(1) PALACE TO KINGDOM
I devised the best possible version of a memory palace, inspired by @DirectedEvolution. This technique is effective, even for complex concepts. I'll also point out a digital conception; primed for efficiency purposes.
(a) PROBLEM-ORIENTATED APPROACH
Memory palaces work because they 'hit the correct beats' (as in, they embrace the principles of memory discussed previously.) These beats can be amplified by the lessons learned from anecdotal evidence in this post:
E.g. criminal legislation would be mapped to a building called 'Prison'.
E.g. concepts are mapped to NPC's, typically authors from the book or celebrities from the article. They must discuss with and interrogate you.
E.g. in your mind, it makes sense to walk from the poetry room to the literature room, then to the essay room to intertwine both.
E.g. the Chemistry room is locked. The password is a chemical equation that must be typed into a flatscreen on the door.
E.g. if you're an architect, you might imagine a workspace with posters of Zaha Hadid, and a series of miniatures from different eras and styles.
E.g. physically moving through rooms, smelling and touching different objects.
E.g. being excited to 'enter the memory palace' each time you use it. Be gobsmacked at what you've built and impressed that everything you've learned is nearby.
In essence, any memory palace or effective memory technique is problem-orientated. It requires you to interact in some way to solve a real problem. Everything else is flavour that makes the template more effective and efficient.
For example, in the field of law I might create 'models' for the memory kingdom:
I have an 'Issue Room' to point out the legal question to the judge. For example, if the case deals with patents and artificial intelligence, I would extract: 'Should artificial intelligence be credited for patents?' Next, I'll move left into the 'Stance Room' and announce the legal position: 'Artificial intelligence fails the typical patent test, in that it is not human.' (Simplified for this post.) I'll walk adjacent, and justify my position with relevant legal rules. Next, I'll explain to the judge how those rules logically work to support my stance and resolve the issue. Last, I'll conclude with a powerful speech.
In each of these five (5) rooms, I'll apply the aforementioned lessons. The 'Conclusion Room' might have a portrait of Harvey Spectre to motivate me, and a television with Martin Luther King giving a speech. In the 'Rule Room', I'll have the victims who I know by face and name. They'll tell me how they were the example used for a new legal rule. I can talk to them and understand how the rule works. This goes on, and on.
The more problem-orientated it is, the more effective it is. The quicker a model or template you have, the less awkward it'll feel when you introduce your brain to new information. Using the memory palace, or any new technique, will always feel like putting on a tight shoe at first. Too often have I seen people say: 'This technique doesn't work for me,' or 'This technique takes too long.' In most cases, they lack persistence and mistake growing pains for ineffectiveness.
(b) DIGITAL MEMORY KINGDOM
You don't have to digitise. This should be a launching pad for those of you struggling to imagine a room. Once you've got comfortable with memory kingdoms, you should be able to imagine without any visual aids.
I think it's self-explanatory how one could code a digital memory kingdom. However, for the less tech savvy, I'll quickly summarise how I did it:
Usually, I only need to do this once to make the information stick. I don't need to open up the software again unless the concept is particularly complex, or needs to be revised.
(2) TACHISTOSCOPIC TRAINING
Tachistoscopic training / flash recognition training is a feasible vision of the Dark Room Technique introduced in my previous post (again, credit to @Richard_Kennaway for showing it to me).[1] Dr Renshaw claimed his readers achieved twelve hundred (1200) to fourteen hundred (1400) words per minute using this technique.[2] This is disputed, and extensive testing has been inconclusive.[3] Although, it seems learners with already poor reading ability exposed to images at 0.25/s will experience no gains.[4]
However, it bore success when tested among military pilots. It trained them to identify types of planes, allegedly improving recall by two (2) or three (3) times.[5] Importantly, the images can't be projected so fast that your brain can't consciously recognise it. At first, your brain must be shown images with consistent fonts, spacing and margin; training it to recognise subconsciously. Overtime, the shutter speed can be increased.[6]
The technique is applied as follows (the mechanical explanation can be found here):
The subjects' answers are either compared against expected answers or measured abstractly. Tachistoscopes are apparently still used today to guide marketing strategies; a subject exposed to images at rapid speeds will only be able to recall what stood out the most.[7] Unfortunately, there's little other information on this (that which I have found is crippled by obscurantism).
I am confident that a group of subjects (>100) exposed to an upgraded tachistoscope would remedy the issues discovered in Renshaw's study.[8] Improvements include:
(3) CHILD-LIKE READING
Inspired by this post and designed to resolve many issues typically associated with study techniques; here, here, and here.
Child-like reading requires that you layer new information in a dramatic and sensory-overloaded coat. Be warned, I'm entering experimental epistemic territory here (partially influenced by research from my previous (2) posts):
I claim here that when learning, you should aspire to incorporate the aforementioned points. The goal is to improve your quality of reading by approaching it as if it's brand new, flourishing with ideas you're excited to learn, that each have the potential to completely change your life. When I pretend to be a child, expecting a story of adventure, I can delude myself into learning extremely boring information. My mind has conjured up fantastical imagery from long-winded paragraphs. I also seem to be able to handle analytical questions better, since I've dabbled in different areas of the same field. Just before bed, I revisit all these checkpoints and awake with a nostalgia for them in the morning (probably works for the same reasons chunking does).[15]
Tangentially, I claim that adopting a Sherlock Holmes mentality can be an effective memory heuristic in daily conversations. Instead of letting your ego run awry, let every word from the opposing person be a missing clue to your personal life. Their ordinarily boring tales about their dead-end job become important in solving the mystery of life.
Essentially, seeing events as an ongoing roleplay entices your brain to remember them. Saying this now reminds me of a movie called 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'. The viewer is left wondering whether the protagonist is a psychotic daydreamer or has genuinely flown over a volcano while standing on a plane. Either way, it's unforgettable.
CHAPTER IV: APPLICATION
This is here for posterity, and so that I don't get annoyed with myself for excluding details which may motivate future mnemonics. I apologize for any confusion caused.
(1) WHY PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY?
In my previous post, @ChristianKl raised a valid point. Paraphrased: 'What's the purpose of mnemonics? High performers rarely, if ever, credit it with their success?'. The answers to this question fall squarely under the meaning of this chapter's heading:
In any case, I think the validity of 'photographic memory' being dependent on its ability to produce success is misguided. I suspect this is due to a widespread misunderstanding of memory. Even the term 'photographic memory' is confused for 'eidetic memory'. I don't think our goal with improving memory should be to 'make more money' (this is not what ChristianKI was claiming either, I just think it's important to address here). The goal should be to reinvent our conception of the term, and to rebut the presumption that memory just is, and can't be changed.
I like @sortega's conception in this post: 'In some philosophical sense we are what we remember, and we will have a hard time deciding who is who...'
We should aim to remember so that when we rationalise, the sources from which our premises stem are, at the very least, accurate. Humans will be held to a higher standard as living among artificial intelligence becomes commonplace. I will do my part in reaching this standard through experimenting with mnemonics. 'Be a fool who wishes to learn rather than one who refuses to ask. He who dares to ask will not stray.'
(2) ESSENTIALS
Here I summarise the framework I've built for mnemonics over the last three (3) posts. Down below, I've put careful effort into developing and consolidating the existing body of mnemonics on LessWrong.
(a) FINDINGS
See this as a final overview of what makes a good study and mnemonics technique as well as the 'thoughts I had' before coming up with photographic memory: Solakios technique.
(b) QUERIES
Let's hope others can finish what I started with some of these more difficult questions:
(3) AVOID THESE PITFALLS
CHAPTER V: SOLAKIOS TECHNIQUE
We're finally here. I synthesise all of the techniques and innovations discussed throughout this trio of posts into one (1) process that (to my knowledge) is the only feasible recreation of photographic memory that isn't genetically inherited and could potentially be tested in a controlled environment.
Instead of cross-referencing endlessly with previous concepts and posts I've made, I'm just going to straight up list how to remember things quicker, and for far longer than you've ever experienced (hopefully). After, I'll clarify with visual representations. Lend me some rope here since it's difficult to describe something I have no references for other than the work I alone have done.
(1) STEPS
Now, in my experience, I'll confess two (2) things:
There are probably ways to improve this. Heck, some even come to mind now. However, I've already veered far into what I think is good faith experimental pioneering and being aware that you could be wrong. Any further claims would be negligent.
(2) VISUAL AID
Step 1 above. I used the Arthurian legend of the word for my 'The' and 'A'. Yours might be different. To me, I'll always think of The Sword as Excalibur in comparison to any other, which just is a sword. This is a unique example of primal imagery.
Step 2-5 above. I could've removed the face with the tongue and simply left the symbol for 'D'. I'd know what it represented based on the symbols that came after. I left it here for the purposes of this demonstration. This process is finetuning your symbology set, and you'll encounter it often to make memorising as efficient as possible.
The car represents 'liability' since I believe universally, people see car crash and think 'Accident' > 'Insurance' > 'Liability'. Notice also how I've tried to keep colours, spacing, and geometry consistent and precise. Not only so that your mind builds familiarity with it, but so that sentence conversion is a quick process. Last, I excluded 'of' because again, context will tell you what this question means. I don't think there's a linguistic difference between '(3) three types of liability' and '(3) three types liability'.
Steps 6-10 can be done in Anki, similar programs or in real life. I don't believe there's a need to demonstrate it you with pictures.
Depending on interactions with this post, I might do a part two that deals with more technical neurology, further testing with sample groups, chemistry (nootropics, health, sleep) and uncovering how previous generations of humanity dealt with mnemonics (e.g. Francis Bacon's scientific method).
J Bormuth, C Aker Is the Tachistoscope a Worthwhile Teaching Tool? Jan. 1961 International Literacy Association.
J Brown Teaching Reading With The Tachistoscope Winter 1958 International Literacy Association; S. Renshaw The visual perception and reproduction of forms by tachistoscopic methods 1945 Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied.
Renshaw and the Tachistoscope (panshin.com); G Wells Pilot-study use of the tachistoscope in elementary grade reading 1956 University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations.
J Tassinari Reliability and Validity of a Computerized Tachistoscope Test Dec. 2016 Vision Development & Rehabilitation.
A Panshin (n 3); L Goldentouch Tachistoscope principle 2 May 2015 Key to Study.
As above.
Tachistoscope Method - Photographic Memory Training Using Flash Cards (rightbraineducationlibrary.com); What is Tachistoscope Testing in Digital Marketing? (affstuff.com).
A Panshin (n 3).
H Lin The Effects of White Noise on Attentional Performance and On-Task Behaviours in Preschoolers with ADHD 21 Nov. 2022 Int J Environ Res Public Health.
S Gualtieri, A Finn The Sweet Spot: When Children’s Developing Abilities, Brains, and Knowledge Make Them Better Learners Than Adults 11 Apr. 2022 Perspect Psychol Sci.
Learning before bedtime could improve memory – new study | News and events | Loughborough University (lboro.ac.uk). I can't find the actual study associated with this article, let me know if you do.
K Klein, B Adriel Expressive writing can increase working memory capacity 2001 Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
A Honig, A Nealis What do young children dream about? Jan. 2011 Early Child Development and Care; What Processes in the Brain Allow You to Remember Dreams? | Scientific American.
G Chevet, T Baccino and Others What breaks the flow of reading? A study on characteristics of attentional disruption during digital reading 12 Oct. 2022 Front Psychol.
M Thalmann, A Souza and Other How does chunking help working memory? 26 Apr. 2018 J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn.
Photographic memory - Chess Forums - Chess.com.
List of people claimed to possess an eidetic memory - Wikipedia even wikipedia confuses the term 'eidetic' and 'photographic' contradicting themselves later in the same article.
A Ralby, M Mentzelopoulos and Other Learning Languages and Complex Subjects with Memory Palaces 17 Jun. 2017 Communications in Computer and Information Science.
A Cunff Memory bias: how selective recall can impact your memories 17 Nov. 2020 Ness Labs.
T Wager, L Atlas The neuroscience of placebo effects: connecting context, learning and health 21 Jun. 2018 Nat Nev Neurosci.
K Potkin, W Bunney Jr. Sleep Improves Memory: The Effect of Sleep on Long Term Memory in Early Adolescence 7 Aug. 2012 PLoS One; A Reichelt, R Westbrook and Others Editorial: Impact of Diet on Learning, Memory and Cognition 19 May 2017 Front Behav Neurosci.
The psychology behind colors and symbols in safety messaging | ISHN; T Omori, A Mochizuki and Others Emergence of Symbolic Behaviour from brian like memory with dynamic attention Oct. 1999 Neural Netw.
K Nader Reconsolidation and the Dynamic Nature of Memory Oct. 2015 Cold Spring Harb Perspective Biol.
B Baird, S Mota-Rolim and Other The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming 14 Mar. 2019 HHS Author Manuscripts; P.R Corlett, S.V. Canavan and Others Dreams, reality and memory: confabulations in lucid dreamers implicate reality-monitoring dysfunction in dream consciousness 16 Jul. 2014.
S Jesus THAT'S SO CRINGE: Exploring the concept of cringe or vicarious embarrassment and social pain Sep. 2022 European Psychiatry; C Mcintyre, B Roozendaal Adrenal Stress Hormones and Enhanced Memory for Emotionally Arousing Experiences 2007 National Center for Biotechnology Information; C Tyng, H Amin and Others The Influences of Emotion on Learning and Memory 24 Aug. 2017 Front Psychol.
Y Liu, Wanjun Lin and Others Memory consolidation reconfigures neural pathways involved in the suppression of emotional memories 29 Nov. 2016 Nature Communications; How the Brain Purges Bad Memories | Scientific American.