Memory Palace

A technique used by memory champions all over the world.

1) Introduction

Memory Palace is a structure or route in your mind of a real or imaginary place. This structure or route serves as a medium to store the information you need to remember.

The human brain is not wired to remember words, sentences, numbers, etc. Our ancestors used to travel to far lands in search of food and had to remember various routes to come back home safely. Hence mostly relying on visual memory which got optimized over time. Memory palace technique uses the same tools to remember information with which we are already equipped, which are remembering maps and pictures.

2) Origin

Memory Palace technique originated in ancient Greece. Greek poet Simonides was supposed to recite a poem at a banquet. After the recitation, Simonides stepped outside and the hall collapsed. The bodies of people were crushed beyond recognition. However, Simonides was able to tag names to the bodies by remembering the locations where the banqueters were sitting and was born the memory palace technique.

It is also known as the method of loci, memory theater, mind palace, the art of memory.

3) How to build a memory palace

Step-1: Visualize a place or a route of a familiar location that you remember clearly. It could be your house, old houses you lived in, school, college, office, shopping mall, routes you commute frequently. The chosen place or route is your memory palace.

Step-2: Create a blueprint of the palace and imagine walking through it in a single path.

Step-3: As you are walking, identify the objects or locations which you can identify as a single entity.

Step-4: Store the information which you need to remember in the objects identified. If it is a sequential information store it in the objects as you are walking along the path. Use your creativity to make a relation between the information and objects.

Step-5: Once the relationships are established, create a mental movie out of it as you walk through the path.

4) Improving memory retention

As with most skills, repetition & practice is the key.

To remember your palaces more vividly write them down and review frequently.