Mnemotechnique

That's why certain experiences, especially dangerous ones, are easy to remember. If you suddenly find yourself in peril, it might feel like time is slowing down. Later, the memory of this event can be so vivid it feels like you're reliving the experience. This intense recall is the brain's way of ensuring you remember and learn from danger.

Of course, this kind of vivid, flashbulb memory doesn't apply to all experiences. Consider the multiplication table as an example. When first encountered, it probably seemed entirely abstract and uninteresting. If you had an experience like mine, learning each element was a slow and tedious task. As adults we all understand multiplication is important, but it's a relatively new skill in the long timeline of human history. Our ancestors didn't need this sort of abstract knowledge for their immediate survival. So it seems that abstract things, like the multiplication table, just take a lot of effort to remember. Or do they?

Some people have mastered the ability to effortlessly remember anything they want to. The mathematician John Conway memorized the name and location of every visible star in the sky. When he was asked why he did it, he said, "To make a point. It's possible, and you can do it too. " He trained himself in the "Art of memory", which was called Mnemotechnique by the Greeks who first invented it.

The etymology of "Mnemotechnique" reveals its meaning. Mnemo means memory, and technique comes from techne, which means art or craft. Techne also implies skill and the method of practice.

Mnemotechnique makes it possible to remember whatever you want, even when some of these things feel "hard" to remember. It describes the process of consciously mapping abstract ideas onto naturally easy-to-remember thoughts, as well as every other artfully conscious choice you make when using your memory. It turns your thoughts and memories into an internally orchestrated playground.

This is a very important point. Learning is an emotional thing, and a common feature of "genius" is that these people have learned to enjoy thinking. They don't experience the act of absorbing new information as a grinding tedious chore, but rather as engaging play, akin to how a child would experiment with a new box of Lego. Unfortunately, most of us are taught just the opposite thing; we are taught learning is tedious and burdensome. But like anything else, this can be unlearned. Why should geniuses have all the fun?

Within the Mnemotechnical tradition: the mental mapping of a hard-to-remember thing, into an easy-to-remember thing, is called artificial memory. When you just remember something, you are using your natural memory. So artificial memory is built upon natural memory. Your artificial memory can absorb information quickly, while your natural memory may not, depending on the category of the information.

You can use Mnemotechnique to strengthen natural memory. For example, elaboration, spaced repetition, associative learning and study-relaxation are all Mnemotechnique for building natural memories.

Artificial memories tend to use memory tricks, called mnemonics. The PAO, number shape, number sound, and the method of loci are all examples of mnemonics. Often these systems use natural memories to build a mental scaffolding – the artificial memory of some mnemonic system – into which you can quickly organize the abstract things you want to remember. Somehow this works, allowing you to consume, retain and recall information very quickly.

Artificial memories can be thought of as internal cheat-sheets, which gradually fade over time. You can strengthen and revitalize their whole map anytime you like. Or, you can selectively reference their useful parts, and commit these items to long term natural memory, with just a little bit of conscious effort. You do this by exploring the logical connections between your existing knowledge and the new information. You actively think about these relationships, building associations in both directions. After you’ve established these mental pathways, you just relax and stop thinking for a while. Then your brain’s physiology steps in, enhancing and solidifying these connections through a process called neuroplasticity. This process builds the cellular structures to embed these new ideas into your associative long-term memory, effectively integrating them into your regular thought patterns. You'll know you've succeeded when you can think about the idea like you've always known it, without having to consciously retrieve it from your artificial memory.

You can use your artificial memory to effortlessly cram for a test, get high marks, then dump everything you learned. This is obviously a bad strategy if you wanted the education, but it could be useful if you need to temporarily endure an indoctrination. In such situations, artificial memory acts as a protective barrier, a prophylactic, allowing you to appear temporarily knowledgeable without long-term retention.

You can custom design an artificial memory structure for specific tasks, like counting cards, memorizing a multiplication table, to track the tides, or mentally solve difficult math problems. If you want something really big and powerful, you can build the required mnemonic system in stages, treating each as just another abstract thing you are trying to remember. First build a small structure, then a larger one using the smaller one as scaffolding, and continue this process until you have a multi-leveled structure where the top most layer is what you wanted. Once this monster is built, you can use your natural memory techniques to study its top-most framework, and let the underlying layers of recursive scaffolding naturally fade away. The design and construction of these things become easier with some practice.

In many ways, forgetting is just as important as remembering. But it is not easy to consciously forget a natural memory. You can erode its influence, by not thinking about it. When it's not activated, your brain's neuroplastic construction process can cannibalize its volume to build up other structures that you have asked it to make by thinking about them.

Conscious forgetting can be used to step away from an addiction or reduce the frequency of other destructive behaviors. The act of consciously forgetting an artificial memory's associations, is another important skill. You would use it to clear out a mnemonic structure so you can re-use it to receive new information.

It is a baffling mystery why we don't currently teach Mnemotechnique to our kids in school. It was once considered a foundation to a western education, then it was removed from the curriculum for nonsensical religious reasons. In modern times, one religion has been replaced with another, and a different form of educational malpractice is underway. But you don't need to ask anyone's permission to learn Mnemontechnique, you can just start and practice it on your own, with your friends, or with the kids in your family.

With AI to help design your PAO mnemonic structures, video games to help us build memory palaces and YouTube to show you new memory tricks. There has never been a better time to study and play with the Mnemotechnical.