Memorizing a Deck of Cards
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Memorizing a Deck of Cards
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Re: Memorizing a Deck of Cards
#2A few years ago I got down to memorizing a deck of cards in less than 2 mins.
First assign a person for each card.
Use the initials of the card. So Ten of Hearts would be someone with the initials T H(eg Ted heath, Thomas Hardy). Choose a person that is visually easy to remember.
Then when you are memorizing the cards use the method of loci. Go on an imaginative journey with 52 places and put the relevant person in that place. It helps if the place is associated with an action. It also helps if the action is weird, rude or strange because these are the things we tend to remember. Similarly bigger, more colourful loud images are easier to remember than small dull, mundane ones. If you keep having trouble with an image /place then change it
I practised everyday when I had a spare 5 mins and eventually worked up to memorizing a full deck.all in all it took about two months and I learnt alot about my memory
Re: Memorizing a Deck of Cards
#3There's some standard visual mnemonics for this (though you can tweak them to suit yourself).
Re: Memorizing a Deck of Cards
#4What's the science behind improved focus as a result of training short term memory?
Re: Memorizing a Deck of Cards
#5A few years ago I got down to memorizing a deck of cards in less than 2 mins. First assign a person for each card. Use the initials of the card. So Ten of Hearts would be someone with the initials T H(eg Ted heath, Thomas Hardy). Choose a person that is visually easy to remember. Then when you are memorizing the cards use the method of loci. Go on an imaginative journey with 52 places and put the relevant person in t…
Did you clear out your Palace for the next deck or use a new one? Not sure what's the best strategy there, I usually find echoes of past uses at the locations I've previously cleared out. How do you deal with this?
Re: Memorizing a Deck of Cards
#6When I was young, must've been under ten, I used to play a card game in my guide group in where the deck was continually recycled and if played "wrong" you had to add a facedown card from the top of the deck, which replaced the current one.
The details are fuzzy, but I remember that we all pretty quickly broke the game by memorizing the full deck after playing through once or twice. So we started playing two decks shuffled together, then three.
The point being that kids' brains are magical and memorizing the order of a deck is no big deal if you're having fun doing it.
Interestingly the thing which immediately foiled our trick was playing against a different guide group which played three decks, but cut and took away half the stack before playing. Having half as many cards (but a random half) broke all our unconscious mnemonics (which apparently included a radix filter).
Re: Memorizing a Deck of Cards
#7I find I often procrastinate when I haven’t done adequate planning. It’s easier to proceed when the next step is clear. So this was the most interesting part of the article to me:
> There were times when I felt an urge to stop and do anything else. I often get such urges when doing other activities, but this time I was able to resist them. I think that this might be because there was also a clear next step in this task, and also because I knew that the point of the task was to train my focus.
Re: Memorizing a Deck of Cards
#8“Moonwalking with Einstein”, a book by Joshua Foer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonwalking_with_Einstein), is all about memorization techniques and memorization competitions. It’s a great read. He found that while practicing with specific techniques allowed him to win competitions, he still tended to forget where he put his car keys.
Re: Memorizing a Deck of Cards
#9“Moonwalking with Einstein”, a book by Joshua Foer ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonwalking_with_Einstein ), is all about memorization techniques and memorization competitions. It’s a great read. He found that while practicing with specific techniques allowed him to win competitions, he still tended to forget where he put his car keys.
I have a trick that works for such things (at least for me).
When I'm leaving keys I imagine myself going back and searching for them and remembering that I left them there.
Then when I really am in this situation I remember the false memory and find them :)
Same thing works with remembering to buy something when going back from work and other "do THIS when THAT". When I decide I have to buy X I imagine myself stepping out of the bus, going up the stairs, remembering to go to the shop, turning and going there.
Then when I really do this I remember to turn :) What's funny is that a few times I then decided to go out on the next stop (a little longer walk but less mud when it's raining) - and I haven't remembered because the trigger didn't happen :)
Re: Memorizing a Deck of Cards
#10What's the science behind improved focus as a result of training short term memory?
I don't know of any science.
But for me personally, I find that, for very long and complicated thoughts, increasing the size of short term working memory helps to prolong the time before the moment when I start to doubt my own ability to keep track of all relevant facts.
It's good for solving problems, but less so for work with an audience, e.g. writing clearly.