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[G]: Memorizing a Deck of Cards - Page 2

Blogs > rad301
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Earll
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Norway847 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-01 08:31:18
July 01 2011 08:04 GMT
#21
Would you recommend against just imagining J-A are 11--14 (k l m n)? I guess to me it would just seem more natural\easier to follow the same labeling all the way through, i might be wrong here though, might decide to try to get this down as i think its interesting to learn new cool things. Already know how to solve a rubiks cube so maybe i should apply this to learn to solve it blind folded =p

Edit: Oh, hmm, I see you have gone a b c d e as 1-5 and then inserted your own letters, I started out just going abcdefghijklm. hmm. hmmmmmm.
Wat
Hynda
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
Sweden2226 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-01 12:15:54
July 01 2011 12:15 GMT
#22
Rinrun
Profile Joined April 2010
Canada3509 Posts
July 01 2011 16:02 GMT
#23
Wooh- just read through the post and I am intrigued. I am definitely going to try this out.
MBC/Liquid/TSM always.
JeeJee
Profile Blog Joined July 2003
Canada5652 Posts
July 01 2011 19:35 GMT
#24
On July 01 2011 15:42 Torte de Lini wrote:


Reminds me of this.


Yep, andi bell does use something similar. His method afaik is just a bit more advanced -- instead of having a person for each card like in the OP, he follows the full PAO method. i.e each card has a person, an action, and an object associated with it. Obviously the full system is therefore 3 times as large as the one suggested in the OP, but here's why it works better:

Instead of imagining 52 people in 52 places, all you need to do is imagine 17 scenes in 17 places. Each scene being composed of a *person* doing an *action* on an *object*

i.e. say you have the following PAO associations:
Kd: Warren Buffet, firing, money
7h: jesus, descending from heaven, heaven
As: rekrul, gambling, cards

and the cards come Kd 7h As, then you'd take:
-person from Kd
-action from 7h
-object from As
and have warren buffet descending from heaven on a bunch of cards as a flying carpet (for example.. that's just how I would picture it).
So in one place, you have a single scene which crams the information of 3 things in it. Since you always memorize in PAO order, you will never get confused as to which comes first.

In other words, if it came as 7h As Kd, you'd instead see Jesus gambling with money -- a totally different scene.

In fact, that video is not entirely correct, because it implies there's only an object-card association for each card. What if it came pineapple-bear-saw? How could you tell the difference when all you have in your mind is bear sawing a pineapple? But actually, the "person" is the teddy bear (winni the pooh perhaps or just a generic alive teddy bear), the action is "sawing" and the object is "pineapple". If they came in a different order, the scene wouldn't involve teddy bears, pineapples, or saws at all since each card has three different associations, despite what the video implies.

Naturally, starting with a full PAO system is entirely overwhelming. I can't comment on memorizing a deck of cards since my PAO system only grew for rubik's cube purposes which has (in my system) 24 objects instead of 52. But I started off with an O system, then switched to PA, then eventually re-added O's for a full PAO system some time down the line.

On July 01 2011 17:04 Earll wrote:
Would you recommend against just imagining J-A are 11--14 (k l m n)? I guess to me it would just seem more natural\easier to follow the same labeling all the way through, i might be wrong here though, might decide to try to get this down as i think its interesting to learn new cool things. Already know how to solve a rubiks cube so maybe i should apply this to learn to solve it blind folded =p

Edit: Oh, hmm, I see you have gone a b c d e as 1-5 and then inserted your own letters, I started out just going abcdefghijklm. hmm. hmmmmmm.


It actually doesn't matter. I think he picked those letters because associations are easier to come by with certain letters as compared to others. But if you can make your associations, and they make sense to you, that's all that matters.
(\o/)  If you want it, you find a way. Otherwise you find excuses. No exceptions.
 /_\   aka Shinbi (requesting a name change since 27/05/09 ☺)
rad301
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
Canada196 Posts
July 01 2011 23:39 GMT
#25
@Earll
Try whatever you wish. The only defining factor is that you associate the the peg with the card; how you arrive at the peg is completely up to you.

@JeeJee
Yep, you were spot on. I think I mentioned somewhere in the guide about a shortcut (or maybe I deleted that part), but that was the shortcut technique, i.e. only needing 26 locations instead of 52. Regardless, I found the characters interacted much better with their environment when they had an action to follow. Imagining Day9 standing on my Calculus' teachers desk doing the trumpet dance is much easier than him just sitting there like a good student.
"Winning shows us how hard we've trained, losing shows us we need to train harder."
Earll
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Norway847 Posts
July 03 2011 05:19 GMT
#26
Wow, this works like fuck. I consider myself a person with pretty bad memory at least when it comes to some things (names directions etc.) And i started this 2 days ago, and managed to perfectly recite a deck of cards today, basically on my first try after putting together the PAO list, decided to use a PAO list because i figuered adding actions and objects would be easier than creating a path of 52 notable locations.

took me like 20~25 minutes to learn the deck (I Basically started with 1 character/action/object, and then for each one I added I would go back from the start and think my way through the path) and then like 5 minutes to recite my way through the deck. I don't fully remember all my Cards->pegs though, so had to look on my list a few times when memorizing the deck. Did not need the list when reciting the cards though a lot easier to go that way i guess, but should be no problem as i learn my pegs better with some practice n_n
Wat
rad301
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
Canada196 Posts
July 03 2011 17:25 GMT
#27
Well done! Unfortunately yes, when you start out it takes an annoyingly long time to remember the deck, but that get's better with time and practice. If you can do it in under 10 minutes then you are doing good. I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but Dominic O'Brien could/can memorize a deck in under a minute (it was like 55 seconds). He must be pretty damn fast with his hands as well as his brain.
"Winning shows us how hard we've trained, losing shows us we need to train harder."
mel_ee
Profile Blog Joined August 2003
2448 Posts
July 03 2011 19:33 GMT
#28
im starting up my list now...hopefully i can fill it up with relevant things to me. I wish I can use some of your lists but I dont even know their faces! haha..

anywho... have you applied this same technique to memorizing something else? I would like to know if when u applied this technique, was it faster to learn since u already have the basics or just the same amount of time memorizing what something was?
Behold the bold soldier, control the globe slowly proceeds to blow swingin swords like Shinobi
rad301
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
Canada196 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-03 23:15:46
July 03 2011 23:07 GMT
#29
I've applied techniques using the memory map quite often for things such as history class and the like. I'd say it definitely helped and made things easier to retain in a shorter time frame, however the more complicated the input, the trickier it is to memorize things exactly. Dates, names, locations, and simple snippets of info are quite easy. So easy in fact that I'll show you how:

Let's assume you've got to remember a list of the major leaders of WWI. If you've got a small memory map in mind, perhaps your house, then you can use that. I recommend creating different maps for different subjects, i.e. one for cards, one for facts, one for etc... Once you've got that, start with a person.

Kaiser Willhelm II comes to mind first off. At the first location on my memory map, I've got an over sized Kaiser bun sitting on the ground with one of those spiked German helmets, and he makes the "Willhelm scream" sound effect (google the Wilhelm scream if you don't understand the reference). Then I just repeat the process for the rest of the leaders, and come test day I run through the list in my head, after which I bend the test over and dry fist it with my knowledge.

Using common sense the possibilities are quite endless. I remember using this for the order of events which took place before WW2, i.e. Hitler's rise and the breaking of the Treaty of Versailles.

In answer to your second question, yes it was certainly easier to do the above with my experience with the card trick. After a few goes, you start to figure out what things make it easier to remember the symbols, such as incorporating other senses and emotions into them. You'll also get much faster at doing this.

Sorry, my answers always seem to get wordy :/, I can't help it.

Edit:
I figured I'll just add this on rather than making a new post. For those people currently working on their lists, I encourage you to post any cards that you are stuck on here. I'll do my best to give you some ideas, and also I'm sure the rest of TL will be able to help as well. Some of the cards took me a week to think of, so don't be concerned if this happens to you.
"Winning shows us how hard we've trained, losing shows us we need to train harder."
Earll
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Norway847 Posts
July 06 2011 02:01 GMT
#30
So managed to remember it without looking at my list 2nd time now and timed myself, used 10 minutes and a few seconds to memorize the deck, woop woop.

Any tips on how to increase efficiency so to speak? I know i have a lot of way to go with linkin my cards into PAO, still get stuck on some cards every now and then, and guess I just need practice for that. Should I completely stop thinking back though?

First time I memorized the deck I would start at the first PAO, then go to 2nd location and add 2nd PAO and then think my way through first and 2nd, and add third, then think my way through the first 3 etcetc, which makes it easier to remember i guess but takes a lot more time, so trying to think a lot less back now but still do it quite a bit or i think i will forget it =p
Wat
rad301
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
Canada196 Posts
July 07 2011 18:24 GMT
#31
Good job! It sounds like you are progressing much faster than I did. As with most things, unfortunately efficiency comes with lots of practice, however there are certain ways to make things easier. As Dominic O'Brien recommends, and as I found out to be true, one of the best ways to make things easier to remember is to incorporate emotional and sensational stimulus into the action which takes place. Albeit gruesome, whenever I imagine my 7 of diamonds, the Dark Templar, I imagine the person he's interacting with getting cut in half, and I get splattered with the blood. I actually imagine the feeling of getting covered in blood (this doesn't happen with all my pegs ), and it becomes easier to remember. Experiment with this principle, and you should figure it out.

Reviewing is very important, but you should only need to do it once or twice. I know the feeling you speak of, where you feel like you'll have trouble if you don't review, but give it a shot with one review half way and you should be surprised how easy it is still. If it isn't, you need to work on either the pegs or their interaction with the environment.

Keep the questions coming!
"Winning shows us how hard we've trained, losing shows us we need to train harder."
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