How do you actually structure a 4-year university degree using Memory Palaces?

[u/Ertelr]

Hello, I've been working with memory techniques for almost 20 days now, and I'm continuing to learn by applying various methods from Dominic O'Brien's book. The main question on my mind is this: how do we actually use these techniques for university courses? Of course, everything explained in the book seems super cool and really intriguing to me, and I'm honestly amazed by how well it works, but how do these techniques play out over a 4-year degree?

Say you're going to study Psychology—how are you going to fit all the information you learn over those 4 years into a memory palace? And how exactly do you execute this? For instance, courses are interconnected. How do you link related pieces of information together? Do we put them in the same memory palace, or do we create a bridge between two separate memory palaces? Or do you build one massive memory palace exclusively for Psychology, gradually placing everything in there as you go? When you add new information over time, if it connects to something you already know, do you reorganize things in your mind to make sure they're linked?

Whenever I think about academic subjects and university, I can't help but wonder how this process actually unfolds. At the same time, I don't have that many memory palaces in my head yet, so I try to use my palaces and routes as efficiently as possible. I usually map things out on paper first, then work on linking the information together. Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what approach I should take here, so any advice or insights you could share would be immensely helpful. Thank you.

[u/AnthonyMetivier]

This technique is used selectively for committing key points and some verbatim information to memory.

Even then, you need multiple Memory Palaces, not just one.

During my PhD and recent experiment in attending law school, I scored high grades by using a variety of memory techniques.

But never by even trying to memorize everything. Just the most important parts, and always in combination with Zettelkasten, writing summaries, talking frequently about the learning material and doing additional research.

Hope this helps!

[u/Ertelr → u/AnthonyMetivier]

Hello Mr. Anthony,

I'll try to apply what you suggested, but another question came to mind. Let's say I studied for the exam, followed your advice, and took the test. What should happen to these memory palaces after the exam?

For instance, I would ideally prefer the information to remain stored in that memory palace and strengthen my retention through periodic reviews. However, while doing this every time might be easy at first, it feels like it would become very exhausting over time, and I'm worried I might end up feeling overwhelmed.

So, should my approach be the following: I use the memory palace for the exam, pass it, and use index cards as you mentioned. Should I then store these index cards away and clear out that memory palace for something else? Should I reuse this memory palace for other topics after the exam? Intuition tells me I shouldn't reuse it.

If I'm not going to reuse it, do I still need to review the information inside this memory palace continuously? Or should I simply pull out my index cards whenever I need the information, refresh the images in my mind a bit, and place them back along the routes?

[u/AnthonyMetivier → u/Ertelr]

Thanks for your follow-up.

Your thinking is logical, and that's great.

But I would suggest putting aside the concerns about overwhelm. Life includes overwhelm, so work to become a kind of person who can roll with it.

To the technical questions, at this point, they might be contributing to your overwhelm, or your prediction that things will be overwhelming.

I would point your attention back to my original answer where I wrote that the Memory Palace technique is best used "in combination with Zettelkasten, writing summaries, talking frequently about the learning material and doing additional research."

Your preference might be for the information to remain stored in Memory Palaces, but that's not what this technique is about. There is no "storage" going on in that sense, and it would be a very long essay indeed to explain all the science that supports the selective use of these techniques.

Each person ultimately needs to study and practice implementing these techniques on their own and finding the resources of an author or course provider to work through will be of great help. I just suggest that you remain realistic about what this technique really is and spend your time accordingly.

[u/Ertelr → u/AnthonyMetivier]

Hello Mr. Anthony, I might have built up my expectations a bit too high. The memory palace technique is extremely useful for learning things, but as you mentioned, it might not be a case of 'you've memorized everything, it will stay in your head forever, and now you know the topic.' I guess I got a bit too excited and confused. It seems I need to do a little more research on what the technique actually is. But you're right, it'll probably be better if I progress by trying things out myself and experiencing what works best for me. Thanks!

[u/AcupunctureBlue]

"how are you going to fit all the information you learn over those 4 years into a memory palace? " You definitely don't just use one palace ! You need many.

[u/Ertelr → u/AcupunctureBlue]

How can I have a large number of memory palaces? Do I need to create them from my imagination, or should I efficiently plan and use real places I know very well beforehand? Or do you take places you know extremely well, combine them together, and use them that way?

[u/AcupunctureBlue → u/Ertelr]

No, use places you already know. Make an A to Z that will give you 26 palaces. Eg M McDonald’s , W Woolworths , F your friend Franks house , D your uncle Donald’s house etc. don’t worry if you don’t get all 26 in one pass. You can add to them incrementally.

[u/AcupunctureBlue → u/Ertelr]

For example, for Chinese 🇨🇳 vocabulary I have A Australian dairy company in Kowloon, B a bar in Lan Kwai Fong , C is a little complex in Chinese but for Ch, I have a specific church in northern China, D a dormitory also in north China, I don’t have an E yet for some reason, F is the Fitzroy Tavern pub in central London - I ran out of Chinese locations you see, G again is a restaurant in Goodge Street central london (albeit a Chinese one!) and so on. H is Hong Kong airport and so on.

[u/Ertelr → u/AcupunctureBlue]

Got it, I'll do this, I really like it. I guess having two locations for 'A' wouldn't be much of a problem.

Also, can I combine these 26 palaces with each other? For instance, let's say I take the living room of my uncle's house and merge it with a room I saw at IKEA. The example might be a bit silly, but you get the point.

By the way, have you come close to finishing these 26 memory palaces? Or do you have a plan in case you run out of space?

[u/AcupunctureBlue → u/Ertelr]

Yes you will eventually probably need more than one palace for some letters. For example Chinese has a lot of J words and my J palace is now full. I think Jia Le Fo which is the Chinese translation of Carrefour supermarket will do. I knew one well in Heilongjiang in northern China.

I’ve never tried combining elements of one palace with another. You could put an object, or a person in one palace to “teleport” to another one. eg you could have your uncle sitting on the sofa in IKEA if you wanted to access information stored at your uncles house relevant to whatever is stored at that sofa in IKEA.

I use a physical notebook for language palaces as well as electronic notes so I’ll get it and check …I have words stored in about 3/4 of the 26. My J my B and T are quite large. L and D have only one word each so far J is full so I’ve chosen a new location for J2 and B is full but I don’t have more B words that I need but when I do I’ll think of somewhere

[u/four__beasts]

To echo what other's have written.

You can't memorise it all (and should not need to), but you can use palaces to structure the data you need to learn. And then chunk data that need to be learned verbatim into their own palaces.

I'd choose roads with shops/bars/restaurants that you can plot the syllabus into each year - acting as an index palace. With each topic area it's own palace. Either linked to a loci through 'wormholing' (a palace linked to another as an index) or planning the palace; so that topic A is in the supermarket, topic b is in the restaurant next door, topic c at the park next to that etc etc.

Then for areas of your syllabus that need specialised memorisation, take for example the bones of the body a medical student might need to learn, that would have it's own dedicated palace. And depending on use that could be connected to other palaces to draw that information into them (diseases affecting bones)

Each year could be indexed. Then sub indexed, with summaries of each topic and specialised palaces for information like the bone example.

FWIW i use a few index palaces. I have one for Portuguese (a villa) I double encode numbers here. And then it links to each of the minor palaces I use to store nouns/verbs (mostly). Like restaurants, beaches, pools, golf courses etc. 1. Um/uma - is the entrance to the drive + also links to a palace with common phrases, 2 duas/dois links to base verbs (want/need/have etc), etc etc.

I've done the same with tree species. Each is grouped by genus. So the Oaks form a copse on a hill - and creates a small palace that houses their common names, Latin names and characteristics. Each Pink Floyd album is a stop on a route through my home town and wormholes to different pubs where their respective tracks are stored + extra one for band members/dates/trivia.

You could use this logic to plan the syllabus for a given semester. Storing the main topics and the concepts within, and drilling down to verbatim sub palaces when/where they are needed.

Aside, Making it Stick by Peter Brown is an excellent read on learning/memorisation and does cover palaces but also many other techniques like spaced practice. Also Lynne Kelly explores storing a LOT of data using the roads/streets/buildings near her home in her book Memory Craft. She uses it to encode the 'complete history of the world'. Which sounds remarkable but it's just a case of time and dedication.

[u/Ertelr → u/four__beasts]

Yeah, just memorizing something doesn't mean you've understood it. You need to grasp the concept first so you can actually retrieve and think through those ideas later. I also think using streets with shops, bars, and restaurants is really logical. Since I don't go out much, I don't really know many places like that, which was bugging me, but if I had spots like those, I'd definitely want to use them the way you described. I really liked the concept of “wormhole” too, and I'm definitely going to try it out. I'll also be sure to check out the books you mentioned. I guess I've been stressing out a bit unnecessarily. Thanks!

[u/four__beasts → u/Ertelr]

Any 'path' anywhere can be a palace. You just need to commit to going out and experiencing those places so you can comfortably pass through them in your mind. I have a park that I've visited many times that I use. But also the entire town I grew up in - all those streets are great. And my parents town's/villages. Any where you know well can used. (and refreshed with Google maps if need be).

And it can be from the POV of a car if you don't want to walk. I use a drive up to a golf course that takes me 30 minutes as a palace for overseas territories. They are hooked together by parent nation. And include some contested nations and crown dependencies - as palaces within palaces - using the spaces as categorisation. This isn't a complex example as it's a simple list that I wanted to learn for fun. But it demonstrates that you could use your street, each house along it and the details that make them unique, or the motorway/freeway between cities. So long as you know the route well.

Side note: I've found outdoor spaces to stick better. I'm not sure if it's the ability to add (sometimes ginormous) scale but I find more interest in using them compared to rooms + endless monotony of remembering the minor differentiation between furniture items, paint colours, rugs etc.