Today's pace of life and the speed of updating scientific and practical knowledge used by modern people in work, and in everyday life, poses many questions about how to memorize more and remember longer significant volumes of diverse information.
Unfortunately, in most educational institutions do not teach such a discipline as mnemonics, teaching various techniques, methods and methods of remembering and storing knowledge. "The Palace of Memory" is one of the oldest mnemonics. In this article we will talk about its history, various modifications and practical applications.
How does memory work?
Without delving into scientific research, let us recall what kind of process this is - memory. The information entering our brain goes through four main stages:
- memorization;
- preservation;
- extraction;
- forgetting.
All sensory organs that capture incoming information are involved in the process of memorization: eyes, note the color and brightness of the font, the nose picks up the smell of a library or fresh printing ink, ears hear the rustling of pages, and hands “remember” the weight of the book and the texture of its cover.
After receiving all the information, the brain, through nerve impulses, transfers all the information to the hippocampus - a special paired section of the cerebral cortex that performs the function of monitoring the quality of the information stored. According to studies, this particular part of the brain for some time holds important data allocated in the stream of nerve impulses, and then redirects them to the cerebral cortex, where the main repository is located. Thus, the hippocampus is responsible for short-term, and the cerebral cortex is responsible for long-term memory.
However, the person always faced the acute problem of finding the necessary information at the right time in the "back streets" of his memory.
A bit of history
In the process of narrating about the art of memory and the techniques and techniques used by mnemonists, the catch phrase that everything new is well forgotten old is constantly remembered. Most mnemonics, successfully used today, were described back in 82 BC. e. in the Rhetorica ad Herennium brief rhetoric guide. The mnemonic methods, techniques and memory training outlined in this folio were quite widely used both in ancient and in the Middle Ages.
Lawyer Peter Ravenna, who lived in the 15th century, used techniques such as palaces of memory to memorize words and quotes. Moreover, the number of palaces in his case was not calculated in the tens, but in the thousands, and they contained alphabetical phrases and key phrases on important topics for him. He described this method in his book Phoenix, published at the end of the 15th century.
Along with logic, grammar and rhetoric, memory development techniques were the basis of classical European humanities education. Students were not only forced to memorize material, but also explained how to do it.
Modern politicians and businessmen know very well how to build a palace of memory and use this mnemonics to achieve their own goals.
Who is the author?
Today it is impossible to determine exactly who was the first to create and use the method of memorizing a huge number of names, historical dates, quotes and facts - the ancient Greek poet Simonides or the Roman orator Cicero. The essence of the technique they used was that they had the necessary information in a building they knew well. In the imagination, they filled the rooms of this building with images, keywords - in general, with everything that they wanted to remember. In the future, at any time, it was possible to reproduce in the imagination the building itself, walk along it and remember everything that was needed. Later this technique was called the palace of memory, the Cicero method, and the technique of roads.
Roman rooms, or the road of Cicero
Considering how long the ancient Roman orator and philosopher Mark Tullius Cicero lived , one won’t be surprised that he is credited with several options for using mnemonics. According to one version, preparing for public speaking, he walked through the numerous rooms of his own house and arranged in them various abstracts, quotes, and dates. Speaking, he mentally repeated his path and gave the necessary information. Another version says that to remember this Roman rhetorician used the road that he had to walk every day. Of course, being an observant and attentive person, Cicero knew all its features, to which he “tied” the objects, facts, etc. that he needed.
Religious history
In the Middle Ages, especially during the Inquisition, the ministers of the church especially faced the problem of remembering large volumes of various information. Religious figures of that time needed not only to know the Holy Scriptures and prayers, but also to remember all types, types of adultery, sins, and even signs of witches ... It was at that time that mnemonics became a secret area of ​​knowledge. A person who was able to teach others to remember the most important things was very highly valued at that time. It is unlikely that Catholic priests of that era read or heard about such mnemonics as the palace of memory or the road of Cicero. They came up with and used a similar technique called memory theaters. In the imagination they created a room with four walls, on each of which there were several tiers with many places. Filling such "theaters", the clergy remembered all the religious information they needed.
Giulio Camillo went further and created a real theater of memory, built of wood, which was presented to the French monarch. Two people could enter there: Camillo himself and the king, where the ruler was explained how to remember anything.
What was Matteo Ricci famous for?
Medieval Catholicism was famous for its desire to “bring” to its “true” faith peoples professing other religions. One of the 16th century Catholic missionaries in China was the Jesuit Matteo Ricci. He was the most educated person of his time: a mathematician and cartographer, translator, who for the first time managed to establish a permanent cultural relationship between Chinese society and Christian Europe. In addition, his name was preserved in history because of his brilliant mnemonic abilities, thanks to which he became the first, and for many years the only European, who managed to pass the exam in China for a high public position.
Jesuit Mnemonics
For ten years, Ricci, who took the name Li Ma-dou in China, not only managed to learn the Chinese language and several regional dialects, but also became known as a very wise and learned person. In this he was helped not only by his brilliant education, but also by his mastery of the Jesuit mnemonics, which he taught the Chinese. The memory palace Matteo Ricci built on the basis of the amount of material necessary for memorization. In the most difficult cases, this building could consist of many different structures in height and size, interconnected. Ricci believed that for better memorization, you can use not only palaces, but also various bureaucratic institutions and temples, decorative arbors and public buildings. It was in such a “compound” palace of memory that he invited his Chinese students to place the images and concepts necessary for memorization. The Chinese used the technique proposed by him, but did not convert to the Catholic faith. It should be noted that modern Buddhists revere Matteo Ricci as the patron god of all watchmakers - Lee Ma-dou.
What is the essence of the method?
Regardless of how this mnemonics is called - the technique of supporting images or locations, by the method of matrices or geometric places, the palace of memory or the halls of the mind, the basis of its effectiveness is always the same. A person creates in his imagination an image of a well-known and emotionally close space, no matter whether it is a room in a student dormitory or the Knight's Hall of the Hermitage, a work office or a favorite level of a computer game DooM or Heroes of Might and Magic.
The factual information that needs to be remembered turns into vivid associative images placed in a person’s recreated imagination, a well-known and emotionally pleasant space. When the need arises to recall a particular fact, remember where you placed it, and take off on a mental journey through the palace of memory, your room or the level of a computer game.
Psychological mechanisms
Such mnemonic techniques, such as the palace of memory or the locus method, use the transformation of memorized information and facts into vivid visual pictures that are placed and associated with certain points of an emotionally significant and familiar space. As a result of such intellectual manipulations, the brain creates new neural connections and associations between information that must be remembered and subsequently reproduced, and the image of one or another place. Thanks to which, as a result of figurative visualization and the study of associative relations , human memory develops.
How to build a palace of memory?
If you need to remember and save, as well as have quick access to boring and voluminous information, you can build your own "intellectual halls."
At the very beginning, just mastering this technique, it is better to limit yourself to a small and very familiar room, for example, your own room. So, what needs to be done to “erect” your own palace of memory? The technique is simple, here are the basic steps:
1. Decide on your palace of memory. At first, in order to spread the memories, a desk and a bookcase can be enough . If not enough, then you can use other furniture and space. Instead of a room, you can "build" the facts along your road to classes or work. The memory palace or the locus method works best, allowing you to place more information when the imaginable space is realistic and detailed.
2. Get directions. Having created your own "mental" palace, it is important to think over the ways of your movement on it. If you need to remember information in a strictly defined order, then the route of movement should be very clear and preferably simple. The easiest way to use the imagination is the same path that exists in reality. For example, entering the room first of all you see the TV, then the sofa, and only then - the workplace.
3. Select storage. This is a very important step, because when using the methodology (palace of memory / reason) you have to place all the necessary numbers, facts and names in these places. It is worth remembering that one thought can be superimposed on one subject, otherwise confusion is possible, and the method will be useless. It is desirable that the objects are noticeably different from each other, so it will be easier to remember.
4. Remember: the palace of memory is a technique that works effectively only if you know the palace you created like the back of your hand, and remember all its details by heart. Those who practice this method recommend drawing a drawing of the mental storehouse and marking the places where information is stored on it. By checking the virtual image with the diagram you draw, you can check how accurately you attached it to the subject.
How to use it?
But now all the preparatory stages have been completed, and finally, your palace of memory is ready to remember.
The technique for filling it is quite simple: you need to fill in a small amount of information for each item. The more features, the better. Imagine the smell, color, texture and texture of each item, give it a particular emotional coloring. If you have to remember a large amount of coherent information, then place associative objects sequentially, linking them together. The more extravagant and even absurd your keys and images will be, the better. For example, the Polar Bear in Valenka, size 6 Maximum, will help you easily recall the make and model of a new supercar from a well-known concern.
Instead of a conclusion
Do not hope that the palaces of memory are an easy and quick way to prepare for an exam or a public speech. In fact, this is an affordable technique, thanks to which it is really possible to improve memory. You just have to deal with it regularly, constantly training your own imagination and various types of memory. You can start small - from your workplace or room. The main thing is that each memory "lay" in its place, because then it will be easy to find. The ancients said that the road will be overpowered by the walking one, so maybe it's time to go?