After a decade of work on the memory masterclass, it has become very extensive. 90% of the things in the masterclass I could not even imagine when creating the Udemy class 10 years ago. So I will take some time here to describe what is in the class and what is not in the class and why.
You can see the masterclass here: https://keytostudy.thinkific.com/courses/keytostudy-memory-masterclass
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Do not forget, ever. The masterclass starts very simply. I simply claim that with proper training it is possible to remember whatever we choose to remember as long as we choose to remember. The focus here is not on the speed or volume of memory structures – I address that later – but on focusing to memorize something. We never remember something without actively choosing to remember it. Moreover, there are many memory tools and it is best to use the right tool for the job.
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Creating a Memorable Visualization. For reasons, I do not fully understand some people visualize effortlessly, while others struggle with visualization. There are several simple methods to create memorable visualization. With time, I found out that people who struggle with visualization can visualize really well by using very simple Google tricks. The Etymology method and reusable visual dictionaries are the two tools you should probably acquire as soon as you can.
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Compound visualizations. One visualization for one keyword is like riding a tricycle: good to explain the concept, but extremely inefficient. Good visualizations typically use between 5 and 20 keywords per visualization. These visualizations are inherently complex. I think it is best to start with free-style visualization models, and only then move to standardized models.
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Simple memory structures. Here I did not have anything to add above the Udemy class and the book, I quote the book a bit. The focus of the masterclass is not on something simple, but on something more meaningful.
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Massive memory palaces. A memory city is the most effective multipurpose tool to remember large volumes of data. Typically I use mental cities with up to 2 million keywords. This is enough to describe any area of expertise. King James’ Authorized Bible has 783,137 words, so a mental palace with mindmap elements of 2 million keywords is more than enough to describe pretty much anything.
- Memory forests. Memory palaces are great for knowledge that is immutable. If the knowledge needs revisions and reorganizations, mindmaps work better. By transforming mindmaps into memory trees and planting the trees in an imaginary garden, we can have a very large number of mindmaps. This is great for example for engineering tasks. As far as I know, I invented the technique described in the course. It works great in combination with memory cities.
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Audio mnemonics and storytelling. Relying on visual memory for every memory task is not very effective. Many tasks require dual coding, especially the tasks that deal with languages and classical texts. For those tasks, audio mnemonics are very effective. They are also very natural for long-term memorization. These techniques will not work for memory competitions as they are slow, but speed is not always the main target.
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Languages and immersion. Some of my students simply insist that they need to learn foreign languages. This chapter is for them. It relies very heavily on dual encoding and memory palaces and also deals a lot with various aspects of immersion. Immersion is probably more important for languages than other skills. All the languages I know I personally learned through immersion.
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Annotations and taking notes. This is just a short mention of the need to supplement memory with notes. The subject should be explored as a part of speedwriting masterclass. What I put here is just a mention, while speedwriting is a full masterclass. In short, if you want to remember something complex you should write about it.
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Immersive knowledge build-up. This section is complementary to speedreading tools. It specifically deals with building large memory structures incrementally: one article or one book at a time. It also mentions other relevant skills, like lifestyle skills (sleep hacking, nootropics, and more).
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Markers. Visual markers are critical for recall. If we remember something but do not really know how to recall it when we need that specific memory, we have an issue. Markers are these small cues that enable the recall of massive knowledge structures. The markers are somewhat different kinds of visualizations: they need to be very conspicuous. This requires several tricks. Once executed well, we can use markers to switch memory contexts between subjects and during multitasking and even change our mood when we need it.
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Big History. Some of the memory training is performed for fun. Learning history is definitely fun if done correctly. There are also some unique memory tools that work best for history, but also can be applied to financial data.
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Chunking. This chapter is almost too technical. It deals with chunking data for compound visualizations and large memory structures. If you are looking for deep insights, skip to the next chapter. If you need technical tips, especially for combining memory and speedreading, read more.
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Mental Cabinets. Here once again I put memory structures of my own invention inspired by mnemonic practices of the baroque period. Specifically, I focus on large cabinets for storing multiple mental objects in one room and on curios that enable “teleportation” between mental palaces. Here I focus on putting such objects in mental cities and using them for memorization. I deal more with the history and the incentive behind these objects in my Polymath masterclass.
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Mapping Through Mental Cities. As mental cities grow, navigating in such cities becomes a major problem This is a relatively advanced section for those whose mental cities contain more than 100 mental palaces. The need to navigate these palaces effectively leads to some very interesting solutions and insights into city planning.
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Action Items And Numbers. This section deals with business meetings and presentations where we need to track multiple key performance indicators. This is a very practical and relatively simple section. Possibly it could be used earlier in the course.
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Birds Eye View. This is a practical summary of everything described so far. Possibly it could be used as the last section of the course, at least the basic course.
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Planetary Memory Structure. Inspired by Jordano Bruno, very complex and very effective memory structures. They are useful for memorizing very complex situations with multiple actors or parameters: situations that are simply too complex for regular mental structures, with a focus on simplifying further analysis.
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Automatism and Subvisualization. Deals with memory aspects of subvisualized speedreading, hypnotic learning, sleep-learning, and overlearning procedural tasks.
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Memory Multitasking And Tabs. Memory support for multitasking and flow productivity approaches. Overlaying the reality with visualization of key performance indicators and following the latest status of key performance indicators.
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Mental Accounting. Reframing of key performance indicators into “where I put my keys” problem and tools to deal with both issues. Great for multitasking and business activities.
With so many subjects in the course, you may wonder what is left out and why.
- Logical markers. I literally have a separate masterclass for them. https://keytostudy.thinkific.com/courses/research-and-creativity
- Memory championship training. I simply do not deal with it. Today memory champions work with abstract images and most of them know Chinese. The latest generation of memory champions are boys and girls in their teens. I am old school and I do not possess the relevant skillset…
- Memorizing names and faces. Sorry. Could never do it myself, even though tried to learn several times. I know the theory, but I do not like teaching subjects I do not personally use every day and well.
- Major system/Dominic system. If you need to find letter vs number correspondence there are plenty of online resources. Most of them are used simply as a key to constructing your own PAO tables. I did not feel I could contribute to the subject any unique insight.
The memory masterclass contains materials for every level of practice from very basic to very advanced. While I plan to add some of the subjects I discuss in my masterclasses to my upcoming books, the cross-coverage is expected to be ~20%. It is also unlike anything Anna teaches in her 1:1 sessions, providing tools you will not find anywhere else. Before purchasing, I honestly recommend contacting me [email protected] for the best deal.
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