When we discuss “visual markers” we address some objects that can be processed by the right hemisphere of one’s brain. In fact the distinction between the “left brain” and the “right brain” is not very clear, and visual markers take many forms. By controlling the dimensionality of your visualization you control a complex trade-off between emotional involvement and retention, amount of details and ease of linking, visualization speed and complexity.
Types of visual markers
There are many types of visual markers, and here I am describing only some of them
| Marker | Usage | Pros | Cons |
| 2D “Icons” | Hyperlinking | Simple, stylized, fast, easily coloured and linked | Very few details, no emotional attachement |
| 3D “Real-life objects” | Middle level visualization | Can be easily manipulated in 3D, easily animated for linking, can support 5-6 details | Do not scale well for complex information handling |
| 4D “Multisense objects” | Memory anchors | Memorable, can be easily retrieved and linked | Not suited to hold many details, should be used sparingly |
| 2D “Cartoons” | High-level “Story” visualization | Can store many technical details. Easy segmentation into “frames”. Very fast. | Not suited for complex linking |
| 3D “Virtual words” | High-level “memory palace” visualization | Maximal storage capacity. Balanced speed and retrieval. | Complex segmentation and navigation. |
| 4D “Persons” | Linking agents | Best linkage, memorable, navigate, store details, change with environment | Complex creation, should be used sparingly |
We will try to write dedicated posts for each visualization method.
How to choose?
Each of visual markers has pros and cons, so a superlearner should be able to control all of them. However, we all have our natural tendencies. Most people find it easy to visualize the “Real life objects” and manipulate them very fast. However, many people (including me) prefer the schematic world of hyperlinking. The advanced 4D objects (people, multisensory hybrids) should be used sparingly and with other markers around them or you may get sensory overload.
Discussion
Jasper De Jong: Intense visualisations
I’ve been practicing my ability to visualize by using your “Visualization focus training”. And it’s absolutely mind-blowing. The visualizations are so real that it feels like lucid dreaming, I love it.
But at times the visualizations have become so intense, that I freak out and ‘waking up’ with a blurred/distorted vision for a split second. Is this a common phenomenal among your students? And do you have any ideas on how to deal with this?
Dr. Lev Gold
The main origin of the exercise is a high-level meditative technique. My visualizations are typically stylized and I needed some extra to get to high-level visualization abilities. You could go the other way and try using more stylized visualizations (try http://www.keytostudy.com/random-images-generator/). Anyway, you need to be in control and ideally to be able to cover the whole range between hyperlinking (flow-charts) and high-level visualization (virtual universes).
Jasper De Jong
I do have way more difficulty in hyperlinking compared to high-level visualizing. Do you think practicing more on hyperlinking could reduce the short panic attacks I get while visualizing deeply?
Dr. Lev Gold
Yes. Hyperlinking feels very objective and removes emotional attachment. Just going from 3D markers to 2D markers (“comics” style) reduces emotional and sensory load. Going from “real” object to “icons” reduces the emotional load even further. You kind of have a dial that allows you to set how much emotional engagement you need…
Jasper De Jong
That makes a lot of sense, thank you Lev.
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Dr. Lev,
I am experiencing problems with visualization.
I feel like i don’t understand how to make the best markers. i feel like i have to make a marker while i read the paragraph, as i forget the information before i get to the end of said paragraph.
what am i doing wrong? i am trying to speed up my reading and comprehension… it doesn’t seem to be working. What should i change?
also, a lot of times i forget markers, and i forget to use them in my everyday life. What do you think i should do?
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Hi dr lev,
Thank you for the blog, It has helped me tremendously in the course. Could you please give me a specific image for each marker you described in detail. I’m having trouble visualizing some of them.
Thank you. I think that you need to focus on the markers you can visualize. Each of us is different, and something that comes easier to some is more difficult to others.
If you need additional help with more specific issues, please ask regarding a specific visualization.