Okay, not exactly riveting stuff, but it is interesting how they do it.
The key is to create an image for each of the 52 cards in the deck and commit those images to memory; for this I think you have to use straight-up rote memorization (memorization through repetition). Then when you see the king of hearts you immediately see whatever image you created for it. You will have to also create a fresh, uninhabited memory palace (I talk about that in an earlier post) where you can store each image in the order that you see them - when it comes time to recall the order, you just take a walk through the palace in your mind.
Some people simply memorize an image for each card and store all 52 in a memory palace. But there is a more efficient way. First of all, the image you create is of a person performing an action with an object (PAO). For example:
2 of hearts - Will Ferrell milking a cow
3 of hearts - Kathy Dunderdale jumping on a trampoline
4 of hearts - Steve Buschemi riding a tiger
Rather than use these images to memorize the cards one at a time, you can combine all three into one image by taking the person from the first card, the action from the second, and the object from the third. So, you look at the deck three cards at a time - if you see the 2 of hearts, 3 of hearts, and 4 of hearts in order the image you commit to the palace is of Will Ferrell jumping on a tiger.
Of course, the hardest part would be to memorize all 52 images well enough so that the card and the image are forever seared into your memory, and to do it quickly 3 cards at a time. I'm playing with the idea of trying it, but it would be a lot of intense memorization. So far, I've just got images for all the hearts; I decided to theme all the suits, so all the hearts are images involving singers. The queen of hearts is Amelia Curran mowing the lawn!
The Memory Palace is a neat thought. I think I didn't realize that for the things I remember well I kind of do this. But not intentionally - not explicitly. Good discussion on memory here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=1-E9MMTciBo&NR=1
Yeah, I think we remember things better when we involve more regions of the brain in the memory; not just memorizing a word, but an image, a smell, a feeling. There are ridiculously obscure things I remember from my childhood because of a smell.
ReplyDeleteFoer won the USA memory championships after just a year of training, then went on to finish 13th at the world championship. But it is still incredibly competitive: Ben Pridmore holds the world record for playing cards memorized: he memorized 884 cards in 30 minutes. That would take more than a year of training (and very little life outside of it!)
http://www.world-memory-statistics.com/disciplines.php