[DarthMader]

So the main tool that memory champions rely on is essentially 'visualizing/picturing' fake situations. Now, I have a solid memory outside of this. But when I picture things, it's pretty hard for me even for most familiar places like my home. Any memory experts with actual advice to see more vibrantly? I feel like I'm always fighting against the natural tendency to see black (as is natural with eyes closed) versus trying to focus on what I'm picturing.

[mrmyers]

'visualizing' isn't just 'seeing'. Try to think back in your mind to the house in you grew up in. Do you remember where the kitchen, bedrooms, and/or bathrooms were? Do you remember which way the beds/furniture were facing in most of the rooms, which side the sinks and counters were in the bathrooms and kitchens? Do you remember where in the house any other furniture, such as a desk, couch, television, or coat rack was? Most people can remember these things, even if they can't conjure forth before their mind's eye a vivid mental picture of their house.

Try answering all of those questions about, say, any of your neighbors houses growing up which you may have been in once or twice. About a recent home, building or room in which you may have only been in once, sometime within the past 6 months to a year.

While it's not perfect, and some particular facts might elude you, most people will find it surprisingly easy to answer most of these questions, even about buildings they may have only been in once or twice a decade or more prior. Yet, if they were to try to, say, answer detailed questions about a painting they may have seen around the same time, most will struggle.

We seem to have a certain kind architectural/location memory which is used for remembering the relative layouts of places we've been, and this sort of memory seems to have some different properties compared to just visual imagery. It seems to be retained long-term fairly effortlessly, with very little time actually spent 'memorizing' it.

This is the basis of a lot of the tricks used by memory champions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci

[krackers]

> even if they can't conjure forth before their mind's eye a vivid mental picture of their house

It should be noted that there's also a small percentage of people who physically don't have a "mind's eye":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia

[geoelectric]

Look up "aphantasia". It's a relatively new (and trendy) term referring to an inability to "see" things in your mind. Apparently, most people can engage the visual cortex and actually form mental images, though I haven't really experienced this myself. I just get brief flashes, but mostly remember things factually.

I've personally found memory palaces and whatnot to be largely useless, probably because I can't visualize anything. Soundalike-based mnemonics work better for me (cockney rhyming slang type stuff, etc.)

[hevi_jos]

People are different. Each mind is different. Only over 30% of the population is highly visual.

When people talk about "images" in the memorization world, they are not just talking about visual memories. But also touch(we have millions of touch sensors distributed along the skin) "images". Speech images. Spacial 3d "images", "smell images","kinestesic or muscle memory and so on.

A persona that is born blind can't make visual images, a baby with malfunctioning ears will not develop sound images. In fact, you could restore vision or cochlea "sensors" later in life and they will not be able to hear or see because the brain as a baby did not have it and neural connections were not made. This is the reason they test for hearing on babies and operate them as soon as possible.

But that a blind or deaf person could not see or listen, it does not mean that he could not make an "image" of the world, in fact some areas of their brains will be actually stronger than on people that can see or hear.

You have to know thyself, what are your strong areas, and favor those sensory images. I am deeply kinesthetic for example, so I always favor space relationships and movement, actions and so on.

[xkgt]

It is not just about visualizing but also the choice of visuals. One of the things that Harry Lorayne stresses on, is to visualize something out of the ordinary, so crazy that it sticks out in the memory (for e.g, to remember a sequence of man and pencil, imagine a man with pencil sticking out his head or a pencil walking like a man on the street). The second best option is to imagine something sensory, tactile or olfactory or anything visceral. Mundane items or events are the ones most likely to escape our complete attention and consequently slip through our memory. Truth is that the attention is the most important bit of memorizing. More often than not the act of processing the information registers it much more effectively than any of these details. Try it for yourself, you will be surprised.

[mrspeaker]

I'm exactly the same! I've recently started to think that I don't actually have a minds eye. I can't hold an image in my head for more than a fraction of second - and even then, it's just parts of the image at a time (not a whole scene, and not in realistic color). The memory-castle type techniques seem to be visually "begging the question" - to remember things, first... remember things!

[zorga]

If you can see it for even a fraction of a second, you do have a minds eye; those with aphantasia can't see anything at all for any length of time. If you can see anything at all, you can improve that with practice.

[gotts]

speaking from personal experience I relied heavily on mnemonics memorizing skills during my years in academia.

At the beginning I had time visualizing all those "fake situations" and images. That's OK. You're OK. It gets much easier as you practice.

What helped me in this process is avoiding movies(especially modern action movies) and reading books.

[closed]

Have you tried a strategy like method of loci? If not, I would try it first, to see how it goes.

Visualizing is one part of the strategy (depth of processing), but a huge other piece is that you are enlisting spatial cues to help prompt recall (cued recall).

[jacobolus]

Most people can practice and develop this skill.

You might enjoy reading http://www.amblesideonline.org/CM/vol1complete.html#048