Are there mnemonic techniques that allow us to memorize everything? Of course, the capacity of the human brain to process data is limited, but that does not mean that, following the proper methodology and with a little patience, tricks cannot be used to expand our memory to impressive limits.

If you have ever done any research on the subject, you will have noticed that there are real specialists in exploiting the resources of your memory. Individuals who, having trained their minds day by day, manage to reproduce data with amazing ease.

In this respect, the loci method is one of the most useful tools .

Narrative-based memory

Traditional education based on master classes (teachers speak, students remain silent) has been based for years on the idea that we humans store memories as pieces of information that “enter” our brain one by one, separately.

Thus, in compulsory education classes it has been very frequent to see lessons in which the teacher recites the names of a series of rivers, names of kings or body parts, in the best of cases adding to this bombardment of data an element of musicality to facilitate memorization.

However, nowadays many researchers in memory and cognitive sciences in general hold a radically opposite idea: that it is much easier for us to memorize things when we integrate them into a narrative , something that happens in a certain space and time. A way of understanding memory that is based on the way things tended to be remembered thousands of years ago.

The memory of oral tradition

Today, writing and the ease of printing text means that virtually everyone has an artificial “expansion” of their ability to remember things. Writing is, in practice, the possibility of creating repositories of memories that we can access with relative ease whenever we need to consult certain data. However, the fact that this tool is based on the existence of a certain degree of technology (writing, printing and computers) means that humanity has not always been able to enjoy this second memory made up of sheets of paper and computer systems.

However, many civilizations prospered and gained a very detailed knowledge of the environment in which they lived, and even managed to create very complex laws, norms, value and belief systems that acted as a social cohesive. How was it possible for members of these cultures to memorize this kind of information without having constant access to the scriptures? Possibly, this was possible to oral tradition and mythology . What had to be memorized was explained in the form of a narrative, something that can be visualized and related to an environment that is easy to remember vividly.

What is the loci method?

The method of loci is a technique to facilitate memorization whose creation is attributed to the Greek poet Simonides of Ceos.

The term “loci”, which in Latin means “place”, gives a clue as to what this method is; it relates the pieces of information to be memorized to a three-dimensional environment that we can remember and vividly evoke. In this way, the loci method takes advantage of spatial memory to “expand” our whole ability to remember things in general.

Its regular use does not make our spontaneous memorization better or remind us of many things that we have not even set out to evoke later, but it is a tool that we can deliberately use at specific moments to accumulate a lot of information and not forget it (without the help of writing). Thus, it can be used as an effective study method: it allows us to retain much more information so that it can be retrieved later.

Locating memories in any narrative plot

The fact that by following the loci method we introduce a notion of space to our memories makes it possible to create narratives that allow us to easily memorize what we want to remember. For example, if we want to memorize the main tasks we have to do during the week, we can create a vivid narrative in which all these elements are present. It doesn’t matter if it is totally surreal and, in fact, the more fun it is the more hook it will have and the easier it will be for us to remember . The key is to evoke many details of the space or spaces in which the action takes place, taking into account all the sensations that each moment transmits: touch, smell, colours, etc.

In this way, each piece of information that we have to remember will spontaneously lead us to the next: a mob of people (representing the meeting we have to attend on Monday) is chasing us around our city’s square, and we hide from them in a cash machine (representing the banking procedures we have to carry out on Wednesday).

In short, the loci method may not allow us to enjoy a supernatural brain, but it is certainly useful in many contexts. Perhaps that is why it is used both by people who want to improve their work performance and by world champions of memorization.

  • You may be interested in: “The limits and failures of human memory”