How To Remember Numbers Like A SuperHero
So, here is a memory trick that Mathaletes use when they are remembering pi to the 100th digit and other superhuman feats of mind that seem impossible to achieve...
This is made possible by using what is called a Mneumonics (pronounced like "new -mawn- icks) Alphabet. According to Wikipedia:
"A mnemonic device, or memory device, is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory. Mnemonics make use of elaborate encoding, retrieval cues, and imagery as specific tools to encode any given information in a way that allows for efficient storage and retrieval. "
It's a little more in-depth than my last memory training blog, but what you can achieve with this memory trick is astonishing. If you were to say, try to get a job in an accounting office and you used this trick, wow! you'd either be hired on the spot or told to get the H-E double toothpicks outta Dodge because that corporation is pulling some serious bad juju and doesn't want you anywhere NEAR their accounting numbers!!!
This is nowhere as scary as it appears from the outset. With this technique, you are going to be remembering sounds instead of numbers, and with those sounds, you will be creating words and images in your mind to stand in place of all the digits. The next time you see something like this.... pi to the 20th digit is the following:
3. 14159265358979323846
Once you have memorized and practiced this memory system I am about to show you (for 100% FREE..I had to pay for this info as a teen!) you can remember any series of digits in sequence, forwards and backwards. Don't believe me? Let's get started, shall we? Hang on to your hats and handbags! We going for a ride!
OK, the first thing to start off on learning this technique, is by learning 10 sounds to replace the numbers 1-9 plus 0.....I will go as easy on ya as I can.... ADD is pretty darn prevalent and I know I may have already lost 56% of you readers in the first paragraph....so well done to you for sticking with me this far!!! Congrats!!
So here are the 10 sounds you must remember and memorize. Feel free to copy this part of the blog post to a notepad on your computer or iPad or iPhone....or what have you.
1. will be the sound of t or d.... tuh or duh
2. will be the sound of n as in Now or Noah
3. will be the sound of m as in ma
4. will be the sound of r, as in row or rye (err-rrrr)
5. will be the sound of L as in Law or lollipop, the LA-LA-LA sound
6. will be the sound of sh or ch, as in shoe or chew, sha or cha sounds
7. will be the sound of a hard c or hard k, as in cow or hook (ca or ka)
8 will be the sound of f, or ph or soft v, as in fine, phone or velvet ( fa, pha, or va sounds)
9 will be the sound of p or b, as in pa or bottle, the harsh pa, or bah sounds
0 will be the s or z sound, as in silence or zygote or lose (sa or za sounds)
OK, I know what you are thinking (yes I am that psychic!). "There is NO WAY I'll be able to memorize and learn all that! You gotta be KIDDING ME!" (Told you I knew what you were thinking!) But hear me out.....
I learned this system in my late teens, early twenties. Without practicing this system, just like with any other kind of skill, you will not retain it. Wait just one sec, my puppy dog is whining for me to let her outside, be right back!!!
OK, I'm back..on the timer as it's gonna be another 3 digit hot one outside in West Texas again today....!!
OK, so what was I saying? Oh yes! Just look above, it's a blog post silly! OK ok ok sorry for the filler! Sometimes your brain just needs a break, am I right? Yeah, I can see you grinning!
OK, so once we learn all the sounds, these sounds take the place of the numbers in our minds.
We are going to use our imagination (oh no, not THAT again!) to form words and silly images and sequences like a story to PEG a word or image in our mind to the next set of sounds, which we will also turn into a word/image in our minds, link them together in a silly, nonsensical way that our brain will REMEMBER.
That's one of the striking things about our memory. Our brain can easily remember things that are EXTRAORDINARY, or out of the ordinary, things that are EXAGERRATED. That is one of the most helpful tips to improving memory...think about it, (notice it, perceive it) then exaggerate it. Make it seem LARGER THAN LIFE. On a typical car ride through the country, you pass a herd of cows or horses. You may not even notice the cows and horses are you drive by them at 50 or 60 mph. But what if one of those cows was standing on two legs and playing a fiddle? And the other cows were grouped in pairs and doing a square dance? Think you would remember that? I bet you would! You' also remember the color of the faded red barn that suddenly bursts into flames as you heard the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band.....but that only took place in your imagination so that you would remember the herd of cows near the color faded red barn in the middle of nowhere on Highway 18 going somewhere....next to the world's 3rd largest ball of twine, apparently! So, if you learn only one thing from this, is that you mind remembers things that are exaggerated and out of the ordinary. Use your imagination to help you remember something you want to remember....
And that is what we will be doing with long number sequences using this system. So, returning to that pi sequence that was listed to the 20th digit ( I won't lie, I am copy and pasting this puppy right now, but I will be going through it with you to help you memorize it, and I will too!)
3. 14159265358979323846
OK, so we start out with the 3 and the 1, ignore the decimal, we all know where it needs to be, so ignore it for now...3 is the m sound, 1 is the D or T sound, duh or tuh, ..so you combine 31 into a word. All vowel sounds, such as A E I O U (and sometimes Y!) do not get their own sounds and so you get to use them to create your words in your mind to fill in the gaps...so,
31 could be the word mad. The next two numbers are 41...r and t...makes rat...so now you have mad rat...you can easily picture an angry mad rat in your mind...maybe it's staring at you with those beady, glowing red eye..and it's holding a very sharp knife aimed at you...so...mad rat!
The next two numbers are 59...so the sounds of L and P or B... could be LAP or LAB... I like the word LAB, it's easy to picture a mad scientist's Lab...with and angry MAD RAT in a LAB...so I'm going with it....next two numbers are 26 n with ch...looks like nacho, to me! So, we have a Mad Rat in a LAB made of Nachos....so far so good, I can see that!
Next two numbers are 53 L and m for Lamb, the b is silent, so not to be confused with a 9, but your mind would already process this as you are seeing a lamb, not the word, and the next two numbers are 58.... L and f, ph or v.... lava! So the story in our mind so far could be a MAD RAT in a LAB made of NACHOs meets a LAMB. The lamb nibbles on the LAB made of NACHOs, and uh oh! That Lamb just burst into flames and turned into fiery red-hot LAVA! Now, that's a hot lamb chop!
Next two numbers are 97...sounds of P or B and ca or ka, so our word could be Pack, Peck, Pick, or Puck... I can clearly see a black puck, so we will use PUCK, coming out of the LAVA...a fiery red PUCK, burning brightly..ok, that's weird! So, let's keep on truckin'!
Next two letters are 32.... M and N....man...easy peasy....so just imagine this fiery red PUCK made of LAVA is flying at this MAN...he's got his arms up trying to protect himself...he's gonna get a burning! Next two letters are 38.... M and v....move! The man MOVES out the fiery PUCK's way! Close call!
Last two digits are 46... R and sh or ch ... I see the word RUSH, or RASH, or maybe RICH..so yeah, let's use RICH, because we can somehow shoehorn it to a man moving out the way of a Fiery red PUCK and somehow he jumps into a very large pile of gold coins and cash... He is jumping up and down with joy and he's shouting "I'M RICH! I'm RICH!!"
So there is our story of pi to the 20th digit..let's go over it in our minds again, shall we?
3. 14159265358979323846
A MAD RAT in a LAB made of NACHOs encounters a LAMb. The LAMb nibbles on the NACHO LAB and bursts into red, fiery hot LAVA. Out of the LAVA pops a fiery, flaming red PUCK! That PUCK is flying through the air at high speed at a MAN. The man MOVEs out of the way of the flaming LAVA PUCK of death, and he lands into a money pit of gold and cash! He's shouting, I'm RICH! I'M RICH! as he turns into Scrooge McDuck! (that last part is optional and not a part of the pi numbers... I just added that for the continued giggles!!)
So, now I know what you are thinking again, cuz I roll like that!... What the heck did I just read, and how am I supposed to remember pi to the 20th digit with that silly mess up above? I'm GLAD YOU ASKED! So here we go, here is the magic in action.!!
Now, just by remembering what sound is attached by the number it represents, you can now reverse engineer this train of thought and either speak the numbers or write the number down, in sequence order, by MEMORY!!!! Let's try it out.....!!
You think of the first word MAD, and knowing this is pi, you say or write 3.1 Then the next word in your sequence is RAT, which in the system translates back into the numbers 4 (for the R sound) and 1 (for the T sound), so now you have said or written down 3.141...let's keep it going! Easy peasy!
The next word in our silly story is LAB, which when translated from sound to number is 5 (for the L sound) and 9 (for the B sound). OK, easy peasy, and the next word is NACHOs, which reverted back into the numbers is 2 (for the N sound) and 6 (for the ch sound)..OK so far so good! You're doing great! I'm so proud you are sticking with this! Amazed yet? See the power of this system yet? Me too! I'm not even looking at the pi numbers above (I'd have to scroll up, so I'm remember our story! You should too!)
OK, so after NACHO we had a LAMB, which when we think about the sounds the numbers make, turns back into 5 (for the L) and 3 (for the M..no B, the B is silent in this word, so we don't say it's a 9 in our mind, we are not seeing the word in our mind, we are seeing the animal, a lamb, and only the L and M sound we are hearing in out mind).
Next word is LAVA, because the LAMB bit the NACHOs and turned into LAVA....the word LAVA turns back into the numbers of 5 (for L) and 8 (for the V sound)... Next word in our story is PUCK. Because you saw it rise out of the LAVA. PUCK, when turned back into the numbers in our system, is 9 (for the P, the puh sound) and 7 (for the Kuh sound).
OK, you're doing great! You don't even know how great you are doing...trust me! OK, so the next word in our crazy story is MAN, cuz the Puck was flying through the air at the MAN, and MAN translates into the numbers 3 (for the M sound) and 2 (for the N sound). And the next word is MOVE, which is translated back into 3 (for the M sound) and 8 (for the Va sound).
And now, our last word in our silly story is RICH, which turns into the numbers 4 (for R sound) and 6 (for the cha sound). AND THAT'S IT! You just remembered and either said or wrote down pi to the 20th digit, all in a matter of minutes.... And in actual real-world practice, you can say it in seconds, all by memory!! You have NO IDEA how exciting this is! Or maybe you do at this point!!
Bam!
3. 14159265358979323846
Next time you see this number, you can remember our silly story from above.....
a MAD (31) RAT (41) in a LAB (59) made of NACHOS (26) met a LAMB (53), who bit the nachos and burst into LAVA (58), then a fiery red PUCK (97) flies out of the LAVA and flies towards a MAN (32), who MOVEs (38) out of the way and falls into a pile of money and he's screaming "I'M RICH!"
And in practice, this just takes a few seconds to say or write, FROM MEMORY, IN ORDER, and when you do this live in front of another human being, and you don't tell them you are remembering a nonsensical story, prepare for JAWS TO HIT THE FLOOR!!!
And the fun never ends! You can use this method for any number or group of numbers you wish to remember, say like your credit cards (all of them), phone numbers (never worry about your iPhone crashing and losing your numbers!) you SSN and all your kids SSNs for times you need them (just sayin, lots of scams and identity theft going on out there..be careful and remember important numbers!)
So, I could go on and on, but for the sake of giving your time back to you (you're welcome!) and ending this blog post, I hope you have learned something amazing that you can put into practice and look like a superhero with a memory to match!
Ken Burgess
8/9/19 12:33 pm CST
Recent Comments
22
A neat way of remembering numbers.
Now if I could just remember what I had for breakfast or where I put that screwdriver down I was just holding...or why did I just walk into the kitchen.... ;-)
If you want to remember where you put things, you must first be paying attention, not be on “automatic” or distracted by something else as you are laying down whatever it is you’d like to remember where you put it...it also helps to Exaggerate in your mind when you are placing the item down....say you usually put the car keys on the coffee table or the kitchen island....well, next time you lay down your keys, imagine you are SLAMMING them down through the coffee table...glass is flying everywhere , you got cuts all over your face and hands, and so the next time you ask yourself where you out your keys, you’re going to be thinking 🤔 of how you smashed that glass coffee table.. and there’s your keys! 👍
Hi, Ken.
Only got as far as Pi.
You are a pretty amazing guy.
I'm going to bookmark for later.
Have a look at this little guy:
Little Big Shots’ Math Genius Louis Names All 197 Countries.
https://theforensicaffiliate.com/wealthy-affiliate-video-resources/#LittleBigShots
Thank for sharing.
@PMindra
Yes, that little guy is amazing! So was his parents who taught him the mnueminic device so he could memorize every country in alphabetical order! It may have taken weeks or months but once learned it is a skill he can apply to anything! He’s going to lead an incredible life! It’s a shame these techniques are not taught in school, no child would fall behind, ever...
Good morning, Ken.
Mnemonic devices and this concept are completely new to me and one that I am going to learn more about.
I do remember something called "The Human Calculator" that came out and inspired many to learn a new approach to math.
I bet that there are millions of these VCR's somewhere collecting dust.
I agree that it is a shame that these types of techniques are not taught in schools. These would be future life changers.
I like what Salman Khan has done and continues to do over at Khan Academy.
TTYL.
@PMindra.
I am not an expert in memory by any means, but I have always had an interest in improving my memory, to be able to comprehend and retain information that I read. I've always been an excellent listener as a student and this served me well in my childhood. I think we all need just to pay more attention to what we are thinking, ignore the negative self-thoughts (they are not true, they just make you miserable, so don't listen to them!) and actively listen when others speak to us, engage them, ask questions, be interested in what they have to say. In turn, they will be more interested in what we have to say, and our memories will thank us for it! I have tips down below to help you remember where you put things, so feel free to read below for tips that may help you remember, say, where you put your keys. Have a good day!
"I think we all need just to pay more attention to what we are thinking, ignore the negative self-thoughts...and actively listen when others speak to us, engage them, ask questions, be interested in what they have to say..."
I did exactly that earlier today at an introduction meeting involving four people...One that I know, one that I'm seeing for the second time and the third...someone who I have never met before.
Although Ken admittedly is not an expert in memory by any means, he is 'bang on' as far as interaction is concerned.
Thanks, Ken for a reminder to something very important that often times we tend to forget, like the keys.
@Pmindra.
Whew Ken, my head is spinning! Somehow gotta get a handle on all this. Great stuff and certainly works, even for an ole man like me!
Thanks and love your style of writin.
Joe
Grrr. Math is not my thing. I couldn't continue reading. Some are deft at remembering numbers. I got lost by the end of 3rd paragraph. Absolutely, clueless.
That is fine....just remember that your memory loves things that are exaggerated or out of the ordinary... you are more likely to remember where you put your keys if you imagine, say, as you put your keys down on to a glass coffee table...in your mind, you see yourself SLAMMING they KEYS through the GLASS coffee table..the GLASS shatters into a million pieces! So the next time you a wondering where your keys are, you will remember they shattered the glass coffee table, and that's where they will be (unless someone else moved them, can't help you there!) You can use that technique to remember anything, just use your imagination to help you remember whatever it is you want to remember, that is ultimately what the post is about, just with remembering long numbers.
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Really interesting technique Ken.
I’m not familiar with this method but have bookmarked this for further study.
Thanks for sharing!
KyleAnn