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1-Page Summary of The Memory Palace

Overview

How many US presidents can you name? And can you do it in chronological order? Sure, you know Kennedy and Lincoln, but there are probably several others that slipped your mind. What if there was a way to improve your memory so things like this were easier than pie?

It turns out that there is a way to remember more than you think. There’s this reserve capacity in your memory called spatial memory, which can be accessed through awareness and some techniques. In these key points, you’ll discover why crazy stories play a role in remembering things; how Obama can help you remember when the Magna Carta was written; and a trick for remembering the titles of Shakespeare’s plays.

Big Idea #1: Your memory is like a muscle: you can strengthen it through training.

Do you often forget where you put things? Maybe you’ve gone to the supermarket and forgotten your shopping list. These are common results of having a bad memory. However, with some training we can improve our memories.

Think of your memory as a hidden muscle. It can be trained and strengthened, just like other muscles in the body. Many people think that only smart people have excellent memories, but that’s not true at all. You can strengthen your memory with some simple techniques and exercises to become an expert at trivia games.

There are many ways to improve your memory. One way is to use a simple technique that can turn you into a world champion memorizer in no time at all. The most effective tool for remembering information like names and dates is to connect them with images or places, which takes advantage of our spatial memory. And the crazier the image, the better it works!

For example, if we want to remember the early works of William Shakespeare, imagine a three-headed Richard Nixon standing on a chair claiming to be Richard III. By tapping into our spatial memory and associating that image with Richard III, we’ll never forget those plays again.

It’s simple to remember things, but what makes these techniques so effective?

Big Idea #2: Your spatial memory is old and powerful – use it to remember virtually anything.

Do you ever wonder why it’s easier to remember some things than others? It all has to do with how we store memories. Our spatial memory is what allows us to navigate through the world and find our way home. Without it, we’d constantly forget where we are or how to get back home from work.

Humans have developed a spatial memory as an important life-saving tool. Without Google Maps, remembering the best route back to our cave was vital for survival. So the human brain developed spatial memory to recall things related to their environment. It was more important to remember where we can run than long lists of names and numbers. However, nowadays we’re fighting against evolution when trying to remember those long lists of names and numbers.

Does that mean you should give up on being able to memorize every bone in the human body? Not so fast! It’s just time to apply spatial memory and train your brain muscles.

Spatial memory is how we remember where things are in the world. If you can build a strong spatial memory, you will be able to recall information more easily and accurately. The best way to exercise your spatial memory is with an easy technique called “the method of loci”.

Big Idea #3: Use a mental image of a familiar place to improve your memory.

One way to remember things is to create a mental picture of a space that will be used for storing memories. Let’s call this space the “memory palace.”