A Sneak Peek into a Memory Athlete’s Brain

Imagine a human being memorize 5000+ digits in 30 minutes and an entire deck of playing cards under 15 seconds, seems a bit daunting and even next to impossible, right? You may have pictured them as some super nerdy super humans but if you take a peak into what happens in a memory athlete’s brain during this process, all you would see are reels of silly extravagant movies!!! Memory sports demand a lot of spontaneous creativity and visualization.

Memory athletes see everything in images. Give them numbers, they see images interacting with each other. Tell them you are an author and they will picture you hitting everyone with books! Why? Because our brains are wired to remember images and things that are fun, exciting, and unique. They are far more engaged by story telling than a list of facts.

So, that’s what we train our brains to do! But how does one make images out of everyday mundane things? By thinking without a box and being quirky. While it is easier to make images out of abstract data, It is a bit more complicated to convert numbers and binaries into images without the help of a proper memory system which you will learn about in the coming days.

Here are some fun examples

1. If you need to remember where you parked your car and let’s say it is in E3 – You could picture driving to England with 3 of your best friends!
2. Making pictures for Names
   Trump – Trumpet
   
3.  If you need to remember someone’s profession and let’s say they are a chef or is into the food business – Picture noodles all over their head! ( Just don’t tell them that! 😉 )
    

Vivid and Unusual images are more likely to stick in your memory. When you put in the effort to make an image for something, it is like signaling your brain that this information is important. It is an external stimuli. Try making interesting images out of random things and you are ready for a head start in memory sports! There is no right or wrong way of making images that is set in stone. It is perfect as long as it is vivid and unique enough for YOU to remember!!

But Wait, What if you don’t remember the images?!

Happy Neurons!!