Art of Memory
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Questions About Mnemonists

1-minute read • Updated on

I’m curious about why people are attracted to memory techniques. Does every person do the techniques for different reasons or are there similarities?

Are memory people typically daydreamers? (I.e., people who enjoy getting lost in visualization.)

Is it an escape from reality?

Do memory techniques have some kind of pleasing effect through modified brain waves, especially during recall?

Is the attraction in just being able to perform seemingly-superhuman feats?

Does it appeal to the same creative part of the brain as practicing music, writing, or painting?

What is the attraction in getting lost in a bizarre dreamlike world that can never be completely explained to another person? The mind is creating something elaborate and fantastic, but it is never really communicated to another human. The creation is converted back into abstract data without anyone else ever knowing what happened.

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Nelson
Nelson

Personally, I really enjoy the feeling of being able to do something super-human :D

Josh
Josh

That's the same reason I got into it -- I tried a memory technique and was so impressed that an absent-minded person like myself could learn to do the impossible, I became hooked. :)

I've always been a chronic daydreamer. The creative aspect also appeals to me. I can't shut my brain off, so I have to feed it things to do. There seems to be something calming about recall. I sometimes walk through my journeys (without placing images) in order to fall asleep. It keeps out other thoughts, kind of like counting sheep.

I liked your comment on TV a few days ago:

"It's crazy I enjoy memorizing, because I like to anticipate the movie I'm going to see in my head."

Melanie
Melanie

I think it would help me channel my daydreaming into something useful loll. I'm also a frequent daydreamer and I was brought hear because I think it would be beneficial for school and other things and because it would be cool to do something superhuman-like.

Frank Mulder
Frank Mulder

At some point I thought: why do I always have to refer to written materials or the Internet? Why don't I just remember the things I want to remember? From that moment I got interested in memory techniques.