# Motivation and Inspiration



## Joël (Mar 2, 2007)

Hello,

In my search for finding interesting ways to memorize, I found this video on youtube. Check it out, I think it's pretty amazing. I hope it motivates/inspires people here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=X-xl7_hdWZo

- Jo?l.


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## Joël (Mar 2, 2007)

Hey, it's me again...

I just finished preparing a set of Persons and Verbs to associate all the pieces with, and I prepared a journey with about 20 locations (from my home to the train station)... The edges memorisation looked something like:

George Bush was flying (yet, I literly had Air Force one in my backyard)
Marco Borsato (Dutch singer) was screaming, making a lot of noise
My dad was partying (I can't forget that, that's very much unlike him)
My boss was eating coockies
Matt Walter was doing nothing (end of cycle, parity)

It's still kind of awkward to convert all the information, but I hope to practice this more.. bye!!..

- Jo?l.


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## AvGalen (Mar 2, 2007)

Great video, but I think it was part of a bigger video that explained it in a little more detail. Some of the comments made the video a lot clearer. Apparantly he has 1 person, 1 verb and 1 object associated with every card. He makes sentences using the person for the 1st card, the verb for the 2nd and the object for the 3rd. 

I have just started learning blindfolded and everyone seems to use stories/pictures. For me it seems easier to just remember positions for the orientation and numbers for the permutation. (Macky's cycle method) I don't think I could make up a story in a reasonable amount of time.

Any other tips for memorization?


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## Joël (Mar 3, 2007)

> _Originally posted by AvGalen_@Mar 2 2007, 07:42 PM
> * Great video, but I think it was part of a bigger video that explained it in a little more detail. Some of the comments made the video a lot clearer. Apparantly he has 1 person, 1 verb and 1 object associated with every card. He makes sentences using the person for the 1st card, the verb for the 2nd and the object for the 3rd.
> 
> I have just started learning blindfolded and everyone seems to use stories/pictures. For me it seems easier to just remember positions for the orientation and numbers for the permutation. (Macky's cycle method) I don't think I could make up a story in a reasonable amount of time.
> ...


 Hi Arnoud,

To be clear about this, I didn't post this so people would understand what type of method he uses. I just wanted to show that some people can memorise extraordinary amounts of information using the right method.

About making the 'stories' in a short time: This guy memorises a deck of cards in under a minute, with about 32 seconds being his personal best. To memorise 52 cards in 32 seconds, means about .61 seconds per card .

I am sure with good practice and a good method, converting the information to stories will be very easy. (well, at least I hope so, because I am going to try).

- Jo?l.


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## pjk (Mar 3, 2007)

I can't watch the video since I am on dial-up. I will go watch it later at the college, thanks for sharing.


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## tenderchkn (Mar 5, 2007)

That technique works, but it doesn't have to be some sort of story, or location, especially in the context of blindfold cubing. You can use any set of 12 (or 20 if you prefer) arbitrary terms that you can easily associate and convert to numerical values.

I use playing cards to memorize the cube - Ace to Queen is 1 to 12. Instead of using numbers, I assign something for each rank. For example, a jack is a fishing hook, a four is a sailboat, a three is a crab. So a 11, 4, 3 cycle is "fishing on a boat for crabs", memorized as a single unit, instead of three separate numbers. Human beings, on average, can memorize 7 plus or minus 2 units of information, so the more you can squeeze into each unit, the more you can fit into your short-term memory.


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## AvGalen (Mar 5, 2007)

Could you explain "7 plus or minus 2 units"?

0.61 seconds per card would mean (12+8)*0.61 = 12.5 seconds for memorizing using a Pochman method. Cards are easier because you have to twist the cube during memorisation.

If you compare this to Matyas Kuti starting after only 25 seconds, it seems he is almost as fast.


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## Joël (Mar 5, 2007)

> _Originally posted by AvGalen_@Mar 5 2007, 09:51 AM
> * Could you explain "7 plus or minus 2 units"?
> 
> 0.61 seconds per card would mean (12+8)*0.61 = 12.5 seconds for memorizing using a Pochman method. Cards are easier because you have to twist the cube during memorisation.
> ...


 I believe he reached for his BLD after 25, but he actually pulled it down after 27 or so...

Anyway, I know John Louis, who is also a grandmaster in memory, predicted humans can memorise a rubik's cube succesfully in under 20 seconds, with a good method.

- Jo?l.


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## AvGalen (Mar 5, 2007)

Tyson/Leyan Lo once claimed 15+45 would be possible for memo+execution, so maybe we will get a sub-1 solve eventually. 1.06 has already been done during an average(http://www.speedcubing.com/records/recs_bf_333_av10.html)


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## tenderchkn (Mar 5, 2007)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_term_memory

Read the section on the capacity of short term memory.

But anything meaningful, no matter how much information it contains within it, can be compressed into a unit.

For example, if you were to memorize the following letters: L, C, D, F, B, I, C, I, A, N, A, V, Y - it would take you a lot longer to memorize them individually than if you condense them into LCD, FBI, CIA, NAVY. It becomes four units as opposed to 13.


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## Joël (Mar 5, 2007)

> _Originally posted by tenderchkn_@Mar 5 2007, 05:41 PM
> * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_term_memory
> 
> Read the section on the capacity of short term memory.
> ...


 Exactly!

One of the speedmemorisers uses a system that associates an image with every possible combination of two cards. So he has about 2700 images for that! Then, he makes a mini-story of 3 of those consecutive images, and stores them into one location of his journey... This way, he stores 6 cards in one locations, which means he uses 9 locations of a journey for 1 deck of cards .

I really wonder if it's true that anyone can do all this stuff .

- Jo?l.


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## tenderchkn (Mar 5, 2007)

Right, and 9 is well within range of human limits. 6 cards is condensed into one unit.

2700 sounds like a lot, but really, I don't think it's not that much different from learning algorithms. You just have to train your mind to do it.

For us, blindfold solves are ordinary, but for people who are unacquainted, they think it's magic. Same thing with the cards - blackjack card counters can easily count a shoe of 10 decks with 100% accuracy. I guess you get more motivation when it's your livelihood.


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## pjk (Mar 6, 2007)

I watched the video today, very cool. Practice makes perfect, that is all I can say. I am going to start working on an image memo system for 3x3 BLD EP and hope that I can avg around 30 second memo once I get good with it. I want to test it out some and I will post results when I start getting good at it.

I might have to start memorizing cards too, just for practice.


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## Inferno.Fighter.IV (Mar 7, 2007)

Wow, this is great, now I really want to learn to solve cubes blind folded!


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## csfield (Apr 6, 2007)

There is a memory sports group in yahoo groups. Memory tricks are very powerful when mastered. I memorized pi to 100 digits by momorizing a few sentences. Check out some books by Harry Lorraine or Tony Buzan.


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## dChan (Apr 6, 2007)

Man, I havn't even begun to explore this whole other side to BLD cubing. Most likely I'll end up using pure numbers- no memo techniques- to solve the cube, I can just imagine how good those of you who can use memo techniques, are.


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## joshtbuff (Apr 9, 2007)

I dont have many problems memorizing edge orientation. I just see the pieces and remember them because i am about to execute them. I use to use animals. 1=a 2=b etc and attach an animal to each number for edge orientation. Now i just remember which ones and if i am having trouble on one side then i may stick an animal in there. Remembering corners is harder for some reason. I try to do the 0,1,2 method but i seem to get confused easily. I have gotten better at purmutation but i still hit and miss. I worked on it solidly on Sunday and found my mem times getting shorter. I know people probably have way faster times than mine, but i started to get sub 1 min memorization. I found improvments when i traced a few corners and then if it got a little tough or two patterns occured i would use a rhyming word to get me from one corner to the next. I do the same for edges. i do a patter for 2 or 3 pieces that are close then use a phonetic sound that represents a number to get me to another edge then may stick two to three edges together so the story doesnt have to be too complicated.

I was using all stories which would make my brain hurt after two failed attempts. For edges i would use a story that used a rhyming word 1-12 and for corners i would use the phonetic lettering system to create a story using the phonetic word for that number 1-8. The stories were too long and created more opportunity for failure.


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## joshtbuff (Apr 10, 2007)

> _Originally posted by tenderchkn_@Mar 5 2007, 01:23 AM
> * That technique works, but it doesn't have to be some sort of story, or location, especially in the context of blindfold cubing. You can use any set of 12 (or 20 if you prefer) arbitrary terms that you can easily associate and convert to numerical values.
> 
> I use playing cards to memorize the cube - Ace to Queen is 1 to 12. Instead of using numbers, I assign something for each rank. For example, a jack is a fishing hook, a four is a sailboat, a three is a crab. So a 11, 4, 3 cycle is "fishing on a boat for crabs", memorized as a single unit, instead of three separate numbers. Human beings, on average, can memorize 7 plus or minus 2 units of information, so the more you can squeeze into each unit, the more you can fit into your short-term memory. *


 can you expalin which cards represent which pictures all the way from 2-A? I am interested to see them all and to maybe incorporate them into my memorization technique.


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