The Dominic System

I recently read (skimmed) a book called “Moonwalking with Einstein” by Joshua Foer which caused me to confront a problem I have. I suck at remembering “things”. Things like my visa number, birthdays, appointments, directions or 2000+ digits of random numbers. In "Moonwalking with Einstein" Josh tells the story about his journey to becoming the 2006 USA Memory champion. By learning a series of mnemonic techniques he was able to, among many other things, memorize the exact order of a shuffled deck of cards in under two minutes. As it turns out, you don’t need an astronomical IQ to pull off this feat; you just need an instruction book and some free time (or a lack of motivation to do all the real work you have to do). The way it works to remember a bank card number (using the Dominic System) for example is as follows:

Each number from 0 – 9 has a letter associated with it, and for large numbers, letters are grouped in pairs. My old bank number is 6018871025738825 and encoded it would read SO AH HG AO BE GC HH BE. In order to remember this, you create a story where each pair of letters represents a memorable (does not need to be memorable in a positive way) person that plays a role in the plot. The point is to create the most ridiculous and thus memorable story so it is easy to recall. My bank card story goes as follows:

“I walk into my office holding my bank card and am greeted by Shaquille O’Neal with a moustache dressed in a german WWII uniform (hint: Adolf Hitler) who leads me to the board room where Hermione Granger is dancing to Steve AOki. Over the music I hear fighting in the next room and see Bruce lEe fighting George Clooney while Hugh Hefner is chanting “Bruce lEe!” repeatedly.”

This may seem way too complicated for everyday use, but as you start training your mind, the associations eventually become as automatic like a trained musician reading sheet music... or so I’m told.