A Designed Memory: How to Use Number Systems to Create an Internal Library of Texts
Introduction
My goal in teaching has always been this — to leave you with a flame in your chest and wonder in your eyes. I remember meeting a planetary scientist for NASA at a wedding. His eyes “looked” different. They seemed to have been filled with unending curiosity. You know those eyes, perhaps you’ve seen them before. Those eyes that always seem to be reaching out. He brought me outside and told me to look up at the sky. He started to enthusiastically explain to me the nature of light and the stars. When he looked at light, he didn’t just see light; he saw a profound beauty that set his heart ablaze. Now let me bring you to what makes my face turn bright: number systems. For when I see numbers, I just don’t see numbers — but a thing of beauty.
The Beauty of Number Systems
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri has often been compared to a gothic cathedral through its use of intertextuality and thoughtful poetic structure. Dante was not just a master poet, but a master builder. As I have noted in, “Dante and the Art of Memory in the Divine Comedy,” scholars such as Spencer Pearce have argued that his poem was shaped by the principles of mnemonics. It was carefully designed, and one of the contributing factors to its structure was his use of numbers.
You can use number systems to design your memory. Have you ever thought of memory as something that can be designed? If you read ancient memory treatises, one thing you will notice is that they often described mnemonics with the language of architecture (see The Mnemonics of Place). Numbers can act as the material by which networks of knowledge are built. You can not only read texts, but enter them.1
For example, you can create a poetry memory palace that can be searched by author and topic. In order to do this, you can build a memory palace with 26 loci to represent the 26 letters of the alphabet. Then you can select a letter, drill down into that locus and view a series of memory palaces that contain a list of poets whose last name starts with that letter. Then after selecting a poet, you can drill down even further to see another series of memory palaces that contain all the poems they have written. This level of organization is possible through the creative use of number systems. To make this structure more clear, I have provided some illustrations below.
The A-Z Poetry Memory Palace
Let us imagine that you wanted to consider all the poets starting with the letter S, you navigate to the 19th location of the A-Z Poetry Memory Palace and select S.
The Letter S Memory Palace
Now that you have selected the letter S, you can imagine that the locus is a portal that brings you down into another memory palace that consists a list of names that start with the letter S.
Shakespeare (S1): S1.1, S1.2, S1.3, S1.4
Simonides (S2): S2.1, S2.2, S2.3, S2.4
Spencer (S3): S3.1, S3.2, S3.3, S3.4
Smith (S4): S4.1, S4.2, S4.3, S4.4
Shelley (S5): S5.1, S5.2, S5.3, S5.4
Saba (S6): S6.1, S6.2, S6.3, S6.4
Entering the 1st Locus of the S Memory Palace
If you were to select “Shakespeare” at the 1st locus (S1), you can drill down into it and enter into a series of memory palaces that contain Shakespeare’s sonnets (1-154) and all his other works of poetry to be further explored. Then if you wanted to consider the poetry of Emily Dickinson, you can walk back up to the A-Z Poetry Memory Palace and move to the 4th location and select the letter D.
Navigating Verses
Number systems can act as a textual transit system. It gives one the ability to quickly navigate and manipulate texts without having to look at a page. You can quote verse 2, jump to verse 37, and then jump back to verse 14 with ease. You can recite an entire poem forwards, backwards, by every odd line, or compare the structure of one passage to another. St. Augustine once described the memory of his friend Simplicius in this manner,
“An excellent man of remarkable memory…And we believed that he could recite Virgil backwards. If we desired a common place concerning any topic, we asked him to make one and he did. If we wanted even prose passages from whatever of Cicero’s orations he had committed to memory, that also he could do; he followed in order however many divisions we wanted, backwards and forwards” (emphasis added).
An Approach to the Heidelberg Catechism
One can also use number systems to store commentary and supporting references. If you wanted to memorize the entire Heidelberg Catechism, you can create 129 loci to represent the 129 questions. Then in order to memorize the scriptural references for each question, you can insert an imaginary elevator at each locus that brings you down into another memory palace that contains a list of the supporting passages.2 It must be noted that since you are not just memorizing verse numbers, but the name of the books, in addition to a number system, you would also need to have pre-made images for each book of the Old and New Testament.
Since it is rare to find one memory palace that is big enough to fit 129 loci, you can create five separate memory palaces and link them together (See How to Link Palaces). Heidelberg Catechism Memory Palaces A, B, C, and D consists of 25 loci, and Palace E consists of 29 to total 129 locations to store all the questions. As mentioned in my lesson on how to build memory palaces, it is important to make sure that our locations are not overcrowded and has proper distance and lighting.
Locus 1 (Q.1) at the Heidelberg Memory Palace
Question 1: What is your only comfort in life and death?
Scriptural References: Sub-Memory Palace (A1.1)
References: 1 Cor. 6:19-20, Rom. 14:7-9, 1 Cor. 3:23; Titus 2:14, 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:2, John 8:34-36; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 John 3:1-11, John 6:39-40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:5, Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18, Rom. 8:28, Rom. 8:15-16; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14, Rom. 8:1-17.
Memorizing a list of verses is similar to memorizing digits. You can think of it as trying to memorize a long number and storing it in a palace of 20 locations: 6192014793232141181917922834362141531116394010273033151029312116188288151612122113148117. This may seem like a challenging task, however, it becomes surprisingly simple with the use of mnemonic devices and practice. For inspiration, watch Prateek Yadav memorize 80 random digits using a 2-digit number system and a memory palace.3
The Major System: The Art of Reading Numbers
So, how would I exactly go about memorizing this long list of verses? When I read numbers, it is like reading a sentence. I do not merely see numbers but images. It is much easier for me to remember a string of meaningful images than it is to remember a string of digits. In order to convert numbers into images, I use the Major System, a type of phonetic system where each digit is assigned a consonant sound. I could then use these sounds to form words to be included in 2 and 3 digit systems such as 23 (NeMo), 56 (LeaSH), and 64 (JaR).
The Major System
0 = s, z
1 = t, d
2 = n
3 = m
4 = r
5 = l
6 = j, sh, soft g, soft ch
7 = k, hard ch, hard g
8 = f, v, ph
9 = b, p
So let’s imagine that I wanted to remember Titus 2:14 and store in a sub-memory palace for the Heidelberg Catechism. I first would need an image for the name of the book before even considering the verse number. Perhaps, the image for Titus could be “Tie” like a necktie. When I see a “tie” with my mental eye, I am immediately reminded of the book of Titus. All I need is a hint of the book title and that is sufficient for me to be able to recall it.
So, what about the chapter and verse number (2:14)? Now, in my 2 digit number system, 02 = SuN because 0 = S, and 2 = N, and 14 = TaR because 1 = T and 4 = R. As you may have observed, in order to create an image for each number from 00-99, you just use the assigned consonants from the Major System and insert vowels to form words.
How to Encode Titus 2:14 at a Locus
So, now that we have the images for the book, chapter and verse number, it can be encoded in the memory palace. If the locus was my bedroom door, I could imagine myself with a magical [TIE] that starts to shine like the [SUN] which then stretches out to smudge hot [TAR] all over the door. Now, I want you to observe how I encoded the verse — this is where the craft of memory comes into play.4 Notice, how I paid attention to the directionality of the imagery. It started out with the tie, moved to the sun, and then ended with tar (Titus > 2 > 14).
I purposely did not imagine that there was [TAR] on a magical [TIE] that started to shine like the [SUN]. If were to convert the imagery with this particular order back to book, chapter, and verse, it would read as 14 Titus 2. This may seem like a small detail to point out, but what are some possible errors that may occur if you tried to encode 1 Peter 1:5 but didn’t pay attention to its directionality? One could accidentally recall 1 Peter 5:1 instead of 1 Peter 1:5.
Conclusion
Using the memory palace technique may seem somewhat overwhelming at first. But, the more you practice, creating imagery and linking will become second nature. I believe it is much easier to use mnemonic devices to memorize references than repeating aloud to yourself: “Titus 2:14, 2:14, 2:14, 2:14; Romans 8:28, 8:28, 8:28, 8:28; 8:28” and so on. Memory athletes use the memory palace, link method, and number systems to memorize hundreds of random digits in competition. We can use the same techniques to memorize a list of verses, texts verbatim, and to organize our memory palaces.
If you are an art historian, imagine what it would be like to stand in front of a painting and share significant biographical information and details of a work of art without struggling to recall historical dates. If you are a theologian, imagine what it would be like to tell the history of the German Reformation while reciting key figures, events, and texts without referring to notes. If you are a medievalist, imagine what it would be like to quote extended passages of Middle English poetry before your students.5 Whatever your interests are, you can create an internal library by which you can access a myriad of texts for rhetorical use.
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“I arrive in the fields and vast mansions of memory, where are treasured innumerable images brought in there from objects of every conceivable kind perceived by the senses…The huge repository of the memory, with its secrete and unimaginable caverns, welcomes and keeps all these things, to be recalled and brought out for use when needed; and as all of them have their particular ways into it, so all are put back again in their proper places.” - St. Augustine (354-430 AD).
You can also use elevator technique to create different levels that represent various topics at each locus. For example, level 1 can store Scripture references, level 2 can store notes from commentaries, level 3 can store quotations, and so on. You can press imaginary buttons and move up and down levels in order to enter and exit different memory palaces.
Prateek Yadav has been training in the Numbers discipline for many years. In order to memorize 80 digits in under 60 seconds requires much training, but I just wanted to show the effectiveness of number systems used in conjunction with the memory palace technique for encoding digits. Once you have created a system, you will be surprised at how easy it is to memorize numbers. It is important that I clarify, memorizing quickly does not always equate to memorizing well; there is also a slowness that we must embrace. (See The Burdens of Speed, Hadden Turner).
One of the benefits of using memory training software like Memory League or IAM to memorize random digits, words, and images, is that you begin to learn the importance of directionality. The skill we develop in memory training is to know how to have the first image act upon the second. If there is no clear movement from one item to the next, you can accidentally swap images and place them in the wrong position.
“One of [C.S Lewis’s] abilities must be noted here, for it is of obvious relevance to his gifts as a writer: his formidable memory. Lewis’s mastery of the Renaissance skill of the ars memorativa unquestionably contributed to the success of his Oxford lectures, enabling him to recite quotes from memory. Kenneth Tynan (1927-1980), an ‘angry young man’ of the 1960s, whom Lewis tutored in the 1940s, recalls Lewis playing a memory game with him. Tynan would read aloud a line he had arbitrarily chosen from a book he had selected from Lewis’s library. Lewis would then identify the work in question, and set the line in its proper context.” - Alister McGrath, C.S Lewis: A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet
Love your content, please keep up this good work!!!
Like I said, this really tied so much together for me. It's one thing to read about linking palaces and another to see the power of such a system. Thank you so much!