Hey Chloe, glad you enjoyed it and were inspired to memorize poetry! Good question. I’d say start with something small (12 lines or less) and something that you love. A poem that makes your heart warm. Poetry foundation is a good website to explore and to find poems. Once you have a poem in your heart, they are much like birds. They will sing to your soul with a bright voice and sweet tune even in the rain or when the clouds of life darken.
One thing that leaps to mind is more on how cities promote forgetting.
For example, I've lived in both East and West Berlin. The East is filled with Plattenbau, which translates to something like "record buildings."
They don't exactly look like a stack of records on a record player, but they do have this strange uniformity to them, and can be difficult to navigate externally and internally.
There are incredibly long streets where they all look similar on the outside. Inside, they have strange staircases that are difficult to describe and naturally remember.
I'm not sure the German band Einstürzende Neubauten had these buildings in mind when they chose that name for their group, but it essentially translates to "new buildings falling down."
To writing and memory, it's still possible to purchase ruled paper, the lines serving as roads for our hands to follow, perhaps to produce the first drafts of what we now sometimes call "walls of text" in Online Speak.
When I think of Dante and roads and memory, I imagine humans always needing to choose either to embrace whatever we evolve or turn away. As he writes early on in Inferno:
"On it came, so bothering my tread
I’d half a mind at every turn to turn."
If nothing else, the art of memory provides a shot of full-mindedness. Thanks as ever for providing the goods that help us make the best possible turns in the mazes of modernity!
Appreciate it, thanks for reading! Those are definitely some interesting observations. I would love to see a study on memory and interior design. How to create places that aid memory in navigation. Much to ponder.
"The trust of a city street is formed over time from many, many little public sidewalk contacts. It grows out of people stopping by at the bar for a beer, getting advice from the grocer and giving advice to the newsstand man, comparing opinions with other customers at the bakery and nodding hello to the two boys drinking pop on the stoop, eying the girls while waiting to be called for dinner, admonishing the children, hearing about a job from the hardware man and borrowing a dollar from the druggist…most of it is ostensibly utterly trivial but the sum is not trivial at all.”
I loved this paragraph and it reminded me of the journaling I've done through the years of my life. Well over 30 years now. If just one day is read, the entry really doesn't mean much but when reading a lifetime of entries are very significant. Thank you for the encouragement this gives me. It was confirmation that maybe I do have a story to tell.
Thanks for reading. Glad you were encouraged by it. Yea, I agree. In thoroughly enjoyed this passage from Jacobs as well. Also, nice comparison with journaling. I can definitely see the connections.
I was looking forward to this piece and boy was I NOT disappointed. Right out of the gate with this line:
“Places too have rhythm, poetry even, not merely lines, but lines and we must learn to read them.”
Simple. Astounding. Immediately alters the way I view the world around me for the better, forever.
The analogy you draw between the familiarity of place and the familiarity of thought through walking the path over and over: brilliant. Avoiding sameness to aide memory, in both thought and architecture: brilliant.
Hey, thanks for reading, appreciate it! What triggered this essay was that I was reading a passage on urban space and said to myself: “He sounds just like a mnemonist in his use of language and description of place”
As a fun game my young daughter and I would pull each other onto the lines between the pavement (sidewalk) slabs, keeping a careful lookout for bears (in London!). I love walking down that street, remembering.
Do I understand correctly that the focus of your newsletter is on the cultivation of memorization? If so, that's an interesting topic. How did you arrive at it? Was this something you've always been drawn to, or did something happen that made memorization more difficult for you, or what?
I became interested in the art of memory when I sought to recite extended passages of poetry and various texts verbatim. I wanted to know how people were able to recite epic poems without the assistance of certain technologies, so I studied ancient and medieval traditions in the memory arts. I also found a group of mnemonists on forums that discussed these techniques in depth. The more I studied and practiced mnemonics, the more I saw its beauty.
Thanks! Though I didn't start out looking for such, I'm going to try some of your strategies out to see if they can help me memorize more texts (Scripture especially), and hopefully have a preventive effect for age-induced memory loss.
Fascinating. I absolutely love the Mnemonic Alphabet illustration from the 1400’s, and very much look forward to the upcoming essay you mentioned.
You’ve inspired me to memorize a poem, are there, in your opinion, better pieces for a newbie to start with, or is ones love of the piece most key? Thanks, Ronald
It really does make me curious, as someone interested in psychology, why memory is connected in some way with physical structures. Why does the brain inherently seem to understand this connection? Forgive my lack of understanding in this field--I've only heard of memory palaces briefly--but from this shallow comprehension, I'm curious how these associations can widen our ability to memorize. Does it simply recruit a larger region of the brain it normally would, or is there perhaps an ease in the association between the "mapping" area, the parietal lobe, and the temporal?
You bring a very interesting concept to the table, which I fully intend to explore a bit more myself. Thank you for the inspiration.
Great question. It is because the human brain is particularly good at spatial navigation. If you visited a place “only once” such as a relative’s house, or an AirBnB, even after years you would still be able to recall the general structure of that physical place. One does not need to study: the door was here, the bathroom was there, the balcony was here. We don’t use flashcards, the mind is just naturally good at recalling space.
Exactly, when memorizing with the memory palace, a different part of the brain is activated, namely the hippocampus. Studies have shown, if used often this region of the brain will enlarge. They have noticed that taxi drivers tend to have a larger hippocampus due to there frequent use of navigation and recollection. For further study on this topic, I’d recommend: Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer. Then secondly, Remember It by Nelson Dellis.
So, the memory palace takes advantage of the mind’s ability for spatial navigation. One places information at certain points in mental space. For this reason, in speeches we say: My first point, or in the first place. In rhetoric, it was instruction to the audience to place a point in their memory palace. To recall the point, one may simply visit the place within their memory palace with their mental eye.
Thank you for the book recommendations, I’ll put them on the list. This topic is much more interesting than I’d appreciated before. I suppose now that you mention it, the mental space is exactly that: a space. Ideas are much more than words or lists—they exist as physical structures in the brain, almost tangible and pliable with the mind. You can play over the surface of a memory, of a number or math equation, as they float around in that liminal black void.
You’re welcome, anytime. Hope you enjoy them. What we notice is that with the rise of new technologies there tends to be different metaphors used to describe the self and memory.
I have always thought that memories were quite different than were generally understood and sometimes quite independent of the brain which is experiencing it. I have had memories of places I've never been, not in this lifetime. I also have a genuine longing for Scotland that I've had all of my life and my family hasn't been there for Generations. Perhaps they rode in invitation on the cobblestones with their feet long ago
Wonderfully written with the aspects from the history. The only thing to disagree a bit is the city functionality made possible by the cars: especially here in Finland with the freezing winters the automobiles are essential for trasporting while walking outside near the impossible. Thanks for the new terminology and words!
Such a broad-ranging and fascinating post, Ronald. I'm working on a project that links memory and place, and having spent the last decade or so working as an interior designer, I'm interested in the contexts you mention in relation to urban spaces and walkable cities. I really do think urban planners should worry less about cars and more about foot traffic, cyclists, and public transport options.
Thanks for sharing. I'd like to know more about mnemonics, so I'll be following your posts.
Memorable cities, you must not be an American. American cities are ghastly corpses in a dying empire lightly covered with an obviously fake simulacra sheen.
Hi Daniel, thanks, appreciate it! I definitely think similarity plays a role. I think what Publicius was getting at was the potential dangers of “blandness.” He uses a lot of architectural language when describing the mental architecture of memory palaces. When memorizing, if locations are too similar there is a tendency to “skip them” in recall because one is unable to quickly make distinctions. Or another possibility is to confuse two palaces and not be sure which palace contained what type of information. But I think there is a place for similarity as well in mnemonics, perhaps I could write another essay reflecting on this in the future. Thanks for reading. Hope you have a great day.
Hey Chloe, glad you enjoyed it and were inspired to memorize poetry! Good question. I’d say start with something small (12 lines or less) and something that you love. A poem that makes your heart warm. Poetry foundation is a good website to explore and to find poems. Once you have a poem in your heart, they are much like birds. They will sing to your soul with a bright voice and sweet tune even in the rain or when the clouds of life darken.
Ronald, thank you so so much for this. I have just the poem 🪶 I’ll let you know how I get on. Thank you again
Great article and much to say about it.
One thing that leaps to mind is more on how cities promote forgetting.
For example, I've lived in both East and West Berlin. The East is filled with Plattenbau, which translates to something like "record buildings."
They don't exactly look like a stack of records on a record player, but they do have this strange uniformity to them, and can be difficult to navigate externally and internally.
There are incredibly long streets where they all look similar on the outside. Inside, they have strange staircases that are difficult to describe and naturally remember.
I'm not sure the German band Einstürzende Neubauten had these buildings in mind when they chose that name for their group, but it essentially translates to "new buildings falling down."
To writing and memory, it's still possible to purchase ruled paper, the lines serving as roads for our hands to follow, perhaps to produce the first drafts of what we now sometimes call "walls of text" in Online Speak.
When I think of Dante and roads and memory, I imagine humans always needing to choose either to embrace whatever we evolve or turn away. As he writes early on in Inferno:
"On it came, so bothering my tread
I’d half a mind at every turn to turn."
If nothing else, the art of memory provides a shot of full-mindedness. Thanks as ever for providing the goods that help us make the best possible turns in the mazes of modernity!
Appreciate it, thanks for reading! Those are definitely some interesting observations. I would love to see a study on memory and interior design. How to create places that aid memory in navigation. Much to ponder.
"The trust of a city street is formed over time from many, many little public sidewalk contacts. It grows out of people stopping by at the bar for a beer, getting advice from the grocer and giving advice to the newsstand man, comparing opinions with other customers at the bakery and nodding hello to the two boys drinking pop on the stoop, eying the girls while waiting to be called for dinner, admonishing the children, hearing about a job from the hardware man and borrowing a dollar from the druggist…most of it is ostensibly utterly trivial but the sum is not trivial at all.”
I loved this paragraph and it reminded me of the journaling I've done through the years of my life. Well over 30 years now. If just one day is read, the entry really doesn't mean much but when reading a lifetime of entries are very significant. Thank you for the encouragement this gives me. It was confirmation that maybe I do have a story to tell.
Thanks for reading. Glad you were encouraged by it. Yea, I agree. In thoroughly enjoyed this passage from Jacobs as well. Also, nice comparison with journaling. I can definitely see the connections.
I was looking forward to this piece and boy was I NOT disappointed. Right out of the gate with this line:
“Places too have rhythm, poetry even, not merely lines, but lines and we must learn to read them.”
Simple. Astounding. Immediately alters the way I view the world around me for the better, forever.
The analogy you draw between the familiarity of place and the familiarity of thought through walking the path over and over: brilliant. Avoiding sameness to aide memory, in both thought and architecture: brilliant.
A rich essay through and through.
Hey, thanks for reading, appreciate it! What triggered this essay was that I was reading a passage on urban space and said to myself: “He sounds just like a mnemonist in his use of language and description of place”
As a fun game my young daughter and I would pull each other onto the lines between the pavement (sidewalk) slabs, keeping a careful lookout for bears (in London!). I love walking down that street, remembering.
Whenever I walk in a London street,
I'm ever so careful to watch my feet;
And I keep in the squares,
And the masses of bears,
Who wait at the corners all ready to eat
The sillies who tread on the lines of the street
Go back to their lairs,
And I say to them, "Bears,
Just look how I'm walking in all the squares!"
From Lines & Squares by AA Milne.
Do I understand correctly that the focus of your newsletter is on the cultivation of memorization? If so, that's an interesting topic. How did you arrive at it? Was this something you've always been drawn to, or did something happen that made memorization more difficult for you, or what?
I became interested in the art of memory when I sought to recite extended passages of poetry and various texts verbatim. I wanted to know how people were able to recite epic poems without the assistance of certain technologies, so I studied ancient and medieval traditions in the memory arts. I also found a group of mnemonists on forums that discussed these techniques in depth. The more I studied and practiced mnemonics, the more I saw its beauty.
Thanks! Though I didn't start out looking for such, I'm going to try some of your strategies out to see if they can help me memorize more texts (Scripture especially), and hopefully have a preventive effect for age-induced memory loss.
You’re welcome. Ok, nice! If you need any help with any of the techniques , feel free to let me know: email - RonaldMJohnsonJr@gmail.com
Fascinating. I absolutely love the Mnemonic Alphabet illustration from the 1400’s, and very much look forward to the upcoming essay you mentioned.
You’ve inspired me to memorize a poem, are there, in your opinion, better pieces for a newbie to start with, or is ones love of the piece most key? Thanks, Ronald
It really does make me curious, as someone interested in psychology, why memory is connected in some way with physical structures. Why does the brain inherently seem to understand this connection? Forgive my lack of understanding in this field--I've only heard of memory palaces briefly--but from this shallow comprehension, I'm curious how these associations can widen our ability to memorize. Does it simply recruit a larger region of the brain it normally would, or is there perhaps an ease in the association between the "mapping" area, the parietal lobe, and the temporal?
You bring a very interesting concept to the table, which I fully intend to explore a bit more myself. Thank you for the inspiration.
Great question. It is because the human brain is particularly good at spatial navigation. If you visited a place “only once” such as a relative’s house, or an AirBnB, even after years you would still be able to recall the general structure of that physical place. One does not need to study: the door was here, the bathroom was there, the balcony was here. We don’t use flashcards, the mind is just naturally good at recalling space.
Exactly, when memorizing with the memory palace, a different part of the brain is activated, namely the hippocampus. Studies have shown, if used often this region of the brain will enlarge. They have noticed that taxi drivers tend to have a larger hippocampus due to there frequent use of navigation and recollection. For further study on this topic, I’d recommend: Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer. Then secondly, Remember It by Nelson Dellis.
So, the memory palace takes advantage of the mind’s ability for spatial navigation. One places information at certain points in mental space. For this reason, in speeches we say: My first point, or in the first place. In rhetoric, it was instruction to the audience to place a point in their memory palace. To recall the point, one may simply visit the place within their memory palace with their mental eye.
Thank you for the book recommendations, I’ll put them on the list. This topic is much more interesting than I’d appreciated before. I suppose now that you mention it, the mental space is exactly that: a space. Ideas are much more than words or lists—they exist as physical structures in the brain, almost tangible and pliable with the mind. You can play over the surface of a memory, of a number or math equation, as they float around in that liminal black void.
You’re welcome, anytime. Hope you enjoy them. What we notice is that with the rise of new technologies there tends to be different metaphors used to describe the self and memory.
The paraller processing and the pliable brains: tje electrochemical opera for the cells....
I have always thought that memories were quite different than were generally understood and sometimes quite independent of the brain which is experiencing it. I have had memories of places I've never been, not in this lifetime. I also have a genuine longing for Scotland that I've had all of my life and my family hasn't been there for Generations. Perhaps they rode in invitation on the cobblestones with their feet long ago
Wonderfully written with the aspects from the history. The only thing to disagree a bit is the city functionality made possible by the cars: especially here in Finland with the freezing winters the automobiles are essential for trasporting while walking outside near the impossible. Thanks for the new terminology and words!
Thanks for reading! Glad you enjoyed it. Oh really? Yea, urban planning is a very complex subject with many nuances and scenarios to consider.
Spontanously....
I wait impatiently for the next post my friend, let's see some writing!
Thanks, hopefully I should have it published in early August
Cool man, I'll be waiting!
Looking forward to sharing with my architect sister!
Such a broad-ranging and fascinating post, Ronald. I'm working on a project that links memory and place, and having spent the last decade or so working as an interior designer, I'm interested in the contexts you mention in relation to urban spaces and walkable cities. I really do think urban planners should worry less about cars and more about foot traffic, cyclists, and public transport options.
Thanks for sharing. I'd like to know more about mnemonics, so I'll be following your posts.
Memorable cities, you must not be an American. American cities are ghastly corpses in a dying empire lightly covered with an obviously fake simulacra sheen.
Hi Daniel, thanks, appreciate it! I definitely think similarity plays a role. I think what Publicius was getting at was the potential dangers of “blandness.” He uses a lot of architectural language when describing the mental architecture of memory palaces. When memorizing, if locations are too similar there is a tendency to “skip them” in recall because one is unable to quickly make distinctions. Or another possibility is to confuse two palaces and not be sure which palace contained what type of information. But I think there is a place for similarity as well in mnemonics, perhaps I could write another essay reflecting on this in the future. Thanks for reading. Hope you have a great day.