If you have ready any books on memory like Harry Lorayne's How to Develop a Super Power Memory, Corinda's 13 Steps to Mentalism, or Zufall's Memory Tricks you might have come across something called a Peg System or Major System.
For those of you that have no idea what I am talking about ... the Peg System in combination with the Major System is a way to remember things as fast you can write them down... Or in the time it takes to select the next spectator. This is a technique used by memory athletes that compete in speed memorization competitions as well as many mentalists and magicians. Also... if you are in school you can use the Peg System and Major System to memorize pretty much anything that can be put into a list super fast as well as HUGE numbers like the first 100 digits in pi.
The way it works is by creating a list of code words for each number. These code words you create a mental image for each one so they are easy to recall. Here is an example of a list of code words based on rhyming....
1. Bun (Hamburger Bun)
2. Shoe
3. Tree
4. Door
5. Hive
6. Chicks
7. Heaven
8. Gate
9. Mine (Land Mine)
10. Hen
What you do is commit this easy to remember list to memory and make a mental picture for each word. These are called "Peg Words" which are words that we know. So if we wanted to remember the first 10 presidents of the United states using this system we would imagine something like this:
1. A bun with a washer inside of it instead of a burger (Washington)
2. A shoe with a bottle of Samuel Adams beer inside of it (Adams)
3. A tree with nickels instead of leaves (Jefferson, he is the one on the nickel)
4. A door that when you open it leads to Madison is on the other side. (Madison)
5. A beehive with a bee that comes out and stings Marilyn Monroe (Monroe)
6. Baby chicks chirping and then being stepped on by Harley Quinn (John Quincy Adams)
7. Wings carrying Michael Jackson up to heaven (Jackson)
etc...
By linking our peg words to words we want to remember it is easy to recall everyone on our list. When you want to remember number 1, you think of bun, and immediately the image of the bun with the washer in between it should pop into your head.
This works because we are really bad at remembering things that are abstract and things that are ordinary. This is why we look at something like our credit card number a 1000 times and never remember it, but we can remember a story someone told us from 5 years ago like it was yesterday.
Anyway... the way you remember more than 10 things is using something called the Major System. Instead of using Rhyming it uses a system of converting words into numbers.
I've always wanted to master this system and build a giant peg list, but after remember like 20 pegs I would get distracted and move onto something else. So... I decided to make an app that would help me memorize a peg list from 00-99. You can fully customize your word list and images in the app to personalize it. Check out the app if you like or if you are interested there are numerous online resources to help you learn more about peg and major systems.
Link to the app: majorsystemtrainer.com
For those of you that have no idea what I am talking about ... the Peg System in combination with the Major System is a way to remember things as fast you can write them down... Or in the time it takes to select the next spectator. This is a technique used by memory athletes that compete in speed memorization competitions as well as many mentalists and magicians. Also... if you are in school you can use the Peg System and Major System to memorize pretty much anything that can be put into a list super fast as well as HUGE numbers like the first 100 digits in pi.
The way it works is by creating a list of code words for each number. These code words you create a mental image for each one so they are easy to recall. Here is an example of a list of code words based on rhyming....
1. Bun (Hamburger Bun)
2. Shoe
3. Tree
4. Door
5. Hive
6. Chicks
7. Heaven
8. Gate
9. Mine (Land Mine)
10. Hen
What you do is commit this easy to remember list to memory and make a mental picture for each word. These are called "Peg Words" which are words that we know. So if we wanted to remember the first 10 presidents of the United states using this system we would imagine something like this:
1. A bun with a washer inside of it instead of a burger (Washington)
2. A shoe with a bottle of Samuel Adams beer inside of it (Adams)
3. A tree with nickels instead of leaves (Jefferson, he is the one on the nickel)
4. A door that when you open it leads to Madison is on the other side. (Madison)
5. A beehive with a bee that comes out and stings Marilyn Monroe (Monroe)
6. Baby chicks chirping and then being stepped on by Harley Quinn (John Quincy Adams)
7. Wings carrying Michael Jackson up to heaven (Jackson)
etc...
By linking our peg words to words we want to remember it is easy to recall everyone on our list. When you want to remember number 1, you think of bun, and immediately the image of the bun with the washer in between it should pop into your head.
This works because we are really bad at remembering things that are abstract and things that are ordinary. This is why we look at something like our credit card number a 1000 times and never remember it, but we can remember a story someone told us from 5 years ago like it was yesterday.
Anyway... the way you remember more than 10 things is using something called the Major System. Instead of using Rhyming it uses a system of converting words into numbers.
I've always wanted to master this system and build a giant peg list, but after remember like 20 pegs I would get distracted and move onto something else. So... I decided to make an app that would help me memorize a peg list from 00-99. You can fully customize your word list and images in the app to personalize it. Check out the app if you like or if you are interested there are numerous online resources to help you learn more about peg and major systems.
Link to the app: majorsystemtrainer.com