MIND HACKING 101

Hacking Into Your Brains Permanent Storage Tiago Silva

tsilva@hive.pt @tiagosilva

2010

An (Un)Healthy Obsession
. Had to learn a lot of boring stuff . Refused to, it was just too boring . Exam was 50% theory, 50% practical . Solution: hammer theory and pray . Problem: how to memorize 200 pages . Hint: Guinness World of Records

Mind Hacking 101

Guiness World of Records

. Ben Pridmore can memorize: - 930 binary digits in 5 minutes - 4140 binary digits in 30 minutes - 364 playing cards in 10 minutes - 1404 playing cards in 60 minutes . There had to be a trick . There was a trick . I learned the trick, and passed... barely...

Mind Hacking 101

Mind Hacking 101

Self-Assessment

1. Chicken

2. Mountain 4. Book

6. Computer 8. Snake 9.Car 10. Apple

3. Barbara Streisand 5. Cigar

7. Baseball Bat

Mind Hacking 101

Keep in Mind
Storage amd retrieval . Were good at storing information

. We suck at retrieving information . This limitation can be hacked

Encoding

. Repetition sucks, is boring, and unreliable . Use all your senses . Make a hollywood mental movie . Embed emotions . Use stupidity

Mind Hacking 101

The Link System

. Sequential access . Create a storyline . Make each item an actor . Make each actor interact with the next . Keep it stupid!

Mind Hacking 101

The Peg System
. Direct access . Link System is like a Tape . Peg System is like RAM
1 - Tree (one trunk) 6 - Revolver (six bullets) 8 - Skate (it rhymes) 9 - Cat (nine lives) 10 - Bowling (10 pins)

2 - Light Switch (on/ off) 3 - Stool (three legs) 4 - Car (four doors)

7 - Dice (lucky number seven)

5 - Hand (five fingers)

Mind Hacking 101

The Major System
. Use phonems to turn numbers into words . Extend the Peg System . Memorize any number
0 - S, Z 1 - T, D 2-N 3-M 4-R 5-L 15 = T - L = TaiL

6 - SH, J 7 - K, G 8 - F, V 9 - P, B

25 = N - L = NaiL

30 = M - S = MouSe 38 = M - V = MoVie

Mind Hacking 101

bergeekness

3.1415926 535897932 384626433 83279502

314 = MTR = MoToR 159 = TLP = TuLiP 26 = NJ = NuDGe 58 = LV = LaVa ... 53 = LM = LaMa

Mind Hacking 101

Breaking the Bank
. Memorize playing cards . Drive Casinos bankrupt (I wish...) . Encode cards with Major System . Apply Link System . Apply Peg System . Layout Pegs spatially
2 of Clubs = C2 = CaN 5 of Diamonds = D5 = DoLL 8 of Hearts = H8 = HiVe 3 of Spades = S3 = SaM

Remembering Everything
. Software that knows what you forgot . Make a database with all you knowledge . Make mini-daily reviews . Result: you know everything

Mind Hacking 101

Memory Tracking Systems

. Supermemo (horrible interface) . Mnemosyne (open source but basic) . Fullrecall (uses neural network for nice predictions) . Nihonaid (mine, discontinued, but still in sourceforge)

Mind Hacking 101

Mind Hacking 101

Unforgetter
. Software-as-a-Service Memory Tracker . As easy as it can be . Generic: works for everything . Uses crowdsourcing to weed out bad content . Manages motivation

Q&A
there is no such thing as dumb questions, only weird presentations

Tiago Silva
tsilva@hive.pt