How it works
"Loci" is Latin for "places". The method has three parts:
| Part | What you do |
|---|---|
| Route | Choose a place you know and a fixed order of distinct stops - a door, a fireplace, a window. |
| Images | Turn each item into a vivid, moving, slightly absurd picture that interacts with its stop. |
| Walk | Recall by walking the route again and looking at what you left at each stop. |
The route supplies the order and a cue for every item, which is why the method is so reliable for lists.
Where it came from
Classical writers credit the Greek poet Simonides of Ceos, who is said to have identified the victims of a collapsed banquet hall by remembering where each guest had been sitting. Roman teachers of rhetoric - the anonymous Rhetorica ad Herennium, Cicero and Quintilian - taught it to orators who had to deliver long speeches from memory. It remained part of education through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Why it works
People remember places and routes with little effort, and concrete images far better than abstract words. The method converts a list into both. Studies of memory champions have found that their brains are not structurally unusual; what sets them apart is that they use this technique. Ordinary volunteers who practise it for a few weeks recall far longer lists than before.
Common misunderstandings
- It is not only for geniuses. Most people get good results on their first attempt.
- It does not need a real palace. A flat, a street or a room on a screen works as long as the stops are distinct and the order is fixed.
- It does not replace review. Images fade within days unless you revisit them; combine it with spaced repetition for anything you want to keep.
- It does not raise general intelligence. It makes you much better at memorising, which is a skill in its own right.
Memory Palace - Brain Training
Guided walks through five 4K memory palaces on Apple TV, with six mnemonic techniques and an honest recall test. · Apple TV