Playing cards: the memory treadmill.
By: Paul Oakes
Tags: Information Technology, Memory Improvement, Skills, Exercise

my desk

Copyright © 2020 Charles Paul Oakes. All rights reserved.

I just had a conversation with a good friend who also happens to be a world record holder in memorizing numbers of Pi.

I asked him what his fellow Grandmasters do to memorize decks of cards in less than one minute?

He said that they, he named two, told him they would practice on 30 to 50 decks per day for three months before a competition.

The “n choose r” space on the method I use to memorize a deck of randomized cards has 22100 different combinations.

30 to 50 decks per day sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? It is, but if you are deliberate, it’s about ninety minutes per day of practice. Now, how to divide that up between twelve hours? I’m in the one to three minute range now. Depending upon my practice method, that should amount to a couple of thirty minute sessions a day and about five minutes of practice an hour between tasks and meetings in a day.

But why do I do this, you ask? Why wouldn’t an information technology professional do this? Googling your way to expertise is lazy and does not work.

If you don’t know what to look for, then how can you find it? And after you find the information you need, how can you use it if you can’t remember it?

But the real reason why I do this is for the mental workout. Just as running or lifting weights builds endurance, speed, and strength, memorizing cards builds focus and memory ability.

The practice of memorizing cards exercises essential memory muscles: imagery, spatial, associations, and attention. When applying memory strategies with some creativity you can learn anything. And the practical applications for knowledge workers are nearly endless.

I use these strategies for practical purposes every day. In the past week, I memorized a cybersecurity standard (specifically NIST SP800–190.) I’ve used these strategies to memorize other standards, formulas, patterns, language vocabulary, numbers, and text.

Oh, and not to mention that I have all of my credit card information memorized too.

Over a short time I’ve used memory strategies similar to those exercised by card practice to accumulate a long list of professional credentials. For each exam that used memory strategies, I cleared it on the first try.

My formula? One textbook. Five practice exams. About a score of whitepapers and standards. Memorize it all. Compare this to the thousands of dollars I see others spend on stacks of books, classes, and whatever they do, which takes them multiple attempts to clear the exams. It isn’t “genius.” It’s applied memory strategies.

But then there are those of you who think that if you “memorize” something that you don’t really “know it.” How else do you know something except by having a framework of information about the subject matter in your mind?

There really is no experience quite like knowing something so well that it becomes a part of who you are. When I memorized the Declaration of Independence, word for word, the words came to life in my mind. I felt the magnitude of their struggle, the stakes of their Declaration, and their unshakable courage. History came to life.

What inspires you? Imagine if you had that wired into your mind so profoundly that it became a part of who you are.

So cool.