Alex Mullen | Medical Student, Memory Athlete
Summary
TLDRIn this engaging script, Alex Mullen, a second-year medical student at the University of Mississippi, reveals his extraordinary memory skills, akin to the 'memory palace' technique used by Sherlock Holmes. Alex explains how he transforms information into vivid mental images, placing them in a 'journey' to recall them effortlessly. He shares his method of associating cards with unique images, likening clubs to Michael Jordan or a mushroom to a particle accelerator, to enhance memorization. Alex also discusses how this technique aids his medical studies, from remembering drug details to understanding complex biological pathways. His demonstration of recalling a shuffled deck of cards showcases his prowess, attributing his success to a combination of practice and a phonetic-based system.
Takeaways
- 🧠 Alex Mullen is a second-year medical student at the University of Mississippi with a special skill in memorization, which he refers to as a memory palace technique.
- 🔢 He competes in memory competitions where he memorizes decks of cards, numbers, and names and faces, identifying himself as a memory athlete.
- 📚 Alex discovered his ability not through innate talent but through practice and learning techniques from a book, which he then honed through consistent practice.
- 🖼️ The gist of memorization for him involves turning information into mental images and associating them with specific locations on a mental journey for recall.
- 🔄 To maintain long-term memory, Alex suggests reviewing the memorized information at intervals, such as the same day, next morning, and after a week.
- 🃏 He uses creative associations for cards, like associating clubs with Michael Jordan or spades with Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, placing these images along his journey.
- 👨🔬 Alex applies his memorization techniques to medical school, turning complex information into images to aid in recall, which he finds helpful for studying medicine.
- 🎴 He has a system of 1,352 pre-prepared images for card pairs and 1,000 images for numbers, which he uses to quickly memorize and recall shuffled decks in competitions.
- 🕊️ The process includes creating new images when card orders change, using a phonetic-based system to associate card suits and ranks with sounds and images.
- 🗣️ Recalling information out loud can be challenging due to the need to decipher phonetic codes in his head, making silent rearrangement of mental images easier.
- 🏠 In medical school, Alex uses his memory palace technique for learning sequential information like anatomy or biochemical pathways by placing images along a route in his childhood home.
Q & A
What is Alex Mullen's special skill?
-Alex Mullen's special skill is memorizing information, such as cards, numbers, and other items, using techniques like the memory palace or journey method.
What is a memory palace or memory athlete?
-A memory palace is a technique used to memorize large amounts of information by associating it with specific locations in a familiar environment. A memory athlete are individuals who compete in memory sports, using these techniques to memorize information quickly.
How did Alex Mullen discover his ability to memorize?
-Alex Mullen discovered his ability to memorize through reading a book about memory techniques. He then practiced these techniques until he reached a level where he could compete in memory competitions.
Can you describe the process of memorizing a deck of cards using the journey method?
-The journey method involves turning information into mental images and placing them at specific spots along a familiar route or journey. When mentally retracing the journey, the images help recall the information.
How does Alex review and retain information for long-term memory?
-Alex reviews the memorized information periodically, such as the night of memorization or the next morning, and then again after a week. This helps to consolidate the information into long-term memory.
What is the significance of turning cards into images for memorization?
-Turning cards into images helps to create a more vivid and memorable representation of the information, making it easier to recall later on.
How does Alex create a system for memorizing pairs of cards?
-Alex has a set of 1,352 pre-prepared images for each possible pair of cards. When a pair comes up in a shuffled deck, he uses the corresponding image to help remember the order.
How does Alex's memorization technique help him in medical school?
-The memorization technique helps Alex to remember details about drugs, types of bacteria, and other medical information by turning them into images, which aids in better retention.
What is the time commitment required to reach Alex's level of memorization skill?
-Alex has been practicing for about two years to reach his current skill level, but he believes that with dedication, someone could set up a system and start using these techniques within a month.
How does Alex handle the challenge of recalling information out loud?
-Recalling information out loud can be more difficult due to the need to quickly decipher the phonetic coding in his head. However, with practice, it becomes more manageable.
How does Alex apply the memory palace technique in medical school for learning complex information?
-Alex uses the memory palace technique to memorize information with a sequential order, such as anatomy or biochemical pathways, by placing images along a route in his house.
Outlines
🧠 Memory Mastery: Alex Mullen's Journey as a Memory Athlete
Alex Mullen, a second-year medical student at the University of Mississippi, introduces himself and his unique ability to memorize vast amounts of information quickly. He explains the concept of a 'memory palace' or 'method of loci', a technique used by memory athletes in competitions to recall decks of cards, numbers, and names and faces. Alex's skill is not innate but developed through practice and learning from a book. He describes the process of turning information into mental images and placing them in a journey to recall them later. He also discusses the importance of reviewing the information to transfer it into long-term memory and shares examples of how he creates images for cards and numbers.
🃏 Card Recall Demonstration and Memory Techniques
In this paragraph, Alex demonstrates his card memorization skill by recalling the order of a shuffled deck of cards. He explains that the time it takes to recall the cards can vary, with some images coming to mind quickly and others requiring a moment of thought. Alex emphasizes the importance of the vividness of the images used in the memory technique, as this affects the speed and accuracy of recall. He also touches on the phonetic-based system he uses for coding card suits and ranks into memorable sounds and images, such as associating a heart and diamond with the sound 'JA' and creating an image of Captain James Kirk from Star Trek.
🎓 Applying Memory Techniques in Medical School
Alex discusses how he applies his memory techniques to his medical studies. He mentions using the memory palace method for learning sequences, such as anatomy or biochemical pathways, and creating images for facts and details without a specific order. While he does not always use the journey method as frequently, the process of turning information into images aids his retention of medical knowledge. The paragraph also hints at the potential showmanship of his skills, suggesting that while he might not often demonstrate his memory techniques at parties, he is capable of doing so.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Memory Palace
💡Memory Athlete
💡Mnemonic Device
💡Journey Method
💡Image Association
💡Sequential Order
💡Card Shuffling
💡Phonetic Coding
💡Medical School
💡Practice
💡Competition
Highlights
Alex Mullen is a second-year medical student at the University of Mississippi with a special skill in memorizing information using the memory palace technique.
The memory palace, or method of loci, involves turning information to be memorized into mental images placed along a familiar journey or route.
Memory athletes compete in events like memorizing decks of cards, numbers, and names and faces.
Alex discovered his memorization ability not as an innate talent, but through learning and practicing techniques from a book.
To memorize a deck of cards, Alex assigns each card or pair of cards a unique image that he places along a mental journey.
Alex has a system of 1,352 pre-prepared images to represent the different card pairs in a shuffled deck.
For numbers, Alex uses a phonetic-based system to assign each three-digit number a unique image.
The memory palace technique helps Alex in medical school, especially for memorizing details about drugs, bacteria, and other information.
Alex finds that creating mental images of information helps him remember it better than just reading or hearing it.
For complex or sequentially ordered information in medical school, Alex uses the memory palace method with his childhood home as the journey.
Alex believes that anyone can learn and use the memory palace technique with practice, even if they don't have a natural talent for memorization.
The key to effective memorization is having strong, vivid images associated with the information to be remembered.
Alex demonstrates his memorization skills by recalling a shuffled deck of cards in order.
It took Alex around two years of consistent practice to develop his memorization system and reach his current level of skill.
Alex uses the memory palace method not just for competitions, but also as a study tool in medical school.
The memory palace technique can be adapted for different types of information, from card memorization to complex medical concepts.
Alex emphasizes the importance of reviewing and reinforcing the memorized information to transfer it to long-term memory.
The memory palace method is a powerful tool for anyone looking to improve their memorization skills, whether for school, work, or personal development.
Transcripts
I'm Alex Mullen and I'm a second year
medical student at the University of
Mississippi and you have a special skill
I do yeah what's your skill
it's just memorizing stuff memorizing
cards numbers same thing so if you're
Sherlock fan that's known as mine palace
or memory palace yet what is a memory a
fleet well we go to these competitions
and we just memorize different things in
events basically G idea is just memorize
as much stuff as fast as possible so
there are cards events remember as a
deck of cards there are numbers events
memorizing names and faces that kind of
thing so anyone who discussed these
competitions and competes is a visit
memory athlete did you discover this
ability what it's not really a kind of
an innate talent that I have I practiced
it a lot I learned about it originally
from a book that I read and so I just
learned about the techniques it started
practicing them and then eventually got
to a point where I was competing in
describe the process how do you do the
gist of it is that you you try to turn
what you want to memorize into images or
like mental pictures you can see in your
head and then what I do for instance
memorize deck of cards you remember is a
string of numbers is I'll pick a place a
location and I use that as like a
journey that I kind of walk through and
then place these images that I've
created on spots in the journey and then
when I walk kind of mentally walk back
through the journey I see those images
and I can recall the information that I
wanted to memorize in this holiday it's
called a yep some people call it a
memory palace and people call it a
journey method yeah
so you have to kind of review it if you
want to keep it long for long term
memory I'd say like for instance for a
deck of cards memorize a deck of cards
like during a competition I'd probably
remember that for probably till the end
of the day maybe um and then if I wanted
to keep it I just have to review it
maybe that night or the next morning or
whenever and then maybe once again like
the next week or something like that and
then then it's usually kind of in
long-term memory what a lot of people do
is they they turn each card into an
image so for instance I know clubs could
be like Michael Jordan or something like
that and then they they said I'll take
like Michael Jordan and put him on you
know that door
or maybe this is like Gandalf from Lord
of the Rings or you take him and you put
him on that table and then kind of do
that thing so what I do and what a lot
of like I guess more hardcore
competitors do is I put I make make each
pair of cards an image so like for
instance this is a mushroom for me this
is like a particle accelerator like I'm
the one in Switzerland this is this this
guy I know from home Sparky this is the
actor Rob Lowe this is Amy Santiago a
character from Brooklyn nine-nine the TV
show so I just do that kind of thing and
were you just making those up just in
are those standard when you see those
Sanders to get right that's what so I'd
like I put time in at the beginning to
create a system for this so right every
time I see this I see the mushroom every
time I see this it's a say it's the same
thing for me every time so what happens
when you when they're shuffled and the
particle accelerator and Gandalf come up
in different orders I mean right well
create a new image using those same
right so it mean if I so if I shuffle it
right and then I look again so I'll get
this now so this is a cave for me so
I'll just use you know put a cave there
and this is a coffee shop like a
Starbucks so you know every time it
comes up I have you know a new image
that I so basically I have just I mean
this might get a little complicated but
I have a thousand three hundred and
fifty two images so every time you know
a pair comes up I have something
pre-prepared for it and that's just for
the deck of cards that's just like oh
sorry for all the other things you write
so what I do is I have a thousand images
for numbers so each each three-digit
thing of numbers I have a special image
for that so this is like I said 1,300
that one's a thousand so I kind of
overlapped those two so how does this
help but in medical school um I think it
helps a lot I mean I you know I learned
it originally too just because I thought
it would help me in school not to do any
of this kind of competing stuff and I
think it it helps a lot I mean I I don't
use the the kind of journey thing that I
talked about quite as often but I do
when I study and I
I look for things that I want to
memorize I do try to turn those into
pictures and help remember it that way
you just kind of remember little details
about drugs or particular types of
bacteria or the names of different
things or whatever I try to turn those
into images and that helps me remember
them better okay so let me see a chance
to graduate I head make sure
okay I'll try to recall it okay okay
sometimes we call me like out loud can
be a little difficult I go with it like
using the pair of cards like I said but
I'll we help you know okay okay um
alright let's see okay so Jack of Hearts
there right okay ace of diamonds okay
two of spades two of clubs I want to say
ninety-nine this nine of spades
five of Hearts seven of spades um ten
diamonds three of Hearts six of clubs
queen of clubs seven of hearts six of
hearts
eight of Spades and then King of
Diamonds Ace of Spades three of diamonds
a five of clubs nine of Hearts 3 of
clubs four of spades
um okay four of clubs six of spades
okay a queen of diamonds there were a
king of hearts
um okay okay this one might stump me um
is it king of spades
okay Jack of Diamonds four of Hearts ace
of clubs ten of Spades four of diamonds
okay
um five of spades Queen of Spades okay a
ten of Hearts eight of clubs okay
Jack of Clubs two of Hearts Ace of
Hearts eight of diamonds two of diamonds
ten of spades
eight of Hearts king of clubs
Queen of Hearts two of diamonds oops
seven of diamonds five of diamonds
seven of clubs six of diamonds and then
nine of clubs Jack spades
all right wow that is impressive
thank you so how long does it take it
how long did take you long lab um I mean
to get to this point to say coming up
practicing for like two years but I
think just two I mean just to kind of
set up a system and get your part you
can do this kind of thing um I think you
could do it in a month I don't think
anybody watching this would believe you
yeah I mean I didn't I didn't believe it
when I first started out I thought it
was like just too good to be true you
know something kind of that you know
people just kind of sell to make money
it's not real but it but it works so
some of them you just need I mean they
just flew Bob and some of them you had
to think a second or two about what
makes the difference it's just the image
you've attached to it is oh um well so
some I guess the reason that is so I
kind of have this without trying a 2d
child it's uh it's like phonetic based
system so for instance starting off the
front um let's let's go with this one so
this let me find a good example
Cesar so for instance this one um so
this this so I first kind of read the
suit pair so this is a heart and diamond
and so that for me that just makes a je
sound like a like a Josh sound and then
so the three for me represents an M
sound and the ten represents an S sound
so I get this collection of sounds which
is JA MA and an S sound and so for me
that's that kind of spells out James
that makes sense and so for me this is a
Captain James Kirk from Star Trek so so
that's kind of how I like turn this into
an image
but obviously like you know you practice
that and it becomes sort of second
nature but that's how I first set the
system up so I guess the reason some
imagers are slower is partly because I
either didn't memorize them very well or
because the phonetic coding is a little
more tricky to kind of decipher in my
head and so that's why like I said
recalling it out loud is sometimes
difficult versus just like kind of
rearranging a deck of cards on the table
is a little bit easier so it's this so
in medical school when you're learning
complex things when you got to do a lot
of memorization when you gotta you use
this - yeah I mean I so like I said I
you know the dis kind of sort to
memorize this I used a journey like a
memory palace I use my home when I grew
up where I grew up in Oxford and so I
just would place the images along you
know a route in my house for medical
school I do that sometimes I do it when
I'm trying to learn something that has
some sort of sequential order you know
like a I could be anatomy or like some
sort of tract and like a like a nerve
tract or something like that or a
biochemical pathway so I do use it when
it's you need that kind of sequential
order like I said but a lot of times if
it's just sort of these you know facts
of information I just kind of create
images and don't actually put them any
particular place are you pulled out at
the parties and just a really he'll not
yet know you will
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