In Lesson 12, we learned a little bit about Visual Imagery, but the one thing that caught my eye would be “Loci”. A long time ago, I realized that my memory isn’t so great and if anything, it might be getting worst. I started researching ways to prolong memory, and discovered Loci. However, somewhere along the line I stopped practicing and forgot about it. So what better time to refresh myself with this method than to write about it now! And so, let’s talk about Loci!

Loci originated from Greece and was discovered by the Greek poet and sophos Simonides (Ancient Imagery Mnemonics, 2014). Basically, he was invited to a banquet and once he stepped outside, the roof caved in and crushed everyone that was present. When it came time to identify the bodies, he found that he was able to recognize each person thanks to visual memory. However, he didn’t only identify them by their visual appearance. Since some of them were disfigured, he recognized people based off of where their bodies were found. Gruesome story, right? This apparently is where the method of loci came from. History at its finest.

So, now that we know how it came about, what is the method of Loci? When I first started to research this, it was for memorizing books I read for pleasure. I found that I would read a long book on finance and investing, and yet once I was on the fifth book I barely remembered anything from the first. That’s when I started researching how to memorize books and came across Loci. From one of the random forums I ran into, they talked about the Memory Palace and how to use it. Usually it starts by that individual visualizing a room. From there you walk around and each location you visit receives a number. Using that same number system, you can make a list of whatever it is you want to memorize. Let’s say you wanted to memorize a list of items. One, which was a door is now labeled as Grocery shopping. Now I picture using that item and incorporating it with whatever your ‘task’ was. So I would picture the door, then me walking through it and there’s the grocery store. My example is a bit rusty, but I think you can get the idea!

I basically decided to do this blog on Loci mainly because while I knew I could use Palace Memory and Loci to memorize important sections of my books, I was curious on the other different ways it can be used. So led to me trying to do a bit of research on various ways to incorporate and use Loci. For anyone that’s interest in using Loci, I found that you can use it for a variety of things including studying for exams! I decided to ask my friends for a few ideas on how it could also be used in other occasions and came up with a miniature list. For example, it can also be used for memorizing a foreign language, books (like what I needed it for years ago), memorizing a speech, grocery list, memorizing people and their positions at a new job, and even recalling what makeup brushes are for what uses (for makeup artists), and so forth.

How about you guys? When was the last time you’ve used Loci and what have you used it for? Any other ideas on what Loci can be used for? It’s an interesting method and I have to admit the background story with Simonides was a shocker.

Works Cited

Nigel, Thomas J.T. “Ancient Imagery Mnemonics.” Stanford University. Stanford University, 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.