One ancient Greek's trick to memorize. For free!

You've seen self help books promising "Improve your memory! This is actually a very old art. When books were rare, as was paper, it was an advantage to memorize. An art of memory was developed in Greece and in Rome, and later in Europe (described in The Art of Memory, by Frances A. Yates). The tradition attributes the creation of this art to Simonides of Ceos, a Greek poet. He is said to have been at a banquet when the roof collapsed. He escaped, but many died. The corpses were mangled beyond recognition. He helped their relatives identify the remains because he remembered where everyone was sitting. This would have given him the idea of "placing" memories.

Basically you visit in your mind a place you know, for example a temple or your kitchen, and you create an image of each thing you want to remember and place it in a specific area: on the stove, in the refrigerator's door, in the sink, hanging from the tap. It could be arguments if you were a politician, facts, if you were a litigator, or a shopping list. Try it! It's actually fun. Helpful also if you are going to the Prospect Range event in Brooklyn, January 30th, and need to memorize a poem.

I will return to the Art of Memory soon, because there is more to it than a simple trick.

Contributed by -- Arabella Hutter