A memory palace is a
mental technique for storing information for recall at a later date. It consists of a series of imagined
rooms, perhaps in the pattern of a
house or
palace, that contain
furniture and
objects that represent the information required. The person who wished to remember a list of items would encode these items as
images of
objects and store these objects around the room in
fixed locations. The person would then, at a later date
walk through this room and
recall each item as he viewed the objects in his
minds eye.
This system is remarkably powerful.
It's only drawback is one of practice it must be constant, and vivid. Maintaining a palace is both mentally exhausting and exhilarating as the amount of data increases. Perhaps that last statement is more a reflection of just how out of training my own mind is, but I feel it would be true of most people. As an aside I have noticed side-effects to using this technique, my observational skills have increased, I feel much more confident, and my grades have improved quite considerably.
I would recommend it to anyone.