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Comment by matthewaveryusa | Hacker News Reader

If you find memory tricks like this fun, you should check out the book moonwalking with einstein which explores the world of memory world champions. If you use the method of loci[1] combined with a memorized list of words (optional) [3] that are in the major system[2] you'll be able to remember quite a bit of stuff with ease.

I have the memory of a goldfish, yet after training lightly for a month I am now able to remember numbers the length of phone numbers and credit card numbers as I read them out.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic_major_system

[3] http://www.rememberg.com/Peg-list-1000/

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Like it's not enough that I remember my first ICQ number while having no use for it.

Haha, ditto. I remember so many random numbers like that, but sadly forgot what many of those numbers were too.

For me it’s my Windows 98 CD key (25 digits alphanumeric). I had to wipe and reinstall so many times that it saved a lot of trouble to commit it to memory. And now here I am 20 years later...

One morning about six or so years ago I woke up with this strange number on my mind. After google produced a lot of results, I finally wondered if it was my old ICQ number.

Thankfully the ICQ support doesn't care about security, and I was easily able to get back into my account without the account's email address or password, but purely by naming three people on my list (first names only.)

I've always had a head for numbers. Old credit card numbers, bank cards, phone numbers I only had temporarily, etc -- but do you think I could remember the name of someone I met five minutes ago? Not a chance in hell.

Also would recommend books by Harry Lorayne (The Memory Book is the most well known). I've not yet read Moonwalking with Einstein to see how it compares, but it likely has the same techniques (loci/memory palace, different mnemonics, peg lists, etc).

https://www.amazon.com/Memory-Book-Classic-Improving-School/...

Personally, though, beyond using mnemonics for numbers, I never did master the techniques. I think it's a lot easier if you start at around age 10. By the time you're in your 20's you have a lot of habits around memorizing that you have to unlearn.

If you are interested in memory techniques, there is a good book with an interesting historical backdrop of a catholic clergyman who traveled to china.

"The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci" by Jonathan Spence

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