The first ever World Memory Championships was enormously well received, by both the competitors and the media. For the following year, we knew that the competition had to be bigger and better and stretch the memorizers even further. I suggested to the organizers that memorizing binary digits would be a great test of an individual’s memory power and ingenuity. Binary digits also make a great exercise for anyone who wants to learn to boost their memory power.
Binary code is the language by which all computers work – it represents the two positions in which a switch can operate: on (1) or off (0). So, when you see a binary sequence, it’s merely a series of ones and zeroes. Below is a row of 30 ones and zeroes in a random order. How would you go about memorizing them in their correct sequence?
1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1
You can see why I thought a binaries round would be a great test of mental agility! This no doubt seems a tough challenge – although, of course, 30 digits wasn’t nearly enough to tax the brains of the greatest memorizers in the world. For this discipline, competitors at the World Memory Championships are presented with at least 100 rows of 30 binary numbers and they have just half an hour to commit them all, in sequence, to memory.
In 1997, I managed to memorize 2,385 binary numbers in 30 minutes. At the time I set a new world record, but since then others have done better. How is this possible? Well, like everything to do with feats of memorization, you need a system. In fact, once you’ve mastered the Dominic System (see pp.90–95), memorizing binary numbers is relatively straightforward.
My solution for cracking binaries was to create a code that turned them into numbers I could work with. I worked out all the possible groups of three binaries there could be and then gave each group of three a number code. So:
| 000 = 0 | 110 = 4 |
| 001 = 1 | 100 = 5 |
| 011 = 2 | 010 = 6 |
| 111 = 3 | 101 = 7 |
My system is simple – the first four combinations are represented by their sum and the last four simply continue the sequence of decimal numbers in a way that seems logical to me. To memorize a binary number, all you have to do is to memorize the codes, work out how they apply to the binary number and apply the Dominic System to turn the “proper” numbers into characters, which you place along a journey. In the Championships event, competitors are permitted to write the codes for the groups of three (or whatever system they’re using) across the top of the binary digits.
You might think that learning how to memorize binaries has no benefit to you at all. However, if you want to attain a perfect memory, memorizing binary sequences is a fantastic practice exercise, because it combines all the elements that make up the best methods of memorization. So, please bear with me.
Here’s another sequence of 24 binary digits. This time I have converted them into their code numbers (in brackets):
1 1 0 (4)
0 1 1 (2)
0 0 1 (1)
0 1 0 (6)
1 0 1 (7)
1 0 1 (7)
0 1 1 (2)
0 1 0 (6)
Once I’ve made the conversion, I pair the numbers, so that I get:
42 16 77 and 26.
And then to each of these I apply a character, using the Dominic System, which gives me:
David Beckham, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ga Ga (Lady) and Bart Simpson. (You should use your own characters if you can, as they will be more memorable to you.)
When you position these characters along the journey, you use complex images (see pp.96–9), so that the first character in a pair becomes a surrogate for the action of the character that represents the second pair of numbers. So in fact, to memorize those 24 binary digits, I need only two stages of my chosen journey.
STAGE 1 I picture the English footballer David Beckham (42) weight-lifting. Beckham is using the action I associate with Arnold Schwarzenegger (16).
STAGE 2 I imagine the singer Lady Gaga (77) acting like Bart Simpson (26) and shouting “Eat my shorts!”
This sounds complicated and you may think that following so many processes just to memorize a series of ones and zeroes seems laborious and long-winded. However, your brain is an amazing machine – its processing speed is far faster than any computer. Think of the pianist who can convert notes to music in tenths of a second (a skilled pianist can read up to 20 notes in a second) so that he plays his pieces flawlessly. Even as you read this sentence your brain is converting letters into sounds and giving them meaning without your consciousness giving you time to dwell on the process at all. It’s all about practice, and when you know how to do it, and you work at getting better, like anything it can become second nature to you. Now try the exercise on the following page.
OK – so now it’s your turn. If your brain can cope with the various levels of function required to get this right, you’re well on the way to your amazing memory.
1 Using the codes on page 125, convert the following 30 binary digits into workable numbers. Note down the codes for each set of three digits on a sheet of paper.
0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1
2 You have just 1 minute for the rest of the memorization element of this exercise (converting the codes to letters, then characters and placing these on a journey). Set a timer and then begin your memorization. When you’ve finished, write down on a sheet of paper the sequence of binaries (go straight to the binaries – don’t write down the codes). Look back at the list to check how you did. A score of 18–24 binary digits is good; 25–30 is excellent.
3 Once you’ve completed this exercise successfully and confidently, ask a friend or family member to write you another list of 30 binary digits; or, using your computer, shut your eyes and just allow your fingers to type zeroes and ones randomly until you have a new sequence you can use for practice. This time, give yourself a minute and a half, but try to incorporate the conversion to workable numbers into your time window – go from binary to memorization against the clock, as in the real World Memory Championships.