February 2006
Intermediate to advanced
332 pages
9h 3m
English
Content preview from Mind Performance Hacks
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Hack #6. Use the Dominic System
The Dominic System, invented by World Memory Champion Dominic O'Brien, is an easier alternative to the Major System of mnemonics found in most memory books.
Dominic O'Brien, World Memory Champion, can memorize the order of a full deck of playing cards in less than a minute. To help him achieve amazing memory feats like this, he created the Dominic System of mnemonics. Some people who find the Major System [Hack #5] espoused by most memory experts to be too dry and restrictive find they can stick with the Dominic System.
In Action
The Dominic System uses an easy-to-remember number-to-letter conversion and the initials of memorable people, as well as journeys that are like memory palaces [Hack #3]. As many mnemonic systems do, the Dominic System requires some bootstrapping for you to reach its full potential.
You will have to spend a little time and work to memorize the structure of the system, and that might seem a little tedious. Your work will be rewarded, however, because this basic work will enable you to harness the system's full power for yourself. It's a little like starting slow on the treadmill at the gym if you want to work up to taking long hikes in the mountains.
The number-to-letter correspondences run as follows:1
| Digit | Letter |
|---|---|
| 1 | A |
| 2 | B |
| 3 | C |
| 4 | D |
| 5 | E |
| 6 | S |
| 7 | G |
| 8 | H |
| 9 | N |
| 0 | O |
You can remember the numbers 00 to 99 by linking them to famous people and actions that are characteristic of them. For example, the number 15 becomes AE. You might mentally connect the initials AE ...
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