Как развить абсолютную память. Доминик О'Брайен. Глава 22. Выжимка из чисел.

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Remembering binary numbers

HEADS I WIN, TAILS YOU LOSE

I once bet a friend of mine that I could memorize the result of any number of coin flips as fast as he could spin the coin. He accepted the bet, thinking that he was on to a winner. A separate referee recorded the results: if it was tails, he wrote down 1, if it was heads, he wrote down 0.

After ten minutes, the referee had painstakingly written down the results of 300 coin flips. My friend thought that 300 would be a more than adequate number to win the bet. He was wrong. I was not only able to repeat the entire, monotonous sequence, but I could also locate instantly the result of any individual spin he chose. I could tell him, for example, that the 219th spin was a head.

I have to admit that there aren't many practical applications for memorizing 300 flips of a coin, other than taking money off gullible friends. But the ability to remember binary numbers, which is how I knew whether the coin was heads or tails, opens up a whole range of possibilities.

BINARY

Binary is the language of computers. It is one of the simplest ways of representing information because only two symbols, 0 and 1, are employed. Anything of a two-state, or dyadic, nature can be translated into binary: on/off, true/false, open/closed, black/white, yes/no, and even heads/tails.

Long binary numbers, however, are fiendishly difficult to remember. On the face of it, they would appear to present even more of a challenge than their base-10 cousins. Unless, of course, there is a way of bringing all those noughts and ones to life . . .

I have developed a system for memorizing binary that is an offshoot of the DOMINIC SYSTEM, in that it translates boring digits (and let's face it, in binary they are particularly dull) into persons and actions. Only this system is even more efficient. It allows you to remember a 12-digit binary number using just one person and action, brought together in a single complex image.

The task of memorizing 300 flips of a coin is thus made very simple. All I had to do was remember 25 complex images in a leisurely ten minutes - far less of a struggle than trying to recall 300 individual bits of meaningless information.

THE DOMINIC SYSTEM II

The first stage of translating a string of noughts and ones into people and actions is to break them down into a series of smaller groups, each one-consisting of three digits. For reasons that will become apparent, you must then ascribe a single-digit, base-10 number to each group.

There are eight different ways in which a 3-digit binary number can be ordered. I have listed them below, together with their new number:

000 = 0
001 = 1
011 = 2
111 = 3

110 = 4
100 = 5
010 = 6
101 = 7

Commit this code to memory. Use mnemonics to help you remember the various permutations. For example, 010 might remind you of an elephant - two ears either side of a trunk. (A trunk, you will recall, is a possible number shape for 6); 101 looks like a dinner plate with a knife and fork either side. (I happen to eat at 7.00 pm most evenings.) And so on.

You can now represent any 3-digit binary number with a single-digit base-10 number. It follows that 6-digit binary numbers can be represented by a 2-digit base-10 number.

For example: 011 = 2 and 100 = 5. It follows that 011100 = 25.

A 2-digit, base-10 number such as 25 is a far more attractive prospect to remember than 011100. Using the DOMINIC SYSTEM, you can translate it at once into a person: 25 = BE = Brian Epstein (2 = B; 5 = E).

Take another example: 111 = 3. It follows that 111111 = 33. Using the DOMINIC SYSTEM, 33 translates into Charlie Chaplin (3 = C; 3 = C).

COMPLEX BINARY IMAGES

The efficiency of the system becomes even more apparent when you want to memorize a 12-digit binary number. Using the DOMINIC SYSTEM, an ordinary 4-digit, base-10 number translates into one complex image. To remember 2417, for example, you imagine weatherman Bernard Davey drinking a pint of Guinness (24 = BD = Bernard Davey; 17 = AG = Alec Guinness, whose action is drinking a pint of Guinness).

Exactly the same applies when you are dealing with binary numbers. If 011100 = 25, and 111111 = 33, it follows that 011100111111 = 2533. Consequently, if you want to remember 011100111111, you just have to memorize the complex image for 2533; Brian Epstein flexing a cane (25 = BE = Brian Epstein; 33 = CC = Charlie Chaplin, whose action is flexing a cane).

When you look closely at a photograph in a newspaper or a magazine, you see a whole mass of tiny dots. Under a magnifying glass, they appear meaningless; it's only when you stand back that they 'condense' into a picture that makes sense. A similar process is going on here: you are reducing a whole series of meaningless noughts and ones into a single complex image.

Take another example. How would you set about memorizing 011011100111? It looks a fairly horrendous task until you start to break it down:

Stage 1:

Split the number up into groups of three digits: 011 011 100 111

Stage 2:

Ascribe the relevant code number to each group: 2 2 5 3

Stage 3:

Using the DOMINIC SYSTEM, translate each number into a letter: B B E C

Stage 4:

Using the DOMINIC SYSTEM, translate the first pair of letters into a person, and the second into an action.

Betty Boothroyd - Playing guitar (BB) (EC = Eric Clapton)

Your complex image is of Betty Boothroyd jamming on a guitar, which, I think you'll agree, is far easier to remember than 011011100111!

Here is a list of the 64, 6-digit binary numbers which you are now able to translate into characters (or actions). With these basic building blocks, you can go forward and tackle any large binary number.

Binary	Code	Letters	Character
000000 000001 000011 000111 000110 000100 000010 000101	= 00 = 01 = 02 = 03 = 04 = 05 = 06 = 07	= OO = = OA = = OB = = OC = = OD = = OE = = OS = = OG =	Olive Oyl Ossie Ardiles Otto Bismarck Oliver Cromwell Otto Dix Old Etonian Omar Sharif Organ Grinder
001000 001001 001011 001111 001110 001100 001010 001101	= 10 = 11 = 12 = 13 = 14 = 15 = 16 = 17	= AO = = AA = = AB = = AC = = AD = = AE = = AS = = AG =	Aristotle Onassis Arthur Askey Alastair Burnet Andy Capp Arthur Daley Albert Einstein Arthur Scargill Alec Guinness
011000 011001 011011 011111 011110 011100 011010 011101	= 20 = 21 = 22 = 23 = 24 = 25 = 26 = 27	= BO = = BA = = BB = = BC = = BD = = BE = = BS = = BG =	Bill Oddie Bryan Adams Betty Boothroyd Bill Clinton Bernard Davey Brian Epstein Bram Stoker Bob Geldof
111000 111001 111011 111111 111110 111100 111010 111101	= 30 = 31 = 32 = 33 = 34 = 35 = 36 = 37	= CO = = CA = = CB = = CC = = CD = = CE = = CS = = CG =	Captain Oates Charles Atlas Cilia Black Charlie Chaplin Christopher Dean Clint Eastwood Claudia Schieffer Charles de Gaulle
110000 110001 110011 110111 110110 110100 110010 110101	= 40 = 41 = 42 = 43 = 44 = 45 = 46 = 47	= DO = = DA = = DB = = DC = = DD = = DE = = DS = = DG =	Dominic O'Brien David Attenborough David Bowie David Copperfield Dickie Davies Duke Oington Delia Smith David Gower
100000 100001 100011 100111 100110 100100 100010 100101	= 50 = 51 = 52 = 53 = 54 = 55 = 56 = 57	= EO = = EA = = EB = = EC = = ED = = EE = = ES = = EG =	Eeyore Eamon Andrews Eric Bristow Eric Clapton Eliza Doolittle Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards Ebeneezer Scrooge Elizabeth Goddard
010000 010001 010011 010111 010110 010100 010010 010101	= 60 = 61 = 62 = 63 = 64 = 65 = 66 = 67	= SO = = SA = = SB = = SC = = SD = = SE = = SS = = SG =	Steve Ovett Susan Anton Seve Ballesteros Sean Connery Sharron Davies Stefan Edberg Steven Spielberg Stdphane Grappelli
101000 101001 101011 101111 101110 101100 101010 101101	= 70 = 71 = 72 = 73 = 74 = 75 = 76 = 77	= GO = = GA = = GB = = GC = = GD = = GE = = GS = = GG =	George Orwell Gary Armstrong George Bush Gerry Cottle Gerard Depardieu Gloria Estefan Graeme Souness Germaine Greer

Once you have familiarized yourself with the above (the recurring patterns make it easier than it looks), try memorizing a 60-digit binary number. Daunting though it may sound, you only need to remember five complex images, each one representing 12 digits. Choose a simple journey with five stages, and place each image at the corresponding stage.

For example, this is how I would memorize: 011101100100101101010110110010
010101000000011100111011111001

JOURNEY (STAGES)	12-DIGIT SECTION	CODE NO.	LETTERS	PERSON	Action (COMPLEX IMAGE)
First Second Third Fourth Fifth	011 101 100 100 101 101 010 110 110 010 010 101 000 000 011 100 111 011 111 001	2755 7764 4667 0025 3231	BGEE GGSD DSSG OOBE CBCA	Bob Geldof Germane Greer Delia Smith Olive Oyl Cilia Black	Skiing Swimming Playing violin Playing records Weight-lifting

A prediction

If, in due course, a record is set for memorizing the greatest number of randomly generated binary digits, I predict that it will be in the region of 150,000. Using my system, three binary digits are being represented by one base-10 digit; if I manage to memorize 50,000 decimal places to pi, 150,000 binary digits should be feasible. Similarly, I can currently memorize a 100-digit base-10 number in approximately 100 seconds. 1 am therefore able to memorize a 300-digit binary number in the same time. The race is on ...

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