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Are you curious about the memory techniques used in the ancient world?
I’m talking about aboriginal memory techniques in Australia.
But also a lot more.
For example, it’s possible to learn about all sorts of indigenous tools for learning and retaining information used by people around the world.
If this sounds interesting to you, you’re in luck.
In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, I sat down with Tyson Yunkaporta, an author and educator who has shared these techniques with many groups of people.
Aboriginal Philosophy and Memory Techniques
Tyson’s a huge fan of both the Aboriginal memory techniques and the Memory Palace, so I think you’re going to love how we discuss all the techniques we go over in this discussion.
As the author of Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save The World, Dr. Yunkaporta is an incredible teacher.
I found this book compelling, useful and the main mnemonic device taught in the book is an obvious win for social change and healing global issues.
As Tyson expresses in this interview, the time for “memory wars” (and all kinds of other wars) is over.
We simply don’t have time for them anymore.
And to help you be part of the solution in your culture, you need to widen your context and bring that back into your community.
Here are just some of the memory techniques you’ll discover in this discussion:
- Real places and objects
- Relational
- Haptic connections
- Riddles and wordplay
- The Night sky
- Songlines
- Place and maps of place
- Symbols and images
- Rhythm and rhyme
- Repetition
- Song
- Rude language
- Stories
- Message sticks
In sum, if you were to put these mnemonics into play, you’d be using them as a “way of life.”
For more on the scientific study that inspired this “yarn,” please see my discussion with Dr. David Reser:
I also recommend you supplement this video with Brilliant Miller’s interview with Tyson:
Lynne Kelly and her books The Memory Code and Memory Craft comes up in this interview, so if you’d like to catch up with me and her, please see:
Finally, here’s The “Memory Wars” recording with Dr. Reser and Dr. Yunkaporta.
We talk about a number of mnemonic devices in this interview, so please be prepared to write them down. Songlines are part of a larger set that people used who had a ton of knowledge they needed in order to survive.
Make sure you supplement your own survival by digging as deeply as you can into the wide range of techniques history around the world has to offer. And apply the information you acquire to helping the world become a better place.
Thanks for being part of the memory world at large and talk soon!
