Andrew FIgueroa

Good news! I have been trying to figure out how to utilize the memory palace for some time (I also have aphantasia), but I realized a while ago that the memory palace is not all about the mind's eye. Little did I know, I had been using part of the memory palace technique all along. The main two components of building a palace are visual and spatial memory. Like all of you with aphantasia, my visual memory is about as useful as someone with severe dementia, who's also blind. However, I have been coming to realize just how much my spatial memory has compensated for this fact. Recently I memorized the first 100 digits of pi... in about a week. Once I got going, it was quite easy. But how could I do it without using my visual memory as the memory palace seems to require? I arranged them in a few dull lines and began memorizing them in groups of 7. The first few became instinctual, but as I continued they became terribly hard to remember. But thats when spatial memory came in. I had, without knowing it, created instant connections between the numbers (their vibes, if you will) and their proper places. The sequence 8841971 vaguely reminded me of a Starbucks (it was founded in 1971 and 884 reminds me of double doors) and the Starbucks sequence belonged in the upper right side of the first long row. I couldn't help but remember them. So in the end, loose connections with letters/sequences and firm connections with time/place made this significantly less challenging than I had suspected. I hope this has been helpful!