Mind Performance Hacks: Tips & Tools for Overclocking Your Brain [1 ed.] 0596101538, 9780596101534

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Mind Performance Hacks ByRon Hale-Evans ............................................... Publisher: O'Re illy Pub Dat e: Fe br u a r y 2 0 0 6 Print I SBN- 10: 0 - 5 9 6 - 1 0 1 5 3 - 8 Print I SBN- 13: 9 7 8 - 0 - 5 9 - 6 1 0 1 5 3 - 4 Pages: 3 3 0

Table of Cont ent s | I ndex

You're sm art . This book can m ake you sm art er. Mind Perform ance Hacks provides real- life t ips and t ools for overclocking your brain and becom ing a bet t er t hinker. I n t he increasingly frenet ic pace of t oday's inform at ion econom y, m anaging your life requires hacking your brain. Wit h t his book, you'll cut t hrough t he clut t er and t une up your brain int ent ionally, safely, and product ively. Grounded in current research and t heory, but offering pract ical solut ions you can apply im m ediat ely, Mind Perform ance Hacks is filled wit h life hacks t hat t each you t o:

Use m nem onic t ricks t o rem em ber num bers, nam es, dat es, and ot her flot sam you need t o recall Put down your calculat or and perform com plex m at h in your head, wit h your fingers, or on t he back of a napkin Spark your creat ivit y wit h innovat ive brainst orm ing m et hods Use effect ive syst em s t o capt ure new ideas before t hey get away Com m unicat e in creat ive new ways- even using art ificial languages Make bet t er decisions by foreseeing problem s and finding surprising solut ions I m prove your m ent al fit ness wit h cool t ricks and gam es

While t he hugely successful Mind Hacks showed you how your brain works, Mind Perform ance Hacks shows you how t o m ake it work bet t er.

Mind Performance Hacks ByRon Hale-Evans ............................................... Publisher: O'Re illy Pub Dat e: Fe br u a r y 2 0 0 6 Print I SBN- 10: 0 - 5 9 6 - 1 0 1 5 3 - 8 Print I SBN- 13: 9 7 8 - 0 - 5 9 - 6 1 0 1 5 3 - 4 Pages: 3 3 0

Table of Cont ent s | I ndex

You're sm art . This book can m ake you sm art er. Mind Perform ance Hacks provides real- life t ips and t ools for overclocking your brain and becom ing a bet t er t hinker. I n t he increasingly frenet ic pace of t oday's inform at ion econom y, m anaging your life requires hacking your brain. Wit h t his book, you'll cut t hrough t he clut t er and t une up your brain int ent ionally, safely, and product ively. Grounded in current research and t heory, but offering pract ical solut ions you can apply im m ediat ely, Mind Perform ance Hacks is filled wit h life hacks t hat t each you t o:

Use m nem onic t ricks t o rem em ber num bers, nam es, dat es, and ot her flot sam you need t o recall Put down your calculat or and perform com plex m at h in your head, wit h your fingers, or on t he back of a napkin Spark your creat ivit y wit h innovat ive brainst orm ing m et hods Use effect ive syst em s t o capt ure new ideas before t hey get away Com m unicat e in creat ive new ways- even using art ificial languages Make bet t er decisions by foreseeing problem s and finding surprising solut ions I m prove your m ent al fit ness wit h cool t ricks and gam es

While t he hugely successful Mind Hacks showed you how your brain works, Mind Perform ance Hacks shows you how t o m ake it work bet t er.

Copyright © 2006 O'Reilly Media, I nc. All right s reserved. Print ed in t he Unit ed St at es of Am erica. Published by O'Reilly Media, I nc., 1005 Gravenst ein Highway Nort h, Sebast opol, CA 95472. O'Reilly books m ay be purchased for educat ional, business, or sales prom ot ional use. Online edit ions are also available for m ost t it les ( ht t p: / / safari.oreilly.com ) . For m ore inform at ion, cont act our corporat e/ inst it ut ional sales depart m ent : ( 800) 998- 9938 or corporat [email protected] . Nut shell Handbook, t he Nut shell Handbook logo, and t he O'Reilly logo are regist ered t radem arks of O'Reilly Media, I nc. The Hacks series designat ions, Mind Perform ance Hacks, t he im age of a st opwat ch, and relat ed t rade dress are t radem arks of O'Reilly Media, I nc. Many of t he designat ions used by m anufact urers and sellers t o dist inguish t heir product s are claim ed as t radem arks. Where t hose designat ions appear in t his book, and O'Reilly Media, I nc. was aware of a t radem ark claim , t he designat ions have been print ed in caps or init ial caps. While every precaut ion has been t aken in t he preparat ion of t his book, t he publisher and aut hor assum e no responsibilit y for errors or om issions, or for dam ages result ing from t he use of t he inform at ion cont ained herein. Sm all print : The t echnologies discussed in t his publicat ion, t he lim it at ions on t hese t echnologies t hat t echnology and cont ent owners seek t o im pose, and t he laws act ually lim it ing t he use of t hese t echnologies are const ant ly changing. Thus, som e of t he hacks described in t his publicat ion m ay not work, m ay cause unint ended harm t o syst em s on which t hey are used, or m ay not be consist ent wit h applicable user agreem ent s. Your use of t hese hacks is at your own risk, and O'Reilly Media, I nc. disclaim s responsibilit y for any dam age or expense result ing from t heir use. I n any event , you should t ake care t hat your use of t hese hacks does not violat e any applicable laws, including copyright laws.

Credits About t he Aut hor About t he Developm ent al Edit or Cont ribut ors Acknowledgm ent s

About the Author Ron Hale- Evans is a writ er, t hinker, and gam e designer who earns his daily sandwich wit h frequent gigs as a t echnical writ er. He has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Yale, wit h a m inor in philosophy. Thinking a lot about t hinking led him t o creat e t he Ment at Wiki ( ht t p: / / www.ludism .org/ m ent at ) , which led t o t his book. You can find his m ult inefarious [ sic] ot her proj ect s at his hom e page ( ht t p: / / ron.ludism .org) , including his award- winning board gam es, a list of his Short - Durat ion Personal Saviors, and his blog. Ron's next book will probably be about gam e syst em s, especially since his series of art icles on t hat t opic for t he dear, depart ed Gam es Journal ( ht t p: / / www.t hegam esj ournal.com ) has been relat ively successful am ong bot h gam ers and academ ics. I f you want t o em ail Ron t he nam es of som e gullible publishers, or you j ust want t o bug him , you can reach him at rwhe@ludism .org ( rhym es wit h nudism and has not hing t o do wit h Luddism ) .

About the Developmental Editor Mart y Hale- Evans lives halfway bet ween Seat t le and Tacom a, in a perpet ually unt idy apart m ent wit h Mr. Big- Shot Aut hor and t wo basically useless ( but adorable) old dogs. Her professional t it le is usually " t echnical edit or," under which she has done freelance and cont ract work for com panies such as Microsoft , Boeing, WGBH Educat ional Foundat ion, and t he Universit y of Chicago Press. Bet ween gigs, she spends her t im e designing and m aking j ewelry; st udying art , hist ory, and Japanese; and reading and writ ing a lot of em ail ( t o and from m art y@m art ynet .org ) . She get s passionat e about fat lib, fem inism , and polit ics in general. She has an insat iable com edy j ones and is usually reading about four books sim ult aneously. You can also find Mart y playing a lot of board gam es, sharpening her Texas Hold 'Em skills, singing along, j oking around, idly fant asizing about organizing her life, and Trying To Figure I t All Out .

Contributors The following people cont ribut ed t heir hacks, writ ing, and inspirat ion t o t his book: Vaughan Bell has j ust com plet ed a doct oral course in neuropsychology and is now t raining as a clinical psychologist . When not t rying t o figure out what goes wrong wit h t he m ind and brain, he writ es about hum an behavior and m ent al life for m agazines, books, j ournals, and t he Web. Richard Brzust owicz has worked ( in no part icular order) as a psychot herapist , consult ing librarian ( inform at ion broker) , cont ract writ er and edit or, em ergency room social worker, t eacher of English ( in Taiwan and Japan) , and m inor ( hopefully not pet t y) bureaucrat in t he world of research adm inist rat ion. His long- st anding int erest in t he byways of psychology led t o his research and writ ing for George Csicsery's film Hun gry for Monst ers ( ht t p: / / www.zalafilm s.com / film s/ hungryform onst ers. ht m l) , about a fam ily caught up in a st orm of rit ual abuse accusat ions. Jam es Crook is a soft ware engineer who has worked on sat ellit e operat ing syst em s, drug discovery, elect rical net work m onit oring, and inside, above, and below TCP/ I P st acks. He has a long- st anding and deep int erest in t he m ind. Karl Erickson is a writ er. Meredit h Hale is t he educat ion program m anager at t he Museum of Glass: I nt ernat ional Cent er for Cont em porary Art in Tacom a, Washingt on. When she's not t raining docent s, writ ing curricula, and t eaching folks about glass and cont em porary art , she's working on her m ast er's degree in library and inform at ion science. Before com m it t ing herself t o educat ion, she was a local NPR report er and a TV news producer, researching and writ ing st ories for air. Alt hough she has writ t en m any curricula, news broadcast s, art icles for m useum publicat ions, and children's book reviews, t his is her first t im e cont ribut ing t o a real- live book. Lion Kim bro is fam ous for writ ing " How t o Make a Com plet e Map of Every Thought You Think." He is a Free Soft ware and Free Cult ure act ivist , t hinker, and program m er. He current ly works on wiki and collaborat ion soft ware. Moses Klein's principal passion has been m at hem at ics for as long as he can rem em ber. I n 1985, he won a bronze m edal at t he I nt ernat ional Mat hem at ics Olym piad ( I MO) . More recent ly, he has graded papers for t he I MO, t aught m at hem at ics at t hree colleges and universit ies, and t ranslat ed t wo advanced m at h t ext s from French int o English. Mark Purt ill has degrees in m at hem at ics from Calt ech ( BS, 1984) and MI T ( PhD, 1990) and t aught at t he college level for several years. Current ly, he is a senior developer at The Soft ware Revolut ion, I nc. I n his spare t im e, he plays gam es and draws pict ures of pigs ( ht t p: / / pigsand t oast ers.com icgenesis.com ) . Mark Schnit zius has a degree in com put er science, and he has been writ ing soft ware ever since his fat her brought hom e a KI M- 1 in 1977. Since t hen, he has worked at t he Kennedy Space Cent er, t he Pent agon, and an on- dem and book print ing business. He is a six- t im e winner of t he I nt ernat ional Obfuscat ed C Code Com pet it ion ( ht t p: / / www.ioccc.org) and current ly resides in Melbourne, Aust ralia, wit h his wife and dingo. Tom St afford likes finding t hings out and writ ing t hings down. Several years of doing t his in t he Depart m ent of Psychology at t he Universit y of Sheffield result ed in a PhD. Now som et im es he t ells people he's a com put at ional cognit ive neuroscient ist and t hen t alks

excit edly about neural net works. Lat ely he's begun t alking excit edly about social net works, t oo. As well as doing academ ic research, he has worked as a freelancer, writ ing and working at t he BBC as a docum ent ary researcher. Wit h Mat t Webb, he is t he aut hor of O'Reilly's Mind Hacks ( ht t p: / / www.m indhacks.com ) , a book about do- it - at - hom e dem onst rat ions of how your brain works. He put s t hings he finds int erest ing on his web sit e at ht t p: / / www.idiolect .org.uk. Mat t Webb engineers, designs, and works wit h t echnology and physical t hings at Schulze & Webb ( ht t p: / / www.schulzeandwebb.com ) , for client s and for fun. He is coaut hor of O'Reilly'sMind Hacks ( ht t p: / / www.m indhacks.com ) , a successful cognit ive psychology book for a general audience. I n t he past , he has worked in R&D on social welfare at BBC Radio & Music I nt eract ive on social soft ware, built collaborat ive online t oys, writ t en I M bot s, and run a fict ion web sit e ( archived at ht t p: / / iam .upsideclown.com ) . He keeps his weblog, I nt erconnect ed, at ht t p: / / int erconnect ed.org/ hom e. Mat t reads a lit t le t oo m uch, likes t he word cyberspace , lives in London, and t ells his m ot her he's " in com put ers."

Acknowledgments First , t hanks t o t he aut hors of Mind Hacks , Tom St afford and Mat t Webb, for laying t he road and showing t he way, and t o all of t hose m nem onist s and m ent al m at hem at icians out t here, dit t o. Next , a heart y t hanks t o all of t he cont ribut ors t o t his book. Man, you guys work hard! Part icular t hanks t o Richard Brzust owicz, lead t echnical reviewer, and t he MarksMark Purt ill and Mark Schnit ziuswho cont ribut ed m any of t he m at h hacks and t ech reviewed t he ot hers. The Ment at Wiki cont ribut ors m ust be m ent ioned. Thanks, folks, for all of your hard work. You were an inspirat ion. I would especially like t o t hank t he m yst erious St ylusEpix for his cont ribut ion of t he basis for " Count t o a Million on Your Fingers" [ Hack # 40] . He has no known em ail address and never answered t he Wiki m essages I left , but m aybe he'll see t his. Thanks t o Merlin Mann of 43 Folders and 5ives for reviewing t he Ment at Wiki, point ing O'Reilly in m y direct ion, and m aking m e laugh so dam n hard. Thanks also t o Lion Kim bro for encouraging m e t o creat e t he Ment at Wiki in t he first place. Thanks t o m y friends for put t ing up wit h m y neglect while I was writ ing t his book, and especially m y board gam e group, Seat t le Cosm ic, for put t ing up wit h m y m any absences and foist ing unfinished m at erial on t hem at unforeseen m om ent s. Thanks especially t o John Braley for a chess exam ple for t he book, and for rem inding m e t o keep m y nose clean. Of t he O'Reilly t eam , t hanks t o Rael Dornfest and Lucas Carlson for t he soft ware I used t o writ e t his book, even t hough I grum bled about it . And a big t hanks t o m y edit or, Brian Sawyer. Brian, what can I say? Thank you for your edit ing, t hank you for your gent le int roduct ion t o t he O'Reilly way, t hank you for sort ing out right s issues early on, and t hank you for your pat ience as I m issed m ult iple deadlines. ( Not ice I didn't writ e anyt hing about t hinking fast .) Thanks t o m y fam ily for encouragem ent : Mom , Dad, Pam , Eric, Tia, Gwenyt h, Mer, Kisa, Mel, and Keit h, and especially Darlene for unending posit ive vibes. Last but first , t his book would st ill be half a page of scribbled lines wit hout m y adorable wife and edit or, Mart y Hale- Evans, Jeeves t o m y Woost er, Miss Plim soll t o m y Mat t hew Griswald, fount of gum pt ion, expunger of doofusosit y, guardian of good sense, beloved com panion, and best friend. I m ean, you have no idea.

Preface Think of t his book as a m art ial art s course for your m ind. You m ight call it t he m ent al art s . Just as t he m art ial art s will t each you t o fight wit hout weapons, t he m ent al art s will t each you t o t hink wit hout com put ers, calculat e wit hout calculat ors, and rem em ber wit hout reading and writ ing. Of course, som e m art ial art s courses t each you t o fight wit h nunchaku or t hrowing blades; t his book cont ains a few hacks t hat will t each you t o use not ebooks and Perl script s as t ools t o becom e a bet t er t hinker. I n m any respect s, Mind Perform ance Hacks is a sequel t o Mind Hacks by Tom St afford and Mat t Webb, but writ t en wit h t he int ent ion of providing pract ical hacks you can use , rat her t han " probes int o t he operat ion of t he brain" t hat are m ore t heoret ical and fun . ( Not t hat t he hacks in t his book aren't fun! ) Here again, t he m art ial art s analogy com es in handy. Mind Hacks ( also published by O'Reilly) was m ore a book of beaut iful and int erest ing t hings you can do wit h your brain, akin t o t he branches of t he m art ial art s t hat are m ore like dance t han com bat . Mind Perform ance Hacks is full of highly pract ical m ent al t echniques, m ore analogous t o t he m art ial art s m eant for self- defense. Of course, t his book does cont ain a few t ricks you can flaunt , such as count ing t o a m illion on your fingers [ Hack # 40] t he m ent al equivalent of breaking a st ack of bricks wit h your hands. I n m y effort t o becom e a bet t er t hinker, besides t he raw im pulse t o becom e sm art er, I t hink Frank Herbert 's idea of t he m ent at has inspired m e m ost . I n Herbert 's science fict ion novel Dune , set t housands of years in t he fut ure, com put ers have been out lawed and a hum an profession has evolved t o t ake t heir place. Ment at s are, in effect , hum an com put ers, having t rained for years t o im prove t heir m em ory, and t heir m at hem at ical, logical, and st rat egic abilit ies, t o superhum an levelsin short , t o becom e m ast ers of t he m ent al art s. I n 2004, I st art ed t he Ment at Wiki ( ht t p: / / www.ludism .org/ m ent at ) as a cent ral reposit ory of inform at ion about t he m ent al art s t hat anyone who happened upon could cont ribut e t o. As I had hoped, it at t ract ed a group of cont ribut ors int erest ed in m nem onic t echniques, m ent al m at h, and so on, and since t hen, t he wiki has grown st eadily. I 've learned a lot from t he Ment at Wiki, and a num ber of t he m ind perform ance hacks in t his book st art ed as web pages t here. I hope you will find at least one hack from t his book t hat you use every day for t he rest of your life. I f t hat seem s unlikely t o you, let m e assure you t hat I use several hacks from t his book daily, and I know ot her people who do, t oo. Have we at t ained t he superhum an capabilit ies of Frank Herbert 's fict ional m ent at s? No, but we are m ore capable t han we would be ot herwise. I t 's also a dream of m ine t hat t he m ent al art s will be t aught com m only in public schools, as t he ars m em orat iva was once t aught in classical t im es. Failing t hat , it would at least be nice if t his knowledge were available in lit t le st orefront schools em blazoned wit h t he words " Eight Ment al Art s Taught As One! "

Why Mind Performance Hacks? The t erm hacker has a bad reput at ion in t he press. They use it t o refer t o som eone who breaks int o syst em s or wreaks havoc wit h com put ers as t heir weapon. Am ong people who writ e code, t hough, t he t erm hack refers t o a " quick- and- dirt y" solut ion t o a problem , or a clever way t o get som et hing done. And t he t erm hacker is t aken very m uch as a com plim ent , referring t o som eone as being creat ive , having t he t echnical chops t o get t hings done. The Hacks series is an at t em pt t o reclaim t he word, docum ent t he good ways people are hacking, and pass t he hacker et hic of creat ive part icipat ion on t o t he uninit iat ed. Seeing how ot hers approach syst em s and problem s is oft en t he quickest way t o learn about a new t echnology. Mind perform ance hacks are a t echnology as new as t he newest sm art drugs and as old as language. I n t he broadest sense, every t im e you learn som et hing, you're hacking your brain. This book is designed t o help you learn t o hack your brain int ent ionally, safely, and product ively.

How to Use This Book You can read t his book from cover t o cover if you like, but each hack st ands on it s own, so feel free t o browse and j um p t o t he different sect ions t hat int erest you m ost . I f t here's a prerequisit e t hat you need t o know about , a cross- reference will guide you t o t he right hack. You can at t em pt m ost of t he hacks in t his book wit h no m ore t han your brain, or at least no m ore t han pen and paper. Many cont ain references t o addit ional m at erial available in ot her books or on t he Web. A few hacks also include source code for short com put er program sm ainly Perl script st hat you can use as t hinking t ools. Don't worry, t hough; you don't need any program m ing experience t o use t hese hacks. The " How t o Run t he Program m ing Hacks" sect ion lat er in t his preface will get you st art ed, and t he hacks t hem selves explain in det ail how t o inst all and run t he code.

How This Book Is Organized The book is divided int o several chapt ers, organized by subj ect :

Chapt er 1, Mem ory This chapt er exam ines ways t o im prove your abilit y t o rem em ber inform at ion ranging from t he periodic t able of elem ent s t o phone num bers, m aps, and spat ial locat ionsas well as how not t o leave your keys and your cell phone at hom e.

Chapt er 2, I nform at ion Processing I t has been rem arked t hat we live not in an inform at ion econom y but in an at t ent ion econom y. I f you have a broadband I nt ernet connect ion, for exam ple, you have access t o m ore inform at ion t han you could ever use, but your at t ent ion is com parat ively scarce. This chapt er cont ains hacks t o m inim ize t he dem ands on your at t ent ion by m axim izing your abilit y t o process t his deluge of inform at ion.

Chapt er 3, Creat ivit y Creat ive t hought m eans t he generat ion of new ideas, from m aking t he space shut t le safe t o writ ing a poem for your kid's birt hday. This chapt er cont ains som e useful t echniques for alm ost any creat ive challenge you m ight encount er.

Chapt er 4, Mat h This chapt er exam ines basic hacks t o do m ent al m at h, including t he four- banger operat ions ( addit ion, subt ract ion, m ult iplicat ion, and division) , how t o check your m at h, how t o count t o large num bers on your fingers, and som e pract ical applicat ions, such as calculat ing t he day of t he week for any day on t he calendar.

Chapt er 5, Decision Making Making decisions wit h lim it ed dat a is a problem t hat everyone faces. The hacks in t his chapt er will help you separat e high- priorit y from low- priorit y issues and decide how t o t ake act ion on t hose priorit ies.

Chapt er 6, Com m unicat ion So, you've got som e great ideas. How are you going t o get t hem across? This chapt er will t each you t o do so in ways t hat are clear, creat ive, or crypt ic.

Chapt er 7, Clarit y Passionat e em ot ions can cloud our int ellect ual clarit y, causing us t o t hink poorly. Our t hought s can also be riddled wit h fallacies and self- cont radict ions. This chapt er cont ains hacks for gaining t he em ot ional and int ellect ual clarit y and perspect ive needed t o solve problem s and m ake good decisions.

Chapt er 8, Ment al Fit ness This chapt er cont ains hacks int ended t o keep your brain st rong and flexible overall, no m at t er what your age.

Conventions Used in This Book The following is a list of t he t ypographical convent ions used in t his book:

I t alics Used t o indicat e URLs, filenam es, filenam e ext ensions, and direct ory/ folder nam es. For exam ple, a pat h in t he filesyst em will appear as / Developer/ Applicat ions .

Constant width Used t o show code exam ples, equat ions, logarit hm s, t he cont ent s of files, and console out put , as well as t he nam es of variables, com m ands, and ot her code excerpt s.

Constant width bold Used t o show user input in and t o highlight port ions of code, t ypically new addit ions t o old code.

Constant width italic

Used in code exam ples and t ables t o show sam ple t ext t o be replaced wit h your own values.

Gray t ype Used t o indicat e a cross- reference wit hin t he t ext . You should pay special at t ent ion t o not es set apart from t he t ext wit h t he following icons:

This is a t ip, suggest ion, or general not e. I t cont ains useful supplem ent ary inform at ion about t he t opic at hand.

This is a warning or not e of caut ion, oft en indicat ing t hat your m oney or your privacy m ight be at risk.

The t herm om et er icons, found next t o each hack, indicat e t he relat ive com plexit y of t he hack:

How to Run the Programming Hacks The few program m at ic hacks in t his book run on t he com m and line ( t hat 's t he Term inal for Mac OS X folks, and t he DOS com m and window for Windows users) . Running a hack on t he com m and line invariably involves t he following st eps:

1 . Type t he program int o a garden- variet y t ext edit or: Not epad on Windows, Text Edit on Mac OS X, vi or Emacs on Unix/ Linux, or anyt hing else of t he sort . Save t he file as direct edusually as scriptname .pl ( t he pl bit st ands for Perl, t he predom inant program m ing language used in Mind Perform ance Hacks ) . 2 . Alt ernat ely, you can download t he code for all of t he hacks online at ht t p: / / www.oreilly.com / cat alog/ m indperfhks. There you'll find a zip archive filled wit h individual script s already saved as t ext files. 3 . Get t o t he com m and line on your com put er or rem ot e server. I n Mac OS X, launch t he Term inal ( Applicat ions Ut ilit ies Term inal) . I n Windows, click t he St art but t on, select Run..., t ype command, and hit t he Ent er/ Ret urn key on your keyboard. I n Unix...well, we'll j ust assum e you know how t o get t o t he com m and line. 4 . Navigat e t o where you saved t he script at hand. This varies from operat ing syst em t o operat ing syst em , but usually involves som et hing like cd~/Desktop ( t hat 's your Deskt op on t he Mac) . 5 . I nvoke t he script by running t he program m ing language's int erpret er ( e.g., Perl) and feeding it t he script ( e.g., scriptname .pl ) , like so: 6 . $perl scriptname.pl

7 . Most oft en, you'll also need t o pass along som e param et ersyour search query, t he num ber of result s you'd like, and so fort h. Sim ply drop t hem in aft er t he script nam e, enclosing t hem in quot es if t hey're m ore t han one word or if t hey include an odd charact er or t hree: 8 . $perl scriptname.pl '"much ado about nothing" script' 10

9 . The result s of your script are alm ost always sent st raight back t o t he com m and- line window in which you're working, like so: 1 0 . $perl scriptname.pl '"much ado about nothing" script' 10 1. "Amazon.com: Books: Much Ado About Nothing: Screenplay ..." [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0393311112?v=glance] 2. "Much Ado About Nothing Script" [http://www.signal42.com/much_ado_about_nothing_script.asp]

...

The ellipsis point s ( ...) signify t hat we've cut off t he out put for brevit y's sake.

1 . To prevent t he out put from scrolling off your screen fast er t han you can read it , on m ost syst em s you can pipe ( redirect ) t he out put t o a lit t le program called m ore : 2 . $perl scriptname.pl | more

3 . Hit ^ and t he Ent er/ Ret urn key on your keyboard t o scroll t hrough line by line, t he spacebar t o leap t hrough page by page. 4 . You'll also som et im es want t o direct out put t o a file for safekeeping, im port ing int o your spreadsheet applicat ion, or displaying on your web sit e. This is as easy as: 5 . $perl scriptname.pl > output_filename.txt

6 . And t o pour som e input int o your script from a file, sim ply do t he opposit e: 7 . $perl scriptname.pl < input_filename.txt

Don't worry if you can't rem em ber all of t his; each program m at ic hack has a " Running t he Hack" sect ion t hat shows you j ust how it 's done.

Fancy t rying your hand at a spot of program m ing? O'Reilly's best - selling Learning Perl ( ht t p: / / www.oreilly. com / cat alog/ learnperl4) by Randal L. Schwart z, Tom Phoenix, and brian d. foy provides a good st art .

Using Code Examples This book is here t o help you get your j ob done. I n general, you m ay use t he code in t his book in your program s and docum ent at ion. You do not need t o cont act us for perm ission unless you're reproducing a significant port ion of t he code. For exam ple, writ ing a program t hat uses several chunks of code from t his book does not require perm ission. Selling or dist ribut ing a CDROM of exam ples from O'Reilly books does require perm ission. Answering a quest ion by cit ing t his book and quot ing exam ple code does not require perm ission. I ncorporat ing a significant am ount of exam ple code from t his book int o your product 's docum ent at ion does require perm ission. We appreciat e, but do not require, at t ribut ion. An at t ribut ion usually includes t he t it le, aut hor, publisher, and I SBN. For exam ple: "Mind Perform ance Hacks by Ron Hale- Evans. Copyright 2006 O'Reilly Media, I nc., I SBN 0- 596- 10153- 8." I f you feel your use of code exam ples falls out side fair use or t he perm ission given here, feel free t o cont act us at perm [email protected] .

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How to Contact Us We have t est ed and verified t he inform at ion in t his book t o t he best of our abilit y, but you m ay find t hat feat ures have changed ( or even t hat we have m ade m ist akes! ) . As a reader of t his book, you can help us t o im prove fut ure edit ions by sending us your feedback. Please let us know about any errors, inaccuracies, bugs, m isleading or confusing st at em ent s, and t ypos t hat you find anywhere in t his book. Please also let us know what we can do t o m ake t his book m ore useful t o you. We t ake your com m ent s seriously and will t ry t o incorporat e reasonable suggest ions int o fut ure edit ions. You can writ e t o us at : O'Reilly Media, I nc. 1005 Gravenst ein Highway Nort h Sebast opol, CA 95472 ( 800) 998- 9938 ( in t he U.S. or Canada) ( 707) 829- 0515 ( int ernat ional/ local) ( 707) 829- 0104 ( fax) To ask t echnical quest ions or t o com m ent on t he book, send em ail t o: bookquest [email protected] The web sit e for Mind Perform ance Hacks list s exam ples, errat a, and plans for fut ure edit ions. You can find t his page at :

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Chapter 1. Memory Mem ory is a crucial hum an capabilit y. Wit hout m em ory, your m ind is not hing but bare awareness. Mem ory orient s us in t im e and space, enables us t o recognize our loved ones, provides us wit h t he knowledge t hat running in front of cars is dangerous, and gives us t he raw m at erials we need t o do everyt hing else we do as hum anshence it s prim ary place in t his book. I n a sense, m any people have abandoned m em ory, not only t o reading and writ ing, but also t o newer t echnologies such as search engines. However, I hope t his chapt er will show t hat developing your m em ory can enrich your life, whet her you need t o defend your doct oral t hesis, appear on Jeopardy! , or j ust cope wit h daily hassles.

Hack 1. Remember 10 Things to Bring

You n e e d n e ve r for ge t you r k e ys a ga in . Alw a ys r e m e m be r t h e t op 1 0 t h in gs t o br in g w h e n you le a ve you r h ou se . Sure, t hanks t o t he hacks in t his chapt er on m em ory, you'll be able t o rem em ber all t he U.S. president s and world capit als, but m aybe you'll st ill forget your keys and your cell phone when you leave t he house. What good are m nem onic t ricks if you can't apply t hem t o daily life? You can m ake a pract ical difference in your preparedness for daily life and t he efficiency wit h which you live it if you m em orize a list of it em s wit hout which you never leave t he house . I f you run t hrough t his checklist when leaving work, school, a rest aurant , or a friend's house, you need never leave anyt hing im port ant behind wherever you go. You can also use t his hack t o get out of t he house quickly in t he m orning, by ensuring t hat all of t he it em s on t he checklist are gat hered in one place before you go t o sleep.

In Action For t his hack, you'll need som e kind of m nem onic skelet on t hat can cont ain about 10 it em s ( or as m any as are on your checklist ) . You can use a short j ourney [ Hack # 3] , t he 10 digit s of t he Dom inic Syst em [ Hack # 6] , t he num ber shape syst em [ Hack # 2] , or anyt hing else t hat you can rem em ber effort lessly and when dist ract ed. I use t he first m nem onic syst em I ever learned, t he num ber rhym e syst em , which m y fat her t aught m e when I was a boy: " One is gun; t wo is shoe; t hree is t ree," and so on. Ergo, for t he first it em on m y list , I creat e a vivid im age t hat cont ains t he it em and a gun; I rem em ber t he second it em by associat ing it wit h a shoe; and so on down t he list . Com pile your checklist and writ e t he it em s next t o t he m nem onic skelet on. Put your m ost im port ant it em s first in t he list so t hat you'll rem em ber t o grab t hose even if you are int errupt ed and can't run t hrough your ent ire list . As always, link t he obj ect s you want t o rem em ber t o t he places in t he m nem onic skelet on using t he m ost vivid im ages you can. Here is m y act ual list :

1 : : gun : : m edicat ion I never leave t he house wit hout t his. I im agine a gun firing pills scat t ershot in all direct ions.

2 : : shoe : : keys I im agine t he Old Wom an Who Lived in a Shoe t rying t o open t he front door of her giant shoe wit h her keys while dozens of her children are t ugging on her skirt .

3 : : t ree : : cell phone I im agine a t ree wit h a 1920s- st yle varnished black t elephone handset and m out hpiece prot ruding from it . A pair of bells on t he t ree ring loudly.

4 : : door : : not ebook I im agine m y Moleskine Mini not ebook grown t o enorm ous size. The front cover swings open like a door wit h a huge I nner Sanct um creak of hinges. ( I never go anywhere wit hout m y cat ch [ Hack # 13] .)

5 : : hive : : wallet I im agine opening m y wallet and a swarm of bees flying out int o m y face. Argh!

6 : : st icks : : PDA I im agine using a scrat chy wooden st ick wit h leaves as a st ylus t o writ e on m y PDA. ( This also rem inds m e t o bring a st ylus, in case I forget in st ep 10.)

7 : : heaven : : eyeglasses I im agine m y eyeglasses shining, because t hey are m ade out of t he sam e nacreous m at erial as t he Pearly Gat es.

8 : : gat e : : handkerchief I im agine m y handkerchief t ied t o t he post of an ordinary garden gat e and flapping in t he wind like a flag as t he gat e swings back and fort h.

9 : : wine : : Swiss Arm y knife I im agine t hat one of t he blades of m y red Swiss Arm y knife is act ually a m iniat ure wine bot t le and t hat when I open it , a flood of red wine pours out .

10 : : hen : : pen I im agine t hat a hen is pecking at a bunch of t he four- color pens I use, which lie about on t he ground in abundance wit h som e PDA st yluses.

In Real Life I can honest ly say t hat in t he year or t wo I have been using t his t echnique, I have forgot t en part icular it em s on t he list only once or t wice, and t hat was m erely because I didn't run t hrough t he whole list as I was packing up. There was, however, one incident , where m y wife and I were lat e because I set m y fully packed bag down m om ent arily and forgot t o bring t he whole kit wit h m e! I 'm now so fam iliar wit h m y list t hat 10 brings pen t o m ind im m ediat ely rat her t han hen , and so on. Therefore, it 's been easy t o add t wo m ore it em s wit hout t hinking of addit ional m nem onics for t hem : 11, m y exoself [ Hack # 17] , and 12, a good book t o read. However, if I were going t o ext end m y checklist any m ore, I would cert ainly add m ore m nem onic pegs.

See Also

Am urse ( a.k.a. m an purse ) , such as t hat which I carry all m y gear in, is an essent ial m ini- hack in it self. Of course, wom en reading t his who've been carrying purses for years will t hink t hat m en like m e are a bit slow and wonder what business we have writ ing a book on m ent al perform ance. St ill, t he Slacker Manager blog has a great int ro t o t he m urse concept ; see ht t p: / / www.slackerm anager.com / slacker_m anager/ 2004/ 11/ m y_m urse.ht m l. I t 's also useful t o st ock bags for different purposes, such as school, work, and em ergencies. These work as a kind of ext ernal m em ory; you can j ust grab t hem and go.

Hack 2. Use the Number-Shape System

Associa t e n u m be r s w it h sh a pe s a n d u se t h e h u n t in g a n d ga t h e r in g fa cu lt ie s of you r pr im it ive a n ce st or s t o r e m e m be r 2 1 st - ce n t u r y da t a . I f you've learned how t o rem em ber 10 t hings t o bring when you leave t he house [ Hack # 1] , you've already learned t he num ber- rhym e syst em : associat ing num bers like 1 and 2 wit h words t hat rhym e wit h t hem , like gun and shoe, and using t hose associat ions as pegs on which t o hang it em s you wish t o rem em ber. The t radit ional num ber- shape syst em works in a sim ilar way. I nst ead of visualizing im ages whose nam es rhym e wit h t he nam es of num bers, however, you visualize shapes t hat look like t he num erals in quest ion. For exam ple, t he num eral 2 looks like a swan t o m any people, so you can use t he im age of a swan as a m nem onic peg. 1

In Action Table 1- 1 list s 10 digit s, along wit h som e shapes you can use t o rem em ber t hem . The Shape colum n illust rat es t he it alic words in t he Words colum n, t o show how t he associat ions arose.

Ta ble Cor r e spon din g n u m be r s, w or ds, a n d sh a pe s Number

Words

0

Black hole, donut , t ire

1

Candle , pencil

2

Swan

3

But t erfly , heart

4

Sailboat

5

Hook , pulley

6

Golf club, lasso, pipe

Shape

7

Axe , boom erang, scyt he

8

Hourglass, snowm an

9

Flag , t adpole

Feel free t o pick and choose, or devise your own shapes. I t 's m ost im port ant t o be consist ent so t hat when you want t o rem em ber what you associat ed wit h t he num ber 6, you don't wast e t im e t rying t o rem em ber whet her your m nem onic shape is a pipe, a lasso, a golf club, or som et hing t ot ally different .

How It Works Like t he brains of all anim als, t he hum an brain has a lot m ore experience wit h concret e shapes t han wit h abst ract num bers. For exam ple, t he decim al digit 0 was not even discovered unt il about 300 BC. 2 Our ancest ors used t heir senses t o learn m ore about t he world, find food, escape predat ors, and perform m any ot her essent ial t asks. These t asks were vit al t o our survival in an evolut ionary sense, so t he facult ies involved in processing sensory inform at ion were well developed, and t oday our brains st ill process t his kind of inform at ion t horoughly and efficient ly. Thus, by t urning num bers int o concret e shapes and m aking t hem even m ore im aginably vivid wit h m ot ion, hum or, sex, aggression, color, sm ell, t ouch, t ast e, and all t he ot her feat ures of t he real world t hat our prim at e brains evolved t o process, we're in effect wrapping t he num bers wit h m ent al frict ion t ape so t hat we can grasp t hem bet t er. Of course, it 's possible t o becom e int im at ely fam iliar wit h num bers in t heir own right [ Hack # 36] , and doing so will help you not only t o rem em ber t hem , but also t o get bet t er at m at h.

In Real Life Here is how you m ight use t he num ber shape syst em t o rem em ber a list of five it em s t o pick up at an office supply st ore. As is oft en t he case wit h im age- based m em ory syst em s, t he m ore vivid t he m ent al im age you can conj ure, t he easier it will be for you t o rem em ber.

1 : : candle : : a spindle of DVD- Rs I m agine a silvery DVD being played by a gram ophone wit h an upside- down candle for a needle, dripping hot wax ont o t he disc.

2 : : swan : : index cards I m agine a whit e swan whose wing feat hers are 3x5- inch index cards.

3 : : but t erfly : : print er paper I m agine a m ult icolored but t erfly get t ing st uck t o a piece of whit e print er paper and going

t hrough your print er. When it em erges in t he out put t ray, it peels away from t he paper and flaps int o t he dist ance.

4 : : sailboat : : four- color pens I m agine a sailboat whose m ast is a gigant ic four- color ballpoint pen. As t he sailboat t acks wit h t he wind, t he pen clicks and different colors em erge.

5 : : pulley : : m anila envelopes I m agine a huge pulley in t he warehouse at t he back of t he office supply st ore, swinging an enorm ous bundle of m anila envelopes, bound t oget her wit h m anila t wine. I oft en use t he num ber shape syst em t o m ake a quick shopping list when I have t o grab som e groceries on t he way hom e. I f you learn t his syst em , you'll probably develop m any applicat ions of your own, such as t aking not es on t he point s you need t o address when it 's your t urn t o speak in a m eet ing.

End Notes

1 . Ment at Wiki. " Num ber Shape Syst em ." ht t p: / / www.ludism .org/ m ent at / Num berShapeSyst em . 2 . Wikipedia. " 0 ( num ber) ." ht t p: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ 0_% 28num ber% 29.

See Also The num ber shape syst em is also useful when rem em bering num bers wit h t he Dom inic Syst em [ Hack # 6] . For exam ple, you can rem em ber a five- digit num ber t he usual way you rem em ber a four- digit num ber, but incorporat e a shape for t he fift h digit int o t he im age.

Hack 3. Make Lots of Little Journeys

M a k in g m e n t a l j ou r n e ys ( a lso k n ow n a s " m e m or y pa la ce s" ) is a u se fu l w a y t o r e m e m be r se qu e n t ia l in for m a t ion . I f you h a ve se ve r a l fa m ilia r sh or t j ou r n e ys h a n dy, you ca n be r e a dy t o r e m e m be r w h a t e ve r you n e e d t o, a t a n y t im e . H e r e 's h ow t o st a r t w it h t h e la you t of you r ow n h ou se or a pa r t m e n t . Pract ically every syst em of m nem onics relies on a series of pegs on which t o hang inform at ion. For exam ple, " Rem em ber 10 Things t o Bring" [ Hack # 1] associat es t he num bers 1 t hrough 10 wit h rhym ing obj ect s ( one = gun, t wo = shoe, t hree = t ree, and so on) and t hen hangs t he t hings t o rem em ber ( such as m edicat ion, keys, and cell phone) on t hese m nem onic pegs by put t ing t he peg obj ect s and t he t hings t o rem em ber in t he sam e vivid m ent al pict ure. An even older m nem onic t echniqueperhaps t he oldest uses places as m em ory pegs. By places , I m ean ordinary, concret e places, such as t he room s of your house or apart m ent . I f you m ent ally organize t hese places int o a sequence t hat is t he sam e every t im e, you will be able t o walk t hrough t he places in your m ind and ret rieve t he inform at ion you have st ored t here. 1 The Renaissance pract it ioners of t he ancient ars m em orat iva ( art of m em ory) referred t o such j ourneys as m em ory palaces . Orat ors in classical t im es would prepare t heir speeches by st ashing com plex im ages t hat represent ed t he t hings t hey want ed t o t alk about in t he loci ( places) of a rem em bered or im agined building, such as a palace. I n fact , t his pract ice is said t o be t he origin of t oday's expressions " in t he first place," " in t he second place," and so on.

In Action When you creat e your m ent al im ages, m ake t he im pressions of t he obj ect s you want t o rem em ber as vivid as possible, t o m ake t he ideas you want t o rem em ber st ick t o t he places of your j ourney. You can do t his in m any ways, such as by exaggerat ing t hem or using hum or, sex, bright colors, m ot ion, or anyt hing else t hat holds your at t ent ion. ( The word im pression com es from yet anot her classical m et aphor depict ing m em ories as t he m arks left by a st ylus on a wax t ablet , t he yellow legal pad of t he day. When you m ake im pressions on t he wax t ablet of your m ind, press down hard .2 ) To assem ble your first m em ory j ourney, use a place you know ext rem ely well; your hom e is a good exam ple. You can also use t he shops along a st reet where you walk every day or t he benches, brooks, and shady t rees of your favorit e park. Just m ake sure you can t race your j ourney from beginning t o end in your m ind's eye before you t ry t o use it as a m nem onic t ool. Aft er you m em orize one list of obj ect s wit h your j ourney, you can " wipe t he wax clean" and reuse t he j ourney by m ent ally walking it s lengt h and visualizing t he places as being em pt y of t he obj ect s you m em orized. Blow up t he obj ect s wit h dynam it e if you like. You m ight want t o creat e m ult iple j ourneys of different lengt hs, so you have one ready for any occasion. Then, if you need a j ourney longer t han any you have m em orized, you can link t wo or m ore j ourneys t oget her by st art ing one where t he last ended; im aginary j ourneys don't need t o obey real- world geography.

In Real Life

Here are t he first 10 places on m y first j ourney, wit h t ypical act ions envisioned for each. This j ourney is based on m y real- life apart m ent . Places 15 st art on t he right side of t he apart m ent ( as seen from t he st art of t he j ourney) . Aft er place 5 ( t he porch) , t he j ourney m akes a left t urn int o t he living room and doubles back so t hat places 110 m ake a horseshoe shape.

1. Bedroom Where I st art m y day.

2. Back bat hroom My first st op every m orning.

3. Front bat hroom Get som e clot hes out of t he dryer.

4. Com put er room Check m y em ail.

5. Porch Get a breat h of fresh air.

6. Living room Sit down on t he couch.

7. Dining room Have breakfast .

8. Kit chen Grab coffee t o go.

9. Ent ry Grab keys for t he car.

10. Out side On t o t he next j ourney? When I was reading t he " Fam ous Fort y" Oz books, st art ing wit h The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and running t hrough t he next 39 canonical books in t he series, I used pegs 140 of t he Dom inic Syst em [ Hack # 6] t o m em orize t heir t it les. Let 's use m y apart m ent j ourney t o m em orize t he t it les of Shakespeare's 10 t ragedies:

1. Bedroom : Tit us Andronicus A drill sergeant st anding on t he bed, wearing pant s m uch t oo sm all, is cursing Privat e Ronald Reagan roundly ( Tight - ass and Ronnie- cuss ) .

2. Back bat hroom : Rom eo and Juliet A t eenage boy and girl ( guess who) are necking in a bright red Alfa Rom eo sport s car in t he bat ht ub.

3. Front bat hroom : Julius Caesar An ancient Rom an m an sit s in t he bat ht ub sipping an Orange Julius drink and eat ing a Caesar salad.

4. Com put er room : Ham let Piglet ( t he charact er from Winnie- t he- Pooh ) is st randed on t he t op of m y com put er m onit or ( Piglet = Ham let ) .

5. Porch: Ot hello Two m en in Shakespearean garb are seat ed and playing t he board gam e Ot hello on t he porch t able.

6. Living room : Tim on of At hens There is a t iny baseball t eam on t he coffee t able. They are of At hens : t hey have long whit e beards and are declaim ing from scrolls.

7. Dining room : King Lear An old m an in a crown ( a king ) is seat ed at t he t able. He is leering at m e, elbowing m e in t he ribs, and winking.

8. Kit chen: Macbet h A gigant ic Mac com put er in t he sink st art s wit h a " bong! " sound and displays a beaut iful pict ure of Queen Elizabet h I ( Bet h ) .

9. Ent ry: Ant ony and Cleopat ra A wom an in ancient Egypt ian headgear ( Cleopat ra ) sit s in front of t he door, wrinkling her nose and picking anchovies ( Ant ony) off her pizza.

10. Out side: Coriolanus I find som e bright green herbs on t he ground. Feh! They're coriander ( cilant ro) , which I hat e. I wash out m y m out h wit h anise seed, which t ast es like licorice. Not ice t hat I used im ages t o rem ind m e of specific words in t he t it les of t he plays. Since I 'm already fam iliar wit h t he play t it les, t his should be enough t o rem ind m e of t hem . I f you don't already have a rough idea of t he t hings you're t rying t o m em orize, you m ight need t o m ake m ore det ailed im ages t hat are less am biguous, or piggyback anot her m em ory t echnique ont o

t his one. The im ages need not have a logical connect ion wit h t he m ent al locat ion where you place t hem , since t he places in t he j ourney are essent ially arbit rary, j ust like t he pegs in t he num ber rhym e syst em [ Hack # 1] . For exam ple, I don't have a Macint osh in m y kit chen sink, nor would I ever put one t here. Act ually, t hat very fact m akes t he placem ent of an im aginary Mac t here all t he m ore m em orable. Absurdit y is one of t he m any t echniques used t o m ake im ages vivid. I f you want t o rem em ber m ore play t it les, sim ply add m ore places t o t he j ourney. For exam ple, place 11 could be m y car and could hold t he first Shakespearean com edy, The Com edy of Errors . I could open m y car door out side and find t hat t he cont rols on m y dashboard are backward and upside down, which m akes m e laugh. I m aginary j ourneys can be ext ended indefinit ely, so aft er you m em orize all of Shakespeare's plays, you can m ove on t o t he works of ot her aut hors, or anyt hing else you want t o rem em ber.

Try t his t he next t im e you are shopping in a fam iliar place, such as t he usual place you buy groceries: m ent ally plot an efficient pat h t hrough t he st ore as a m em ory j ourney, t hen pick up what you need and go direct ly t o t he cashier. I f you norm ally browse and buy a lit t le t oo m uch, t his t echnique m ay suggest a different approach.

End Notes

1 . Ment at Wiki. " Mem ory Palace." ht t p: / / www.ludism .org/ m ent at / Mem ory Palace . 2 . Ment at Wiki. " Link Quickly." ht t p: / / www.ludism .org/ m ent at / LinkQuickly .

See Also The Am azing Mem ory Kit ( Duncan Baird) by Dom inic O'Brien is a useful collect ion of int eract ive t ools for t raining your m em ory. Am usingly, it also cont ains a sam ple m em ory j ourney for rem em bering Shakespeare's 10 t ragedies; I was unaware of t he exam ple while writ ing t his hack.

Hack 4. Stash Things in Nooks and Crannies

Syst e m a t ica lly pla ce in for m a t ion in t h e cor n e r s a n d w a lls of r oom s, a n d e x pa n d t h e ca pa cit y of you r m e m or y j ou r n e ys u p t o t e n fold. " Make Lot s of Lit t le Journeys" [ Hack # 3] explains how t o rem em ber inform at ion by associat ing it wit h places along t he way in an im aginary j ourney. ( I f you haven't read t hat hack, please read it now.) But each place on a m em ory j ourney cont ains ot her places: room s t ypically have four walls, four corners, a floor, and a ceiling, for a t ot al of 10 sublocat ions. I n ot her words, if you have already m em orized a j ourney t hrough a building, you can now m ake your m em ory j ourney hold 10 t im es as m any pieces of inform at ion. 1

In Action Scot t Hagwood, t he U.S. Grandm ast er of Mem ory, seem s t o have invent ed t he nooks- andcrannies hack. He used it t o break t he world record for color- sequence m em orizat ion for t he elect ronic gam e Sim on. The previous record had been 14 sequences, but Scot t was able t o play an ast onishing 31 sequencesall t hat t he m achine could offer. To do so, he used a m em ory j ourney and m ent ally st uffed t he corners and walls of his places wit h it em s represent ing t he colors he was t rying t o rem em ber, such as a yellow sun or green bouncy balls. Reconst ruct ing Hagwood's syst em from his int erviews is sim ple enough. 2,3 Hagwood's m ap for each room looks som et hing like Figure 1- 1.

Figu r e 1 - 1 . Th e n ook s a n d cr a n n ie s of H a gw ood's m e m or y j ou r n e y

The m ap in Figure 1- 1 assigns num bers t o t he following places:

1 . Near- left corner 2 . Left wall 3 . Far- left corner 4 . Far wall 5.

3. 4. 5 . Far- right corner 6 . Right wall 7 . Near- right corner 8 . Near wall/ ent rance t o room 9 . Floor 1 0 . Ceiling While t his m ight not be Hagwood's exact syst em , it 's t he one we'll use in t his hack.

In Real Life I n " Make Lot s of Lit t le Journeys" [ Hack # 3] , we used a m em ory j ourney t o recall Shakespeare's t ragedies. Suppose you want t o st ore m ore inform at ion about t he plays in t he sam e j ourney. You m ight associat e t he feat ures of t he plays wit h t he feat ures of t he room s in your m em ory j ourney in t his way:

1. Near- left corner Plot event 1.

2. Left wall Plot event 2.

3. Far- left corner Plot event 3.

4. Far wall Plot event 4.

5. Far- right corner Plot event 5.

6. Right wall Plot event 6.

7. Near- right corner Plot event 7.

8. Near wall/ ent rance t o room Plot event 8 ( clim ax) .

9. Floor Publicat ion dat e.

10. Ceiling Relat ed work. ( Many lat er aut hors have based books or plays on Shakespeare, j ust as Shakespeare derived his work from earlier aut hors.) You can t hink of t he floor and t he ceiling as special places wit hin t he room , so you can use t hem for special inform at ion about t he playin t his case, t he publicat ion dat e and a relat ed work. ( The ot her eight places are all t he sam e: slot s for plot elem ent s.) I f you were m em orizing t he periodic t able of elem ent s, you m ight use t he floor and ceiling for t wo key pieces of inform at ion: t he alphabet ic sym bol of t he elem ent ( such as Au for gold) , and it s at om ic num ber ( 79 ) . The rest of t he places could t hen be used for ot her det ails. Let 's t ry t he nooks- and- crannies hack t o m em orize t he det ails of Shakespeare's second t ragedy, Rom eo and Juliet . I n " Make Lot s of Lit t le Journeys" [ Hack # 3] , I associat ed t his play wit h t he back bat hroom of m y apart m ent . Now I will associat e t he feat ures of t he play wit h t he feat ures of t his room , in det ail:

1 . The Mont agues and Capulet s brawl ( in t he dogs' wat er dish) . 2 . Paris convinces Juliet 's parent s t o let her m arry him ( m opping his brow wit h m y t owel) . 3 . Rom eo falls in love wit h Juliet at a m asked ball. ( Their hair is sudsy wit h sham poo.) 4 . Rom eo and Juliet declare t heir love in t he balcony scene and secret ly m arry ( in t he bat ht ub) . 5 . A duel ensues in t he st reet , in which Tybalt kills Mercut io, and Rom eo t hen kills Tybalt . ( The guards wash away t he blood wit h wat er from t he shower.) 6 . Juliet quarrels wit h her fat her about Paris ( down in t he t oilet bowl) . 7 . Juliet t akes a sleeping pot ion t o feign deat h. ( She falls facedown int o t he sink.) 8 . Clim ax: Rom eo discovers t he drugged Juliet in a t om b; he kills Paris, who is m ourning her; he poisons him self; she awakes and st abs herself. ( All of t his occurs in t he doorway.) 9 . Published in 1594. ( I m age: Albert Einst ein ( AE = 15) , st anding on m y bat hroom rug, walks int o a red sandst one building wit h a t hud ( Nick Danger = ND = 94) .) 1 0 . The m usical West Side St ory . ( I m age: a m iniat ure version of t he scene from t he m ovie in which t he dancers split int o m any different colors, in t he light of t he heat lam p.) The m nem onic for t he publicat ion dat e is worked out using t he Dom inic Syst em [ Hack # 6] . The plot event s should not be hard t o visualize if you've seen t he play; ot herwise, you can use m nem onic t ricks, such as represent ing Paris wit h a m iniat ure Eiffel Tower, Mercut io wit h winged sandals like t hose of t he god Mercury, and so on. You can use t he nooks- and- crannies hack t o m em orize any inform at ion t hat can be present ed serially, from t he digit s of p , t o t he t elephone area codes of t he U.S. and Canada, t o t he nat ions of t he world in alphabet ical order. And if all of t hese exam ples leave you unim pressed, does t he word Vegas suggest anyt hing m ore t o your t ast e?

End Notes

1 . Ment at Wiki. " Nook And Cranny Met hod." ht t p: / / www.ludism .org/ m ent at / NookAndCrannyMet hod . 2 . Zasky, Jason. 2003. " Tot al Recall: Rem em bering t he 2003 USA Mem ory Cham pionship." Failure Magazine , March 2003. ht t p: / / www.failurem ag.com / arch_flop_t ot al_recall.ht m l . 3 . Gupt a, Sanj ay. 2005. " Myst ery of Mem ory." Transcript of CNN report . ht t p: / / www.bio.uci.edu/ public/ press/ 2005/ Myst eryMem ory.pdf .

Hack 5. Use the Major System

Th e M a j or Syst e m is t h e m ost com m on ly u se d se t of m n e m on ics. Th is cu st om M a j or Syst e m w ill h e lp you m e m or ize list s of u p t o 1 0 0 it e m s, a s w e ll a s cr e dit ca r d PI N s, ph on e n u m be r s, a n d t h e ot h e r n u m e r ic t r ivia of da ily life . The Maj or Syst em was int roduced in t he 17t h cent ury by St anislaus Mink von Wennsshein and was im proved in t he 18t h cent ury by Dr. Richard Grey.1 While t he Maj or Syst em is probably t he m ost est ablished m nem onic schem a, I prefer t he Dom inic Syst em [ Hack # 6] , invent ed by Dom inicO'Brien in t he 20t h cent ury. Nevert heless, you m ight find t hat t he Maj or Syst em works well for you, and knowing som et hing about it will cont ribut e t o your underst anding of advanced m nem onic t echniques.

In Action The Maj or Syst em uses peg words j ust like t he num ber- rhym e syst em [ Hack # 1] and num bershape syst em [ Hack # 2] . I nst ead of associat ing num bers wit h peg words based on rhym es or shapes, however, it assigns each digit a basic consonant al sound and builds up peg words from com binat ions of t hose consonant s. For exam ple, t he digit 3 is linked t o t he consonant M, and t he digit 2 is linked t o t he consonant N, so our Maj or Syst em list suggest s m oon for 32. The consonant assignm ent s are fairly arbit raryLewis Carroll cam e up wit h an alt ernat e set [ Hack # 9] t hat 's probably j ust as goodbut Table 1- 2 shows a st andard set of m nem onics you can use for t hese associat ions unt il t hey becom e second nat ure.

Ta ble N u m be r / le t t e r a ssocia t ion s Number

Letter

Association

0

S, Z, soft C

Z is t he first let t er of zero .

1

D, T, TH

The let t ers d and t have only one downward st roke.

2

N

The let t er N has t wo downward st rokes; it also looks like t he num eral 2 rot at ed 90 degrees.

3

M

The let t er M has t hree downst rokes; it also looks like t he num eral 3 rot at ed 90 degrees.

4

R

The let t er R is t he last let t er in four .

5

L

L is t he Rom an num eral for 50; also, a hum an hand wit h it s t hum b st uck out looks like an L.

6

J, SH, DG, soft G, CH as in cheese

J looks like 6 backward.

7

K, hard C, hard G, QU, CH as in loch

You can draw a K wit h t wo 7 charact ers.

8

F, V

A cursive, lowercase f looks like an 8 .

9

B, P

Ab looks like a 9 rot at ed 180 degrees; a P looks like a backward 9 .

Table 1- 3 shows t he Maj or Syst em peg word list for t he num bers 1 t o 100. I f you don't like t he words I use, you can use your own. Since your list will use your own m ent al connect ions, it m ight be even m ore effect ive for you. Just be consist ent , so you don't have t o grope t o rem em ber t he peg word for a part icular num ber.

Ta ble N u m be r / w or d a ssocia t ion s Number

Word

Number

Word

1

Tea, Tie

51

LaD, LiD

2

Noah

52

LioN

3

Ma

53

Lam B

4

eaR, heRo, oaR, Rye

54

LuRe

5

Law

55

LiLy

6

Shoe

56

LaSh, LeaSh, LeeCh

7

Key

57

LaKe, LocK, LoG

8

iVy

58

LaVa, LeaF

9

Bee, Pie

59

LiP

10

DiCe, ToeS

60

CheeSe

11

DaD, ToaD, ToT

61

SheeT

12

TiN

62

ChaiN

13

DaM, ToMb

63

ChiMe

14

TiRe

64

ChaiR, CheRry

15

TaiL, ToweL

65

JaiL

16

DiSh

66

Choo- Choo

17

TacK

67

ChalK

18

DoVe, TV

68

CheF

19

TaPe, TuB

69

ShiP

20

NoSe

70

CaSe

21

gNaT, NeT

71

CaT

22

NuN

72

CaN, CoiN

23

eNeMa

73

CoMb

24

NeRo

74

CaR

25

NaiL

75

CoaL

26

hiNGe, Not Ch

76

CaGe

27

NaG, NecK

77

CaKe, CoKe

28

kNiFe

78

CaFe, CoFfee, CaVe

29

kNoB

79

CaB, CoB

30

MiCe, MooSe

80

FeZ, VaSe

31

MaiD, MaT

81

VaT

32

MooN

82

FaN, PhoNe

33

MiMe, MuMm y

83

FoaM

34

MoweR

84

FuR

35

MaiL

85

FiLe

36

Mat Ch

86

FiSh

37

MaC, MuG

87

FoG

38

MaFia, MoVie

88

FiFe

39

MaP, MoP

89

VP ( such as Dick Cheney)

40

RiCe, RoSe

90

BuS

41

RaDio, RaT

91

BaT, BoaT

42

RaiN, RhiNo

92

BoNe

43

RaM

93

BoMb

44

RoweR

94

BeaR

45

RaiL, RoLl

95

BaLl, BowL

46

RoaCh

96

BeaCh

47

RacK, RaKe, RocK

97

BooK, PiG

48

RooF

98

BeeF

49

RoPe

99

BaBy

50

LaCe, LaSsie

100

DaiSieS

When you're convert ing num bers t o peg words and back, t here are som e sim ple rules t o follow: I gnore vowels. I gnore t he second consonant in double- consonant sounds. For exam ple, m um m y is 33, not 333, because t he m m is count ed as a single m . I gnore silent consonant s. For exam ple, neck is 27, not 277, because t he C does not

cont ribut e t o t he K sound.

To m ake t hese rules m ore obvious, Table 1- 3 capit alizes only t he consonant s being used t o form t he peg word. For exam ple, t he peg word for 32 is list ed as MooN .

Since t here are only a lim it ed num ber of possible words in English for each num ber, t he m nem onic list s for t he Maj or Syst em in m ost m em ory books t end t o be sim ilar. I consult ed t hree of t he books in m y collect ion 2,3,4 t o com pile t his list , t aking t he best from each and adding m y own words ( such as 42 = RaDio and 81 = VaT) when it seem ed useful. I followed several guidelines, which m ight int erest you if you want t o cust om ize it : I preferred nouns t o verbs and adj ect ives, because t hey are m ore easily visualized. I preferred concret e obj ect s t o abst ract obj ect s for t he sam e reason. I preferred m ore act ive, versat ile obj ect s ( 49 = RoPe, not RuBy) , dit t o. I t ried not t o int erfere wit h ot her m em ory syst em s in t his book ( for exam ple, delet ing 99 = PiPe because it m ight int erfere wit h 6 = pipe in t he num ber shape syst em ) or ot her Maj or Syst em it em s ( for exam ple, 95 = BeLl int erfered wit h 63 = ChiMe) .

In Real Life I f you have a credit card wit h t he num ber 4880 6630 6767 7584 ( t hese digit s were generat ed at random wit h t he dice- rolling applicat ion on m y PDA) , you m ight rem em ber t hem wit h t he words shown in Table 1- 4.

Ta ble Associa t ion s for a cr e dit ca r d n u m be r Number

Word

48

Roof

80

Vase

66

Choo- choo

30

Moose

67

Chalk

67

Chalk

75

Coal

84

Fur

But now you have a new problem : how are you going t o rem em ber t his arbit rary list of words, especially t he t wo sequent ial inst ances of chalk ? You can use t he following lit t le st orya kind of m em ory j ourney [ Hack # 3] t o st ring t hem

t oget her: A shingle falls off your roof and breaks a vase . A choo- choo of t he sort in a kiddie am usem ent park chugs up and t he conduct or get s out . He's a m oose ! He scolds you and t ries t o writ e you up wit h a piece of chalk , but his slat e is also m ade of chalk . ( How weird.) He bellows in frust rat ion and begins shoveling coal t o leave, but he get s soot y, and abashedly asks you t o brush out his fur . Wit h j ust a few m ent al rehearsals of t his st ory ( or t he equivalent for your own card) , you j ust m ight never forget your credit card num ber again. I f you act ually recall t he num ber a few t im es in t he bust le of real life, you'll begin t o rem em ber t he num ber direct ly and let t he st ory fade nat urally.

End Notes

1 . Buzan, Tony. 1989. Use Your Perfect Mem ory , Third Edit ion. Plum e. 2 . I bid. 3 . Lorayne, Harry. 2000. How t o Develop a Super Power Mem ory I nc.

. Frederick Fell Publishers,

4 . Trudeau, Kevin. 1995. Kevin Trudeau's Mega Mem ory . Quill/ William Morrow.

Hack 6. Use the Dominic System

Th e D om in ic Syst e m , in ve n t e d by W or ld M e m or y Ch a m pion D om in ic O'Br ie n , is a n e a sie r a lt e r n a t ive t o t h e M a j or Syst e m of m n e m on ics fou n d in m ost m e m or y book s. Dom inic O'Brien, World Mem ory Cham pion, can m em orize t he order of a full deck of playing cards in less t han a m inut e. To help him achieve am azing m em ory feat s like t his, he creat ed t he Dom inic Syst em of m nem onics. Som e people who find t he Maj or Syst em [ Hack # 5] espoused by m ost m em ory expert s t o be t oo dry and rest rict ive find t hey can st ick wit h t he Dom inic Syst em .

In Action The Dom inic Syst em uses an easy- t o- rem em ber num ber- t o- let t er conversion and t he init ials of m em orablepeople, as well as j ourneys t hat are like m em ory palaces [ Hack # 3] . As m any m nem onic syst em s do, t he Dom inic Syst em requires som e boot st rapping for you t o reach it s full pot ent ial. You will have t o spend a lit t le t im e and work t o m em orize t he st ruct ure of t he syst em , and t hat m ight seem a lit t le t edious. Your work will be rewarded, however, because t his basic work will enable you t o harness t he syst em 's full power for yourself. I t 's a lit t le like st art ing slow on t he t readm ill at t he gym if you want t o work up t o t aking long hikes in t he m ount ains. The num ber- t o- let t er 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 rem em ber t he num bers 00 t o 99 by linking t hem t o fam ous people and act ions t hat are charact erist ic of t hem . For exam ple, t he num ber 15 becom es AE. You m ight m ent ally connect t he init ials AE wit h Albert Einst ein and assign writ ing on a blackboard as Einst ein's

charact erist ic act ion. Sim ilarly, 80=HO=SantaClaus, laughing and holding his belly ( HO, HO, HO! ) . You can use m y list 2 or O'Brien's list , but t he syst em will work best if you use t he associat ions t hat are already in your own m ind. 3 Aft er you have t he t wo- digit associat ions firm ly in your m ind, you can rem em ber four- digit num bers by com bining t he person associat ed wit h t he first t wo digit s and t he act ion associat ed wit h t he second t wo digit s. Thus, 8015 can t ranslat e t o HOAE, which can be broken down t o HO and AE. To rem em ber it , t hink of Sant a Claus ( HO) wit h Albert Einst ein's act ion ( AE) : Sant a Claus writ ing on a blackboard. You can rem em ber five- digit num bers by adding a sym bol from t he num ber- shape syst em [ Hack # 2] t o t he im age, so t hat 80152 m ight be represent ed by Sant a writ ing on a blackboard wit h a swan ( 2) t ucked under one arm . You can rem em ber longer sequences of num bers ( such as m em orizing t he digit s of p ) , or sequences of any kind, by chunking t hem [ Hack # 11] and com m it t ing t hem t o t he places of a m em ory j ourney. Here's an exam ple of how t o m em orize a 12- digit num ber: t he m ont h t able used t o calculat e weekdays[ Hack # 43] . I will use m y personal associat ions for t he let t er com binat ions and fill in from ot her sources when m y own m nem onics are t oo idiosyncrat ic t o m ake sense t o m ost people. First , m ake one long list of t he m ont h num bers. Since none of t hem is larger t han 6, t hey are all one digit long, so we obt ain a 12- digit num ber: 033614625035

Next , break up t his list ( i.e., chunk it ) int o t hree four- digit num bers: 0336 1462 5035

Four- digit num bers are easy t o m em orize in t he Dom inic Syst em . Besides, it 's a fairly nat ural division; for exam ple, all t he m ont hs t hat end in - ber form t he last group.

Now, apply t he Dom inic Syst em m nem onics: 0336 = OCCS = Oliver Crom well/ C.S. Lewis 1462 = ADSB = Jesus ( AD) / Sandra Bullock in t he m ovie Speed 5035 = EOCE = Eeyore/ Clint East wood

Next , m ake an im aginary j ourney [ Hack # 3] by using t he first charact er associat ed wit h each num ber perform ing t he act ion associat ed wit h t he second charact er: Oliver Crom well ( OC) st eps int o t he m agic wardrobe and ends up in t he land of Narnia ( CS) . He wanders t hrough t he snow unt il he com es t o t he lam ppost , where he m eet s Jesus ( AD) , who leaps int o a bus and st art s driving away like crazy ( SB) . Jesus doesn't get far, however, because Eeyore ( EO) appears from behind a bush and lassos him like Clint East wood ( CE) . Did you find t his lit t le j ourney offensive or surreal? St rong em ot ional react ions help people rem em ber t hings, so out landish m ent al im ages can act ually be m ore effect ive t o use. Again, you should m ake your own list of charact ers for your own version of t he Dom inic Syst em , and t hen you can t une your list t o suit yourself.

How It Works The Dom inic Syst em is a com binat ion of t he innovat ive ( easier m nem onic alphabet , using people rat her t han inanim at e obj ect s because people are easier t o rem em ber, et c.) and t he t ried- and- t rue ( m em ory palaces, which go back t o classical t im es) . I t has a couple of advant ages over t he Maj or Syst em and it s derivat ives: The 1=A, 2=B, 3=C, and so on, Dom inic Syst em is easier t o learn t han t he Maj or Syst em 's m ore arbit rary 1=T/D/TH, 2=N, 3=M, et c. There is circum st ant ial evidence t hat t he Dom inic Syst em is also fast er and m ore powerful: Dom inic O'Brien becam e World Mem ory Cham pion using his syst em , a t it le t hat includes com pet it ions for speed in m em orizat ion. The fam ous people of t he Dom inic Syst em are com bined wit h t heir charact erist ic act ions in an easy, nat ural way, m aking num bers up t o four digit s long easy t o m em orize wit h a single im age. I f you can m em orize a four- digit num ber wit h t he Dom inic Syst em , you can m em orize 10,000 pieces of inform at ion, from 0000 t o 9999 [ Hack # 7] .

In Real Life As m y first t est of t he Dom inic Syst em , I used t he subset of num bers from 01 t o 40 t o m em orize t he t it les of a favorit e series of books, t he so- called Fam ous Fort y by L. Frank Baum and his successors, set in t he Marvelous Land of Oz. For exam ple, book 23 is Jack Pum pkinhead of Oz . The num ber 23 corresponds t o BC in m y personal Dom inic Syst em , for which t he person/ act ion pair was Thor, t he charact er from t he com ic st rip B.C. , riding his st one unicycle. Thus, t he im age I used t o rem em ber t his book was Jack Pum pkinhead riding a st one unicycle. Mem orizing t he t it les of t he Fam ous Fort y t ook about 45 m inut es, approxim at ely a t it le a m inut e. A m inut e is about as long as it t akes Dom inic O'Brien t o m em orize an ent ire shuffled deck of cards, so at t hat point I had a lot of room for im provem ent . These days, I can m em orize it em s several t im es fast er t han I could at t he beginningst ill not as fast as a World Mem ory Cham pion, but im proving. As it happened, I m ade a fruit ful m ist ake wit h t his t est . I was already fam iliar wit h t he m ore com m on Maj or Syst em , and I t hought t hat t he Dom inic Syst em 's num bers from 00 t o 99 were m eant t o be used as m nem onic pegs or places [ Hack # 3] , j ust like t he num bers in t he Maj or Syst em . I n fact , t he num bers are m ainly used t o encode num eric inform at ion; Dom inic him self would probably m em orize t he Fam ous Fort y wit h a m em ory j ourney. I 'm glad I m ade m y init ial m ist ake, t hough, because it led m e t o build on t he Dom inic Syst em t o const ruct t he Hot el Dom inic [ Hack # 7] , which t heoret ically enables you t o m em orize 10,000 it em s or m ore of inform at ion.

End Notes

1 . O'Brien, Dom inic. 1994. How t o Develop a Perfect Mem ory . Trafalgar Square. The canonical reference for t he Dom inic Syst em , and a m em ory classic. Unfort unat ely, it is out of print in hardcopy form , and t he last copy I spot t ed ( in 2004) cost about $150. Fort unat ely, it is available less expensively as an e- book here: ht t p: / / www.lybrary.com / index.ht m l?got o = books/ how_t o_develop_m em ory.ht m l. 2 . A file cont aining m y personal m nem onic pegs is available at

2. ht t p: / / ron.ludism .org/ m nem onics_public.t xt , including m y version of t he Dom inic Syst em for num bers 0099. Use t his only as an exam ple, since m any of t he nam es in t he list are idiosyncrat ic. Som e of t hem refer t o friends and fam ily, and I have sim ply rem oved t hem in t he public version and replaced t hem wit h t he word PERSONAL . 3 . Blank Dom inic Syst em t em plat e for your own charact ers. ht t p: / / ron.ludism .org/ dom inic_t em plat e.t xt .

See Also Mat t Vance has creat ed a page ( ht t p: / / www.m inezone.org/ wiki/ MVance/ Dom inicSyst em ) t hat list s m ult iple possible charact ers for each num ber from 0099. This is a good place t o st art when you const ruct your own list . " Visit t he Hot el Dom inic" [ Hack # 7] .

Hack 7. Visit the Hotel Dominic

Ex pa n d t h e ba sic D om in ic Syst e m list of 1 0 0 t o h old 1 0 ,0 0 0 it e m s or m or e of infor m a t ion. You m ight need t o m em orize a t able or list wit h m ore t han 100 elem ent s, such as t he periodic t able of elem ent s, but find t hat you can't do it wit h only t he 100 num bered it em s of t he Dom inic Syst em [ Hack # 6] . You could use a m em ory j ourney [ Hack # 3] , but how are you going t o rem em ber t hat elem ent 52 is t ellurium wit hout visit ing t he 51 previous room s first ? This m em ory hack, which I call t he Hot el Dom inic ( in honor of Dom inic O'Brien, t he invent or of t he Dom inic Syst em of m nem onics upon which it 's based) , is bot h random access ( like a CD, as opposed t o a casset t e t ape) and indexed by num ber, m aking it ideal for rem em bering long, num bered list s and t ables, or m any sm aller list s, or bot h: up t o 10,000 basic it em s. Each basic it em can, in effect , be elaborat ed wit h nooks and crannies [ Hack # 4] , creat ing t he pot ent ial for m any m ore t han 10,000 it em s.

In Action You can t hink of t he Hot el Dom inic as a building wit h 100 floors, num bered from 00 t o 99, each cont aining 100 room s, also num bered from 00 t o 99. I n short , it 's like a grid wit h 100 rows and 100 colum ns. The first room on Floor 95 would t hus be num bered 9500. The next room along t he hall would be 9501, t hen 9502, and so on. Figure 1- 2 shows t he first few room s from t he bot t om floors of t he Hot el Dom inic, st art ing wit h t he first floor, Floor 00. The hot el cont inues bot h up and t o t he right .

Figu r e 1 - 2 . A fe w r oom s in t h e H ot e l D om in ic

I f you need t o m em orize a list wit h m ore t han 100 num bered it em s, allocat e an em pt y sect ion of t he m at rix t o t hat list . For exam ple, t o m em orize t he periodic t able of elem ent s, you could arbit rarily allocat e room s 8001 t o 8116. Room 8001 would cont ain inform at ion about t he first elem ent , hydrogen, and 8116 would cont ain inform at ion about t he elem ent wit h t he highest known at om ic num ber, ununhexium ( elem ent 116) . 1 I f you have m em orized t he 100 people/ act ion pegs of t he Dom inic Syst em , you already have everyt hing you need t o m em orize t he 10,000 room s of t he hot el. Room 8001 in t he Hot el Dom inic would be represent ed by what ever com binat ion of person and act ion you have designat ed for HOOA. Four- digit num bers are easily m em orized wit h t he Dom inic Syst em , so all

you need t o do is associat e hydrogen wit h t he Dom inic m nem onic for t his num ber. 2

In Real Life Here's an exam ple of how t o m em orize t he first elem ent in t he periodic t able, hydrogen. As m ent ioned in t he previous sect ion, place hydrogen in Room 8001 of t he Hot el Dom inic ( in ot her words, Floor 80, Room 01) . The num ber 80, as m ent ioned in " Use t he Dom inic Syst em " [ Hack # 6] , is represent ed by Sant a Claus ( 80=HO, which rem inds us of Sant a's HO, HO, HO) . I n m y personal list , 01 is t hat guy on t he oat m eal box ( 01=OA=oats) , and his charact erist ic act ion is offering a bowl of oat m eal. Thus, 8001 is represent ed by Sant a Claus offering m e a bowl of oat m eal. To link hydrogen t o t he pict ure, I im agine t hat t he oat m eal is bubbling, and lit t le bubbles of hydrogen gas are escaping from it and burst ing int o flam e. I t 's t hen easy t o rem em ber ot her inform at ion about t he elem ent , such as it s chem ical sym bol, H. I visualize a shiny H on Sant a's forehead, as on t he forehead of t he " holographic" charact er Rim m er in t he TV series Red Dwarf . I im agine t hat t he shiny H reflect s t he flam es from t he exploding hydrogen bubbles, m aking it vivid and easier t o rem em ber. Ot her feat ures of t he charact er, t he charact er's act ion, and t he room could be used t o st ore ot her inform at ion about hydrogen, such as it s at om ic weight ( 1.008) and t he year it was discovered ( 1766) , bot h of which are four- digit num bers and also easily encoded wit h t he Dom inic Syst em . I t 's not as easy as playing foosball or wat ching a DVD, and experience shows t hat you'll need t o refresh your m em ory periodically. However, " Dom inat e Your Mem ory" [ Hack # 8] provides a script t o print up chunks of your personal m em ory hot el for easy review, and if you're st udying for your chem ist ry exam or going on Jeopardy! , a m nem onic t echnique like t he Hot el Dom inic beat s rot e drill t echniques and m akes t hem cry.

You can use t he Hot el Dom inic t o m em orize list s short er t han 100 it em s, t oo. For inst ance, you can t uck t he Universal Declarat ion of Hum an Right s ( which has 30 art icles) int o room s 81718200 and st ill leave plent y of room for new chem ical elem ent s t o be discovered.

End Notes

1 . Periodic Table Navigat or. WebElem ent s. ht t p: / / www.webelem ent s.com / webelem ent s/ elem ent s/ t ext / periodic- t able. 2 . This is sim ilar t o t he way you would use Tony Buzan's SEM3 ( Self- Enhancing Mast er Mem ory Mat rix) syst em t o m em orize t he periodic t able. I n fact , t he Hot el Dom inic is an at t em pt t o do wit h t he Dom inic Syst em what Buzan has done wit h t he Maj or Syst em [ Hack # 5] in SEM3 : ht t p: / / www.ludism .org/ m ent at / Sem Cubed. However, t he Hot el Dom inic is nonpropriet ary and arguably easier t o use.

See Also For m ore inform at ion on SEM3 , consult Tony Buzan's books, especially Mast er Your Mem ory .

Hack 8. Dominate Your Memory

Use a Pe r l scr ipt t o for m u la t e it e m s t h a t m a t ch t h e 1 0 ,0 0 0 r oom n u m be r s of t h e H ot e l D om in ic. Th e n , pr in t t h e list a s a n a id for m e m or iza t ion a n d r e vie w . " Visit t he Hot el Dom inic" [ Hack # 7] m ent ions a Perl script t hat will m ake m em orizing large chunks of inform at ion wit h t he Hot el Dom inic m et hod m uch easier and will also help you refresh your m em ory periodically. This hack cont ains t hat script . Wit h t his new script , dom inat e , you will be able t o print out as large a swat h of t he Hot el Dom inic as you wishhundreds or t housands of room sand m ark it up wit h a pen or pencil, assigning each it em you want t o rem em ber t o a room . Then you will be able t o review your m arked- up version of t he hot el at leisure and com m it t he it em s t o m em ory.

The Code Place t he following Perl script in a t ext file called dom inat e : #!/usr/bin/perl -w $in_file = $ARGV[0]; $domstart = $ARGV[1]; $domend = $ARGV[2]; if ($domstart > $domend) { die "Start number not less than or equal to end number\\n"; } open (IN_FILE, "< ./$in_file") or die "Couldn't open input file: $!\\n"; $index = 0; while (defined ($line = )) { $line =~ /([^;]*)\\:([^;\\n]*)/g; $domarray[$index][0] = $1; $domarray[$index][1] = $2; $index++; } close IN_FILE; for ($domnum = $domstart; $domnum < = $domend; $domnum++) { $domstring = sprintf "%0004.0d", $domnum; print "$domstring: "; $domstring =~ /(\\d\\d)(\\d\\d)/g; print "$domarray[$1][0]\\,$domarray[$2][1]\\n\\n"; }

You will need t o creat e your own dat afile t hat cont ains your personal charact ers and act ions t hat m at ch t he

num bers in t he Dom inic Syst em [ Hack # 6] . I t m ust st art wit h t he charact er and act ion for 00 and cont inue t hrough t he charact er and act ion for 99. Each line m ust cont ain t he charact er nam e, followed by a colon, t hen a space, and t hen t he charact er's t ypical act ion. Colons m ust be used only t o separat e charact ers and act ions; t hey cannot appear anywhere else in t he file. I f your t ext edit or has a line num ber feat ure, you can use it t o keep t rack of where you are in t he file, such as line 1, which should cont ain t he m nem onic for 00, or line 100, which should cont ain t he m nem onic for 99. Here are t he last 29 lines of m y dom inat e dat afile, dom inic.dat , corresponding t o it em s 7199: $tail -29 dominic.dat

Ray Charles: playing piano and singing ("GeorgiA") George W. Bush: clearing brush in Crawford, TX Graham Chapman: throwing open windows and exposing himself (scene from _The Life of Brian_) Gandhi: spinning on a wheel General Electric (a robot in uniform): saluting Smeagol-Gollum (_The Lord of the Rings_): falling into lava with the One Ring Gandalf the Grey (_The Lord of the Rings_): barring the way with staff George Harrison: tapping foot and playing guitar Ignatius Loyola: flogging himself (iGNatius) Santa Claus: laughing until belly shakes (HO HO HO!) Julia Sweeney: dressing gender-ambiguously (_God Said HA!_) Humphrey Bogart: pulling the brim of his hat low Hagbard Celine (_Illuminatus!_): piloting golden submarine Howard Dean: whooping Isaac Newton (long white wig): releasing helium balloons (Newtonmas, HE HE HE!) Homer Simpson (_The Simpsons_): gobbling donuts Mercury (Greek god): flying with winged sandals (Hg = chemical symbol for mercury) Hermann Hesse (author of _The Glass Bead Game_): telling beads Han Solo (_Star Wars_): firing blaster Dr. No: manipulating controls in his secret headquarters Neil Armstrong: stepping onto Moon Norman Bates: stabbing someone repeatedly David Sedaris (author): chasing rolling coins down the street (North Carolina) Nick Danger (Firesign Theatre, Phil Proctor): walking into a red sandstone building (oof! Neelix (_Star Trek_): cooking alien food Hiro Protagonist (_Snow Crash_): cutting someone to bits with a katana (Neal Stephenson, author) Morpheus (_The Sandman_): strewing sand (Neil Gaiman, author) Nathaniel Hawthorne: tearing open his shirt to reveal a scarlet letter Nick Nolte: falling into pool (scene from _Down and Out in Beverly Hills_)

Running the Hack

I n " Visit t he Hot el Dom inic" [ Hack # 7] , I suggest ed m em orizing t he Universal Declarat ion of Hum an Right s 1 by placing it aft er t he periodic t able of elem ent s in t he Hot el Dom inic. That hack placed t he periodic t able of elem ent s in t he hot el running from 8001 t o 8170, wit h t he 30 art icles of t he declarat ion running from room 8171 t o 8200. However, since Sant a ( 80=HO!) is easier for m ost people t o visualize t han Julia Sweeney ( 81=HA!) , for purposes of illust rat ion only, we'll place t he 30 art icles in room s 8071 t o 8100. ( Of course, you can place t hem anywhere you wish.)

See t he " How t o Run t he Program m ing Hacks" sect ion of t he Preface if you need general inst ruct ions on running Perl script s.

I f you have Perl inst alled on your syst em , t o print out t he " inhabit ant s" of t hese 30 room s, save t he dom inat e script and t he dom inic.dat file in t he sam e direct ory, and t hen run dom inat e by t yping t he following com m and wit hin t hat direct ory. The first argum ent should be t he nam e of t he dat afile ( in t his case, dominic.dat) , t he second argum ent should be t he st art ing room ( 8071) , and t he t hird argum ent should be t he ending room ( 8100) : perl dominate dominic.dat 8071 8100

I f you're on a Linux or Unix syst em , you m ight also be able t o use t he following short cut : ./dominate dominic.dat 8071 8100

The following is a set of result s from an act ual dom inat e run: $ ./dominate dominic.dat 8071 8100 8071: Santa Claus, playing piano and singing ("GeorgiA") 8072: Santa Claus, clearing brush in Crawford, TX 8073: Santa Claus, throwing open windows and exposing himself (scene from _The Life of Brian_) 8074: Santa Claus, spinning on a wheel 8075: Santa Claus, saluting 8076: Santa Claus, falling into lava with the One Ring 8077: Santa Claus, barring the way with staff 8078: Santa Claus, tapping foot and playing guitar 8079: Santa Claus, flogging himself (iGNatius) 8080: Santa Claus, laughing until belly shakes (HO HO HO!) 8081: Santa Claus, dressing gender-ambiguously (_God Said HA!_) 8082: Santa Claus, pulling the brim of his hat low 8083: Santa Claus, piloting golden submarine 8084: Santa Claus, whooping 8085: Santa Claus, releasing helium balloons (Newtonmas, HE HE HE!) 8086: Santa Claus, gobbling donuts 8087: Santa Claus, flying with winged sandals (Hg = chemical symbol for mercury) 8088: Santa Claus, telling beads 8089: Santa Claus, firing blaster 8090: Santa Claus, manipulating controls in his secret headquarters 8091: Santa Claus, stepping onto Moon 8092: Santa Claus, stabbing someone repeatedly 8093: Santa Claus, chasing rolling coins down the street (North Carolina) 8094: Santa Claus, walking into a red sandstone building (oof!) 8095: Santa Claus, cooking alien food 8096: Santa Claus, cutting someone to bits with a katana (Neal Stephenson, author) 8097: Santa Claus, strewing sand (Neil Gaiman, author) 8098: Santa Claus, tearing open his shirt to reveal a scarlet letter 8099: Santa Claus, falling into pool (scene from _Down and Out in Beverly Hills_) 8100: Julia Sweeney, knocking something over ("Oh Oh!")

Your dom inat e script will print a double- spaced list so t hat you have room t o annot at e it by hand.

In Real Life To rem em ber t he first five art icles of t he Universal Declarat ion of Hum an Right s, you m ight annot at e t hem

as follows, wit h a det ailed visualizat ion and a paraphrase of t he relevant art icle:

8071: Sant a Claus, playing piano and singing ( " GeorgiA" ) Two ident ical Sant as sit side by side on a piano bench, each playing half t he piano and singing in chorus. ( Art icle 1: All hum an beings are born free and equal, and t hey should act in a spirit of brot herhood.)

8072: Sant a Claus, clearing brush in Crawford, Texas

Sant a is clearing brush in Crawford, knocking down old fences dividing people. ( Art icle 2: Everyone is ent it led t o all t he right s and freedom s in t he Declarat ion, wit hout any kind of dist inct ion.)

8073: Sant a Claus, t hrowing open windows and exposing him self ( scene from The Life of Brian) Sant a t hrows open his windows and exposes him self t o a deat h squad. Rat - a- t at - t at ! He slam s t he windows shut . Whew! The windows are arm ored. ( Art icle 3: Everyone has t he right t o life, libert y, an securit y of person.)

8074: Sant a Claus, spinning on a wheel Sant a is chained t o a spinning wheel and forced t o spin, but he breaks his chains t rium phant ly. ( Art icle 4: No one shall be held in slavery.)

8075: Sant a Claus, salut ing

Sant a is being t ort ured on t he rack; one of his elves frees him , and he salut es his liberat or. ( Art icle 5 No one shall be t ort ured or subj ect ed t o cruel, inhum an, or degrading punishm ent .)

End Notes

1 . Universal Declarat ion of Hum an Right s. ht t p: / / www.un.org/ Overview/ right s.ht m l .

See Also The dom inat e script will also work for Tony Buzan's Maj or- Syst em - based SEM 3 if you feed it t he right dat a. For m ore inform at ion on SEM3 , consult Tony Buzan's books, especially Mast er Your Mem ory ( David & Charles) .

Hack 9. Memorize Numbers with Carroll's Couplets

You ca n u se a r h ym in g syst e m of m n e m on ics by Le w is Ca r r oll, a u t h or of t h e im m or t a l " Alice " book s a n d m u ch n on se n se poe t r y, t o r e m e m be r da t e s, ph on e n u m be r s, a n d ot h e r n u m e r ic da t a . I n t he 1870s, Lewis Carroll devised a m nem onic syst em for num bers t hat he called t he Mem oria Technica , aft er an earlier syst em . Carroll's syst em is lit t le rem em bered by us post m oderns. Like t oday's m ore com m on Maj or Syst em [ Hack # 5] , it relies on convert ing num bers int o consonant s and filling t hem wit h vowels t o m ake words; unlike t he Maj or Syst em , it uses rhym ing couplet s t o help you rem em ber t he words t hat are creat ed, inst ead of sim ply having you rem em ber t hem " naked," and in t his sense it is an advance on t he form er.

I f you already know t he Maj or Syst em consonant s, you could probably subst it ut e t hem for Carroll's wit hout t oo m uch t rouble.

In Action First , you need t o m em orize t he num ber- t o- consonant conversions shown in Table 1- 5, which provides m nem onics for rem em bering t he m nem onics.

Ta ble N u m be r - t o- con son a n t con ve r sion s First consonant

Number

Second consonant

Mnemonic

1

B

C

First t wo consonant s in alphabet

2

D

W

Duo; t Wo

3

T

J

Tres ( Spanish) ; see following not e for an explanat ion for J

4

F

Q

Four; Quat t uor ( Lat in)

5

L

V

L st ands for 50 ; V st ands for 5 ( Rom an num erals)

6

S

X

SiX

7

P

M

sePt eM ( Lat in)

8

H

K

Huit ( French) ; oKt o ( Greek)

9

N

G

NiNe; g looks like 9

0

Z

R

ZeRo

Carroll said his int ent was t o provide one com m on and one uncom m on consonant for each num ber. He was a polyglot , so m any of t he m et am nem onics involve num ber words in ot her languages; however, t he only one t hat really doesn't m ake any sense is J for 3 . Carroll said it was t he only consonant left aft er he filled in t he rest of t he t able.

The next st ep is t o convert t he num bers you are t rying t o rem em ber t o a word or words and t o m ake t hem t he last part of a rhym ing couplet . Carroll gives t he following exam ple t o rem em ber 1492, t he year Colum bus first cam e t o Am erica. First , drop t he 1 from 1492 ; it 's obvious Colum bus didn't sail in 492 or 2492. Next , convert 492 t o a word using eit her of t he pair of let t ers associat ed wit h each digit , like t his: As it happens, t he let t ers in t he second row ( FND) will form t he word found nicely, but som e ot her com binat ion m ight have been used, such as QND for queened ( as in " The pawn was queened when it reached t he eight h row" ) . Carroll writ es: The poet ic facult y m ust now be brought int o play, and t he following couplet will soon be evolved: " Colum bus sailed t he world around, Unt il Am erica was F O U N D." 1 Prest o! Convert FOUND back t o FND by ext ract ing t he vowels; t hen convert t hat t o 492 , and you have it .

In Real Life Carroll m akes rem em bering num bers wit h rhym ing couplet s seem as easy as falling off a bicycle ( t hey say you never forget how) . But Carroll was an Oxford don, a m at hem at ician, and a gift ed poet . How easy is it for us t o " bring our poet ic facult ies int o play?" I will now dem onst rat e t he use of t he m et hod t o rem em ber t he phone num bers of Powell's Cit y of Books in Port land, Oregon ( m y favorit e bookst ore; visit it if you get a chance) and t he Seat t le branch of I kea ( where I do have t o go periodically) . The phone num ber for Powell's Cit y of Books is ( 800) 878- 7323. We'll drop t he t oll- free 800 area code as being obvious, j ust as Carroll did wit h t he 1 in 1492 . That leaves 878- 7323. Using t he m nem onics shown in Table 1- 5, we can convert t he phone num ber t o let t ers, like t his: From t hese pairs of let t ers, we choose seven consonant s t hat can form words: HMKMTWT And t hen t he words t hem selves: HAMMOCK MY TWI T Not e t hat I 'm t reat ing MM as a single 7 and CK as j ust K. I learned t his consonant - m elding

t rick from t he Maj or Syst em [ Hack # 5] ; Carroll doesn't m ent ion it . I f you really do have a num ber wit h a double digit , such as 77 ( MM) , in it , eit her put a vowel bet ween t he consonant s you use ( as wit h MOM) or use t wo separat e consonant s ( such as MP, as in lum p ) . Also, not e t hat I had half an idea of what t he final rhym e would look like when I select ed t he let t ers; as soon as I saw HMK, I t hought of m yself com ing hom e from Powell's wit h an arm load of books and lying down in a ham m ock t o read t hem . The final result ? Arm s full of books, but you don't m ind a bit ? Lie down and read in t he HAMMOCK, MY TWI T! Now, for t he I kea Seat t le st ore, whose phone num ber is ( 425) 656- 2980. Again, I can om it t he area code, because I know where t he st ore is and what it s area code is likely t o be. That leaves m e wit h 656- 2980. Again, using t he m nem onics shown in Table 1- 5, we can convert t o let t ers, as shown here: From t hese pairs of let t ers, I select : SVSWNKR SAVES A WANKER I t hought about rhym ing wanker wit h t anker , anchor , and Angkor all suggest ive of t he global reach of I nt er I KEA Syst em s BVbut all t he couplet s I cam e up wit h were t oo long. Event ually, t hough, I devised t his dit t y: Look at all t he cash and rancor That I kea SAVES A WANKER! Rude, eh? Don't worry; t hat m akes it easier t o rem em ber. Neit her of t hese t wo rhym es t ook longer t han a few m inut es t o creat e. However, t hey have st uck in m y m em ory, suggest ing t hat you use t his m et hod for dat a t hat 's im port ant t o you, t hat you want t o ret ain, and t hat you don't m ind spending a lit t le t im e learning. Carroll him self used his syst em t o rem em ber dat es associat ed wit h various Oxford colleges, am ong ot her t hings; he would t rot out t he dat es when showing guest s around Oxford. Apparent ly, he used it t o m em orize logarit hm s as well. A sim ilar principle is at work in t he m nem onic parody t echnique [ Hack # 10] , which you can use t o rem em ber m any m ore kinds of inform at ion t han num bers.

End Notes

1 . Collingwood, St uart Dodgson. The Life and Let t ers of Lewis Carroll . Proj ect Gut enberg. ht t p: / / www.gut enberg.org/ dirs/ 1/ 1/ 4/ 8/ 11483/ 11483- h/ 11483- h.ht m . ( This biography by his nephew includes Mem oria Technica m at erial in Chapt er 7.)

See Also Facsim ile of a handwrit t en Mem oria Technica m onograph by Carroll ( ht t p: / / elect ricpen.org/ CarrollMem oriaTechnica1.j pg) . Takahashi, Hisako. " Mem oria Technica JaponicaA St udy of Mnem onics" ( ht t p: / / users.lk.net / ~ st epanov/ m nem o/ t akahae.ht m l) .

Hack 10. Tune In to Your Memory

Tu r n t h a t son g st u ck in you r h e a d in t o a pow e r fu l t ool t o h e lp you r e m e m be r w h a t you le a r n ! Th is h a ck w or k s e spe cia lly w e ll if you h a ve a list of t h in gs t o m e m or ize . I t 's com m on for people t o hear a part icularly cat chy t une and hum it in t heir head for hours, or som et im es days. While t his phenom enon can be annoying, it can also be used as a great t ool for m em orizing inform at ion. Making up a song or poem about a t opic can be an ext rem ely effect ive way t o rem em ber dat es, list s of it em s, event s and st ories, and m any ot her t hings. This hack works in t hree ways t o st ick inform at ion in your m ind. First , hanging inform at ion on a m elody or rhym e schem e t hat you already know helps piggyback new inform at ion on inform at ion t hat you've already acquired. Second, rem em bering t he rhyt hm of a t une or one or t wo rhym ing lines can help boot st rap your m em ory; bringing one t o m ind will oft en bring up t he rest of t he associat ed inform at ion. Third, t he act ive process of fit t ing t he inform at ion int o t he t une causes you t o concent rat e on t he inform at ion and t urn it over in your m ind, which also helps it t o st ick t here. There are a few different t ypes of learning songs, and som e m ay work bet t er t han ot hers, depending on your own m ent al m akeup or t he inform at ion you're t rying t o m em orize. Aparody is a song writ t en using an exist ing song's t une, oft en sat irizing or m aking fun of som et hing. The parody m ight or m ight not play on t he t hem e of t he original song, but t he new words oft en follow a rhym e or phonet ic schem e sim ilar t o t he original lyrics. They are also generally writ t en based on a popular song rat her t han a folk or t radit ional t une. Mat ching t he inform at ion you're t rying t o m em orize t o a song you already know, by t hem e or som e ot her associat ion, can furt her help you t o rem em ber t he inform at ion. I f you need t o learn a st ory, such as an event in hist ory, put t ing t he st ory t o m usic wit h a st ory song will help you rem em ber it . This hack has been used by people around t he world for t housands of years, of course. St ory songs are oft en sim ilar t o parodies, but m ay be m ore freewheeling and nonsat irical, and will probably use an original t une or t radit ional/ folk t une. List songs sim ply put a series of inform at ion t o m usic or rhyt hm . They can be t ricky t o learn, depending on your list , but t hey can also be incredibly effect ive. List songs m ay t ake som e t im e t o m em orize, but you won't soon forget t hem , and t hey are oft en fast er t o writ e t han t he ot her t ypes. The keys t o writ ing and learning a list song are rhym e and repet it ion.

In Action To writ e a parody, begin wit h a t opic you want t o rem em ber. Next , choose a popular song you know well and rem em ber easily, or one t hat sounds like a word in your t opic. This is best if you can t ransform t he original lyrics int o lyrics about your t opic by changing only a few choice words. For exam ple, if you're writ ing a song about baboons, pick an original song about a balloon, saloon, or som et hing else t hat rhym es. How about " Up, up, and away, wit h m y beaut iful baboon" ? Making hum orous or absurd m ent al im ages m akes t hings easier t o rem em ber, and when you're writ ing som et hing funny, writ ing is a lot m ore fun. Oft en, once you st art , t he lyrics fall int o place and you're laughing as you t hink of t he next line. Cont inue working your inform at ion or st ory int o t he song unt il you get everyt hing in, adding m ore verses if necessary.

Writ ing a st ory song t o an original t une t akes a cert ain kind of t alent t hat t he average person m ay or m ay not feel com fort able wit h. I t 's perfect ly OK t o use a t radit ional song here; it 's also fine if your original m elody isn't award- wort hy, as long as you can rem em ber it . I f you choose a folk t une, you can eit her use t he original lyrics as a base, as you would wit h a parody, or writ e your own from scrat ch. I f you are using an original t une, you will have no base lyrics t o work from , but com ing up wit h your own lyrics can be half t he fun. I t can also m ake t he m em ory st ronger if you t ake t im e t o craft all of t he lyrics. Take t he t im e t o m ake it rhym e, t oo; rhym e and m et er ( m et er is t he rhyt hm of t he words, as in poet ry) are im port ant t o any song and will cert ainly help em bed it int o your m ind. ( Com pare Lewis Carroll's couplet s [ Hack # 9] , which use a sim ilar principle.) List songs are oft en t he easiest t o com pose. First , writ e out a list of inform at ion you'd like t o m em orize. This will give you a ready list when you need t o pick t he right word t o rhym e or fit t he m et er. Next , find a t une t hat has eit her verses or repet it ive sect ions you can repeat enough t im es t o include your ent ire list . St art t o sing t he t une for your chosen song, and inst ead of t he words, sing t he list . You will probably have t o add connect ing words here and t here and m aybe at t he end of lines t o help t he rhym e. I f you can m ake t he words on your list fit int o t he rhym e, however, it 's m ore powerful. Making t he list alphabet ical can help you rem em ber what com es next in t he song. This works especially well if you have at least one word on your list for m ost let t ers of t he alphabet ( if not every one) , such as t he nam es of t he st at es. You can also group inform at ion by geography ( if you're m em orizing count ries in Africa, for exam ple) or any ot her way t hat m akes sense; t his will aid your m em ory, t oo. I n all cases, physically writ ing or t yping your work will help st ick t he inform at ion in your m ind. Also, t he m ore fam iliar your fram ework song or poem is, t he easier it will be t o rem em ber it s new words.

In Real Life Parodies are part icularly effect ive for rem em bering a group of relat ed inform at ion or a st ory. The following parody, writ t en by t eenage girls, is not a m nem onic, but it 's a good exam ple of how t o writ e a parody. " Negligee" is t he st ory of a wom an who buys an unfort unat e piece of lingerie. I t uses t he t une t o t he Beat les' " Yest erday." I f you were a child wit h access t o a t elevision in t he '70s or '80s, you are probably fam iliar wit h Schoolhouse Rock . The producers of t hese anim at ed short s, which were shown bet ween cart oons on net work TV Sat urday m orning program m ing, knew well t he t eaching power of st ory songs. These songs, wit h accom panying anim at ion, t aught science, m at h, hist ory, and English language skills t o original cat chy t unes, from " Conj unct ion Junct ion" t o " My Hero Zero" t o " The Pream ble" ( which set t he pream ble of t he Declarat ion of I ndependence t o m usic) . Many ot her children's TV shows have also used t his t echnique, not ably Sesam e St reet ; it s efficacy is well docum ent ed. The cont em porary band They Might Be Giant s have recorded m any st ory songs t hat t each t opics including m am m als, Jam es K. Polk ( t he 11t h president of t he Unit ed St at es) , and t he sun. Their m ost recent cont ribut ion is an album t o help kids learn t he alphabet , called Here Com e t he ABCs . There are songs about t he let t ers t hem selves, such as " E Eat s Everyt hing," and songs about t he alphabet in general, such as " Alphabet of Nat ions" and " Who Put t he Alphabet in Alphabet ical Order?" The following exam ple was recorded by They Might Be Giant s and released as a single. Bot h of t he core m em bers of t his band learned t his song as kids from an album put out by Singing Science Records and rem em bered it all t hrough t heir lives. When t hey discovered t hey bot h knew it , t hey want ed t o record and perform it . I t was an underground hit . These are t he first few lines from " Why Does t he Sun Shine?" : The Sun is a m ass of incandescent gas, A gigant ic nuclear furnace! Where hydrogen is m ade int o helium

At a t em perat ure of m illions of degrees. List songs have been recorded by m any art ist s over t he years, but all serve a sim ilar purpose: t o rem em ber a long list t hat would ot herwise be nearly im possible. List songs exist for m em orizing t he nam es of all t he count ries on Eart h, t he st at es of t he U.S. and t heir capit als, and even t he chem ical elem ent s. I n " The Elem ent s," com edian and MI T professor Tom Lehrer cheerily list s every nam e on t he periodic t able of elem ent s t o t he t une of " I Am t he Very Model of a Modern Maj or- General" from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirat es of Penzance . Much like m em orizing t he digit s of p , m em orizing " The Elem ent s" is a geek rit e of passage. Probably inspired by t his, I wrot e a song as a freshm an in high school t o t each m y science class about t he alkaline and alkali eart h m et als from t he periodic t able. Using lit t le fact s I found during m y research, I wove t hem int o t he lyrics, sung t o t he t une of "Yankee Doodle." That was m ore t han 15 years ago, and I can st ill rem em ber it : St ront ium t urns t he flam e bright red So does rubidium Pot assium t urns t he flam e bright blue And cesium does t oo! Calcium is bright orange Barium is green Sodium is very bright and so it can be seen. Radium is radioact ive I t gives you weird diseases. Calcium is found in m ilk And m ost of all hard cheeses...

See Also Unofficial Singing Science Records hom e page; ht t p: / / www.acm e.com / j ef/ science_songs. Ask Met aFilt er t hread on cat chy educat ional songs; ht t p: / / ask.m et afilt er.com / m efi/ 18731. Meredit h Hale

Hack 11. Consume Your Information in Chunks

I m pr ove you r sh or t - t e r m m e m or y, you r in for m a t ion pr oce ssin g, a n d you r lon g- t e r m m e m or y by gr ou pin g t h e bit s of da t a you com e a cr oss in t o ch u n k s. Psychologist George A. Miller concluded in a classic 1956 experim ent al survey t hat hum an short - t erm m em ory can hold only seven it em s at a t im e, plus or m inus t wo. 1 Short - t erm m em ory bears t he sam e relat ion t o long- t erm m em ory in hum ans t hat RAM does t o m ass st orage in a com put er: short - t erm m em ory, which is t em porary, is t he gat eway t o hum an long- t erm m em ory, which is sem i- perm anent . Short - t erm m em ory is also where inform at ion t hat is current ly being processed is st ored ( such as a phone num ber you're calling) . Thus, it 's im port ant for not only short - t erm m em ory it self, but also long- t erm m em ory and inform at ion processing, t o m axim ize t he abilit y t o use short - t erm m em ory. Recent research suggest s t he m agic num ber t hat short - t erm m em ory can hold m ight be som ewhat lower t han seven, at least for int ellect ually dem anding t asks. Researchers at t he Universit y of Queensland found t hat 30 academ ics given a t ask of analyzing st at ist ical int eract ions am ong variablesa t ask at which t hey were already expert did not perform bet t er t han chance at analyzing int eract ions of five variables in t im ed t est s. Also, t hey were not only worse at analyzing four- variable int eract ions t han int eract ions involving t hree or t wo variables, but less confident of t heir answers as well. 2 Whet her t he m agic num ber is five or seven, people norm ally find it hard t o rem em ber m ore t han a few sm all bit s of inform at ion. I f t hey recode t he bit s by clust ering t hem int o larger, m ore m eaningful chunks , however, t hey can rem em ber m any m ore of t he bit s. I n t he next sect ion, we will show t hat you can rem em ber a large num ber of lit eral bit s ( binary digit s) by grouping t hem int o m ore m eaningful and com prehensible num eric chunks.

In Action Here are 40 random binary digit s. Exam ine t hem and spend as m uch t im e as you want m em orizing t hem , t hen look away from t his book and t ry t o writ e t hem down. The only rule is t hat you m ay not convert t hem t o anot her base, count t hem , rest ruct ure t hem , or use any ot her m nem onic t rick t o m em orize t hem . You m ust m em orize t hem by rot e as you see t hem on t he page. Are you ready? Go! 0011110111110111111100000010000010000011

How did you do? Probably not t oo well. I f you did well, eit her you're a m ut ant wit h front al lobes t he size of a soccer ball, or you couldn't help but not ice ( for exam ple) t hat t he t hird group of 1s is seven bit s long and is followed by six zeroes, t hen a 1 wit h five zeroes, and anot her 1 wit h five zeroes. I n ot her words, you chunked t hem , you cheat er! Now, assum ing you underst and how t o convert bet ween binary ( base t wo) and decim al [ Hack # 40] , you can group t hese bit s int o byt es t o produce five groups of eight bit s, which you can recode t o five decim al num bers, like t his: 00111101 61

11110111 247

11110000 240

00100000 32

10000011 131

Look away from t he book again. Try t o writ e down t he five decim al num bers and t hen convert t hem t o t heir original binary form . Go! How did you do at rem em bering t he binary num bers? Probably bet t er t his t im e. While writ ing t his hack, I not iced t hat I was spont aneously able t o recall all five decim al num bers hours lat er wit hout any form al m nem onic t ricks. Chunking is sim ply a superior way for hum ans t o process dat a! Miller writ es: I t is a lit t le dram at ic t o wat ch a person get 40 binary digit s in a row and t hen repeat t hem back wit hout error. However, if you t hink of t his m erely as a m nem onic t rick for exceeding t he m em ory span, you will m iss t he im port ant point t hat is im plicit in nearly all such m nem onic devices. The point is t hat recoding is an ext rem ely powerful weapon for increasing t he am ount of inform at ion t hat we can deal wit h. I n one form or anot her, we use recoding const ant ly in our daily behavior; t he kind of linguist ic recoding t hat people do seem s t o m e t o be t he very lifeblood of t he t hought processes. Chunking is cert ainly cent ral t o m any m nem onic hacks in t his book, such as t he Dom inic Syst em [ Hack # 6] .

How It Works The basis for t he whole hack is recoding m any sm all it em s t hat are difficult t o dist inguish ( such as 40 bit s) int o a few dist inct it em s ( such as five decim al num bers) . Five decim al num bers, even if t hey are not im m ediat ely m eaningful t o you, are few enough t o ret ain in short - t erm m em ory. I f som e of t hem are m eaningful t o you, so m uch t he bet t er. Rest assured t hat t he t echnique applies t o m any phenom ena ot her t han binary num bers. Suppose you had a big pile of Scrabble t iles t o m em orizesay, 200 or so. I f you could form t hem int o words first , and t hen form t he words int o a sent ence or paragraph, you'd have a m uch bet t er chance of rem em bering t he let t ers on t he t iles.

In Real Life When I was a broke psychology st udent , I oft en part icipat ed as a guinea pig in experim ent s at t he Yale psychology and linguist ics labs t o earn pocket m oney. I had a few m em orable experiences. One experim ent was designed t o t est t he capacit y of hum an short - t erm m em ory. A com put er would flash st rings of decim al digit s rapidly on t he screen, and t he subj ect was supposed t o t ype as m any as she could back in. Alt hough t his was before I had m ade any serious st udy of m nem onic t echniques, I inst inct ively chunked t he digit s int o groups of t wo and t hree, effect ively int o num bers t hat I had m ade friends wit h [ Hack # 36] . I was able t o beat t he m agic num ber of seven by about a fact or of t wo wit hout breaking a m ent al sweat . The experim ent ers seem ed surprised and quest ioned m e closely, apparent ly t o det erm ine whet her duplicit y was involved. I t old t hem what I was doing, and t hey visibly relaxed; obviously, t hey knew about chunking, but apparent ly no one else who had part icipat ed in t he experim ent had used it .

End Notes

1 . Miller, George A. 1956. " The Magical Num ber Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Som e Lim it s on Our Capacit y for Processing I nform at ion." The Psychological Review , 63. ht t p: / / www.well.com / user/ sm alin/ m iller.ht m l. 2 . Halford, Graem e S., Rosem ary Baker, Julie E. McCredden, and John D. Bain. " How Many

2. Variables Can Hum ans Process?" ( January 2005) . Psychological Science . Abst ract at ht t p: / / www.eurekalert .org/ pub_ releases/ 2005- 03/ aps- hm c030805.php.

Hack 12. Overcome the Tip-of-the-Tongue Effect

Use w h a t you ca n r e ca ll t o h e lp boot st r a p you r m e m or y in t o r e m e m be r in g w h a t you ca n't . You are sit t ing wit h your friends, discussing t he lat est m ovie releases, when som eone asks t he nam e of a perform er who st arred in a recent film . Frust rat ingly, you can rem em ber what she looks like, t he fact t hat you saw her film from last year, and even t hat her nam e has t hree syllables and st art s wit h an A, but t he nam e j ust does not com e t o m ind. This experience, in which a m em ory seem s t o be " on t he t ip of t he t ongue," is exasperat ing if you're t rying t o rem em ber a part icular fact , but int riguing if you're int erest ed in how m em ory works. One of t he m ost fascinat ing t hings about t he t ip- of- t he- t ongue st at e is t hat it dem onst rat es how som et im es we know t hat we know som et hing, wit hout act ually being able t o recall it . This is part of what psychologist s call m et acognit ion , which allows us t o realize t hat we should keep t rying even t hough our m em ories m ight be failing us at a part icular m om ent . Much research has focused on m et acognit ion and m em ory, because experiences like t he t ip- of- t he- t ongue st at e are relat ively com m on in everyday life. St udies have shown t hat t ip- of- t he- t ongue st at es happen about once per week on average and get m ore com m on as we get older. Ot her research has focused on condit ions t hat affect t he likelihood of successful recall, suggest ing som e good t echniques for overcom ing t ip- of- t het ongue when it occurs.

In Action When people fall int o a t ip- of- t he- t ongue st at e, t hey com m only focus on t he few relevant t hings t hat t hey can rem em ber, hoping t hat t he elusive fact will pop int o t heir m ind aft er t he effort of increased concent rat ion. A m ore successful t echnique is t o t ry t o recall as m uch inform at ion about t he t opic as possible, no m at t er how loosely it is relat ed. For exam ple, in t he sit uat ion described in t he previous sect ion, I m ight t ry t o rem em ber t he plot s and det ails of ot her m ovies I know t he perform er has been in, as well as what I was doing when I saw t he original version of t he film and who I was wit h. I could also t ry t o rem em ber what m usic was in t he film , whet her t he act ress has any brot hers or sist ers, and even which of m y friends said she gave a good perform ance last t im e we t alked about her. I f I could recall som e aspect of t he nam e ( such as t he num ber of syllables, or perhaps som e of t he sounds in t he nam e) , I could also t ry recalling words t hat sound sim ilar, regardless of whet her t hey are relat ed in m eaning t o t he t hing I 'm t rying t o rem em ber. As you work t hrough t hese t echniques, one of t hem will likely help you t o recall t he fact you are hoping t o ret rieve ( in our exam ple, t he nam e of t he wom an in t he m ovie) . I f you have ot her people t o bounce ideas off, all t he bet t er, because it increases t he chance t hat som eone will be able t o rem em ber t he answer.

You can use sim ilar prim ing t echniques t o rem em ber where you left m isplaced obj ect s.

How It Works Mem ory is t hought t o rely heavily on a net work of relat ed m ent al concept s. The t echnique given here t akes advant age of t his net work t o m ake a difficult - t o- recall fact m ore accessible t o consciousness by act ivat ing as m any relat ed concept s in t he net work as possible. One of t he key concept s in psychology is prim ing , in which experiencing or t hinking about one concept m akes relat ed concept s m ore readily available t o t he m ind. For exam ple, if t he word dinner is shown t o people in an experim ent , t hey will react m ore quickly t o words like spoon and veget able t han t o words like airplane and paper , because words associat ed wit h food and dining are probably m ore closely and highly int erconnect ed. By t hinking of as m any relat ed concept s as possible, you are increasing t he act ivat ion in t he area of m em ory t hat your t arget fact is connect ed t o, t hereby m aking it easier for your m ind t o lift t he fact int o consciousness. The psychologist Endel Tulving proposed a relat ed t heory called t he encoding specificit y principle , which st at es t hat successful recall relies on t he overlap bet ween t he t hing you are t rying t o rem em ber and t he sit uat ion in which you first encount ered it , and t he cues or prom pt s t hat are available when you are t rying t o recall it . 1 The t echnique given here allows you t o m anipulat e t he cont ext in your own m ind t o increase t he chances of recall. Just rem em bering relat ed fact s is only part of t he process, however. Research has shown t hat hearing, reading, or t hinking of sim ilar- sounding words can also help overcom e t he t ip- of- t het ongue st at e.2 Models of language and m em ory suggest t hat m eaning and word st ruct ure are st ored separat ely, leading t o t he experience of rem em bering fact s wit hout being able t o recall t he word associat ed wit h t hem . I n som e cases, word st ruct ure is only part ially rem em bered, so first let t ers or syllables are recalled, but not hing else. Prim ing seem s t o work as well for sounds as it does for fact s and concept s, which is why you can rem em ber t he t arget word m ore easily by rem em bering words t hat sound like it .

End Notes

1 . Tulving, E. 1983. Elem ent s of Episodic Mem ory . Oxford Universit y Press. 2 . Jam es, L.E., and D.M. Burke. 2000. " Phonological prim ing effect s on word ret rieval and t ip- of- t he- t ongue experiences in younger and older adult s." Journal of Experim ent al Psychology: Learning, Mem ory and Language , 26 ( 6) , 13781391.

See Also Prim ing t ut orial from Harvey G. Shulm an; ht t p: / / www.psy.ohiost at e.edu/ psy312/ prim ing.ht m l. Guide t o t ip- of- t he- t ongue experiences; ht t p: / / www.m em orykey.com / EverydayMem ory/ TOT.ht m . Vaughan Bell

Chapter 2. Information Processing Alt hough m em ory is a core hum an facult y, and developing it will reward you well, as a lit erat e hum an you st ill need t o process recorded inform at ion, whet her books full of t ext or digit al files full of audiovisual dat a. How can you cope wit h t he hurricane of inform at ion t hat pounds your eyes and ears every day? This chapt er will show you how t o capt ure t he best of t he inform at ional flood quickly, whet her it com es from out side or inside your skull. I t also will show you how t o sort t hat inform at ion, st ruct ure it , and ult im at ely discard it from your life when you no longer need it .

Hack 13. Catch Your Ideas

Good t h ou gh t s ca n com e a t a n y t im e . By r e cor din g t h e m , you ca n br in g t h e m t oge t h e r a n d e n cou r a ge you r br a in t o give you m or e . I nt erest ing t hought s can com e t o you at any t im e. Perhaps you're get t ing groceries, in aisle A4, and suddenly you have an idea for a program you're writ ing. Or you're driving, and a point in an argum ent com es t o you. Or you're in t he shower, and you realize som et hing about life. But lat er, you sim ply forget . The very next day, you're t asked wit h writ ing t hat program , or giving your side in t he argum ent , and you ask yourself, " Now what was it I was t hinking?" Perhaps you are st uck living t he sam e day over and over again. " Didn't I have a t hought about a different way I could t hink and live?" I n t his hack, you're going t o collect your t hought s using a cat ch . This is not a sim ple diary; t his is an advanced syst em for collect ing every t hought , from everywhere in your life, and bringing t hem t oget her.

In Action You will need som e supplies: A ream of ruled paper A pen or pencil Take a piece of paper, and prepare it like t his. First , creat e t hree colum ns:

Subj ect The Subj ect colum n should be t he left m ost colum n and be about an inch wide. This is t he place where you will writ e t he general subj ect of t he idea you have. For inst ance, if you t hink a lot about C+ + and you have an idea t hat 's basically about C+ + ( rat her t han, say, m at h or philosophy) , put " C+ + " in t his colum n. You want t o pick your subj ect s so t hat t hey are big and can hold a lot of relat ed t hought s.

Hint The Hint colum n should also be about an inch wide and should sit next t o t he Subj ect colum n. This is where you will writ e a hint about how t o place t he idea wit hin t he subj ect . Perhaps it is a sub- subj ect t he nam e of a t opic of int erest wit hin t he subj ect or a keyword t hat ident ifies a t hem e or cont ext .

I dea The last colum n is for your idea. The idea t hat you will writ e down is t he core idea for t he t hought you have.

I deas are pregnant ; t hey usually com e wit h dozens of ot her det ails as well, which unfold from t he m ain idea. You want t o writ e out t he m ain idea only. Writ e out enough of it so t hat you can t rust yourself t o unfold t he rest of t he ideas. Writ e one sent ence, and writ e t wo only if you absolut ely m ust . Skip t he words t he , a, and an . Those are signs t hat you are get t ing wordy, and t hat 's not what you want t o be. Just writ e t he basic idea. You're going t o carry a piece of paper set up like t his wit h you every day, for t he durat ion of your cat ch. The next st ep is t o collect relat ed ideas. Periodically ( perhaps once per day or once per week) peruse your pages of ideas. I gnore t he act ual ideas t hem selves; look inst ead at j ust t he Subj ect colum n. Scan t he list for recurring subj ect s. Creat e new sheet s of paper for t he recurring subj ect s. For each subj ect , draw a sheet . At t he t op of t he paper, t it le it wit h t he subj ect . Then, form t he t hree colum ns described previously. The first colum n ( perhaps a cent im et er wide) cont ains t he idea num ber. Enum erat e from num ber 1 ( or 0, if you like) . I f t his page is cont inuing a previously filled page, cont inue num bering from t he previous sheet . The second colum n cont ains t he hint . The t hird colum n cont ains t he idea. Transcribe t he ideas t hat are on t he sam e subj ect from t he daily sheet s t hat you carry around wit h you t o t he subj ect - specific sheet s t hat you j ust m ade. This is t he way t hat you can collect and refer t o your ideas. You can refer t o t hem like t his: Subj ect Nam e, I dea # . For exam ple, you could call your 32nd idea on C+ + C+ + , 32 . When you can t ake t he subj ect for grant ed, you can sim ply writ e \ Q32 ( pronounced point 32 ) .

Computers and Tape Recorders The obvious quest ion is " What about com put ers? Can com put ers speed t his up for m e? Must we do t his on paper?" The answer is yes! Com put ers can probably speed t his up for you. Wit h t hat said, your init ial recording is probably going t o be on paper. You don't want t o lose any ideas! That m eans you have t o be able t o scribble som et hing down fast . You can't be wait ing for a com put er t o boot . You can't be m oving a cursor around t he screen. You can't be writ ing in som e st range st ylus pidgin. You j ust have t o get t he idea out t here, so you can get back t o what ever you were doing, as soon as possible. Transcribe t o a com put er if you have a good syst em . " How about t ape recorders?" I highly discourage using t hem . Transcript ion t im e goes t hrough t he roof because your int erface is lim it ed t o fast - forward and rewind, and a m uddy voice is harder t o int erpret t han scrawl, in m y experience. Also, you m ight forget t o list a subj ect and a hint because you aren't prom pt ed for t hem . Those t wo t hings are im port ant , because t hey m ake it so t hat you don't have t o recognize your t hought during t ranscript ion and sort ing, t hereby saving you an am azing am ount of t im e and m ent al energy. So, I discourage use of t ape recorders. All of t hese fact ors are changing. I n t he near fut ure, t here m ight be always- on com put ers wit h st yluses, and voice recorders wit h excellent speech recognit ion. I n 2005, t hough, I recom m end capt uring t hought s on paper.

In Real Life

When you have collect ed your ideas, you will perhaps t hink, " I t 's great t hat I have m y t hought s here. Now, what can I do wit h t hem ?" Look for pat t erns. Think about how t he ideas connect wit h each ot her. Look for holes in your t hinking. Look for what you m ight be paying t oo m uch at t ent ion t o. Reflect on what inspires you. Look for connect ions. You can do all of t hese t hings at once, by building a m ap of your relat ed ideas. This is excellent fodder for a m ind m ap [ Hack # 16] . Som e t hings will becom e obvious t o you im m ediat ely. You'll be surprised at t he t hings you discover, once you put your t hought s t oget her. I suspect t hat paying at t ent ion t o your m ind causes it t o give you m ore ideas by t he sam e m echanism t hat dream recall works. I f you've seriously invest igat ed dream recall, you were probably surprised t o find t hat t he m ore you writ e down your dream s, t he m ore you rem em ber t hem [ Hack # 29] . I suspect also t hat t he m ind knows what kinds of t hings you want from it , based on what you are paying at t ent ion t o. I f you pay at t ent ion t o your creat ive or int erest ing t hought s, your m ind seem s t o decide t o give you m ore of t hem . Beware! I f you im plem ent t his syst em , you m ay find t hat your problem is not t oo few creat ive t hought s, but t oo m any. I t 's great t o be creat ive and t hink int erest ing t hought s, but it can also be seriously im m obilizing and can get in t he way of day- t o- day life.

See Also Kim bro, Lion. 2003. How t o Make a Com plet e Map of Every Thought You Think online at ht t p: / / www.speakeasy.org/ ~ lion/ nb. WikiWikiWeb. " I s Anyt hing Bet t er Than Paper?" ht t p: / / c2.com / cgi/ wiki? I sAnyt hingBet t erThanPaper. Lion Kim bro

. Published

Hack 14. Write Faster

W r it e sm a r t e r , n ot h a r de r ! Th e ASCI I - ba se d sh or t h a n d h a ck ca lle d Spe e dw or ds w ill n ot on ly e n a ble you t o w r it e fa st e r on pa pe r w it h ou t le a r n in g a spe cia l sh or t h a n d a lph a be t , bu t w ill a lso e n a ble you t o t ype fa st e r in m a n y w or d pr oce ssor s a n d t e x t e dit or s. Dut t on Speedwords is an art ificial language [ Hack # 51] developed by Reginald Dut t on in t he early 1920s and im proved over t he following few decades. Dut t on int ended Speedwords bot h as an int ernat ional auxiliary language like Esperant o, which could be writ t en or spoken by people who did not speak t he sam e nat ive language, and as a short hand syst em . The advant age t hat Speedwords has over m ost ot her short hand m et hods is t hat you do not need t o learn a special alphabet t o use it ( as you would, for exam ple, wit h t he Gregg or Pit m an short hand m et hods) . This feat ure not only m akes Speedwords easy t o learn, but also m eans t hat it can be t yped, ent ered int o PDAs wit h handwrit ing recognit ion syst em s, and generally used anywhere t he Rom an alphabet can be used. I t 's also great for quickly cat ching inform at ion [ Hack # 13] .

In Action This sect ion cont ains a short Speedwords vocabulary, which should be enough t o get you st art ed. 1 The original Dut t on Speedwords t ext books are long out of print , but t here's plent y of m at erial on t he Web 2 if you want t o go furt her.

One-letter Speedwords I f you j ust want t o play around wit h Speedwords and give it a t est drive, t ry learning t he 27 single- charact er Speedwords in Table 2- 1 and use t hem for a few days. Learning t his list will probably t ake only a few m inut es, and you m ight be surprised how nat ural it is t o work t hem int o your ordinary not e t aking.

Ta ble On e - le t t e r Spe e dw or ds Speedword

Meaning

Notes

&

And

a

To, t oward, at

b

But

c

This, t hese

French ce

d

Of, from

French de

e

Am , are, ( t o) be, is

Lat in est

f

For

g

Them , t hey

h

Has, have

i

I n, wit hin

j

I, me

French j e, Scandinavian j eg

k

That

As in " The m ovie t hat I am wat ching," not " That chair over t here"

l

The

French le

m

Wit h

Germ an m it , Scandinavian m ed

n

No, not

o

On

p

Can, be able t o, have t he power or pot ent ial t o

q

Do...?

See t he " I n Real Life" sect ion lat er in t his hack

r

Will

Auxiliary verb; for exam ple, G r go = t hey will go

s

He, him

sh = she

t

It

u

A, an, one

French un

v

You

French vous

w

Us, we

x

If

y

Was, were

z

As, t han, com pared t o

Also used as auxiliary verb; for exam ple, G h go = t hey have gone

Longer Speedwords Table 2- 2 cont ains t he m ost im port ant Speedwords for m y own use, beyond t he original 27. I f you learn j ust t hese 100 or so words, you will great ly increase your writ ing speed.

Ta ble Fr e qu e n t ly u se d lon ge r Spe e dw or ds Speedword

Meaning

Notes

ar

Friend

at

Expect

au

Hear

az

Always

Cont ract ion of al oz

azo

Never

See " Affixes" sect ion lat er in t his hack

bit

Piece, bit

ce

Receive

cer

Cert ain, sure

ci

Decide

da

Give

dir

Direct ion

dok

Docum ent

du

Cont inue

dy

Since

French depuis

eb

Even

Germ an eben

ef

Efficient , capable ( effect ive)

eg

Equal

en

At t ent ion

ep

Place, posit ion,locat ion, t o put

er

Person

es

Est im at e, guess

et

Sm all

fas

Easy

fn

Find

fy

Cause, reason

Lat in dare

Booklet , islet

ga

Com plet e( ly)

Germ an ganz

gar

Keep

ge

Toget her, j oin

ha

Own, possess

hab

Ordinary

haz

Chance, luck

ig

General ( com m on)

in

Bet ween, am ong

it

Tool

it e

Travel

iv

Associat ed wit h

je

Every

Germ an j eder

jm

Everyt hing

Cont ract ion of j e om

jr

Everyone

Cont ract ion of j e er

ke

Credit , due

kon

Agree

kre

Belief, believe

ku

Enclose, include

la

Big

las

Perm it , let

Germ an lassen

lib

Free, release

Free as in freedom

lim

Boundary, lim it

lu

Mont h

lut

Cont est

ly

Long and t hin

m em

Mem ory, rem em ber

m ir

Wonder( ful)

m iu

Minut e

m ot

Word

nar

St ory

ne

Take

nes

Need, necessary

nm

Not hing

no

Look at

Hazard

Lat in int er

60 seconds

Germ an nehm en

Cont ract ion of n om

nr

Nobody

Cont ract ion of n er

nu

Now

Dut ch and Scandinavian nu

ny

Alm ost , approxim at ely

ob

Get

op

Against , opposit e

or d

Order

ov

Over

oz

Happen

pe

A while, period

pin

Point

pl

Pleasure, t o please

por

I m port ant

pru

Prove

rap

Fast

ro

List

ry

Building

ser

Look for, search

sev

Divide, division

sig

Meaning, t o m ean

so

So, such

sol

Only, alone

st u

Learn, st udy

su

To im prove, bet t er

suk

Succeed, success

sy

Science

t ru

Through

ub

Favorable

us

Use

uz

Once

va

War

vo

Willing

vot

Choose

vu

See, sight

we

Purpose, int end

Opposit e of disorder

Rapid

Sever

zi

Because

Some auxiliary verbs Table 2- 3 present s a few useful verbs t hat it is easy t o conflat e, grouped for easy reference.

Ta ble Au x ilia r y ve r bs Speedword

Meaning

Notes

yr

Would

Will ( past t ense)

yp

Could

Can ( past t ense)

debi

Should

ypi

Might

Affixes Dut t on Speedwords uses affixes ( prefixes and suffixes) t o ext end it s basic vocabulary. Table 24 list s only t he m ost im port ant affixes.

Ta ble Affix e s Affix

Meaning

Examples

-a

Unfavorable

en = at t ent ion, ena = worry; pro = prom ise, proa = t hreat en

-b

Possibilit y

kre = believe, kreb = credible

-c

Collect ive

ci = decide, cic = com m it t ee; on = m an, onc = com m unit y

-d

Passive

ri = writ e, rid = writ t en

-e

I nt ensive

ny = near, nye = next ; j a = soon, j ae = im m ediat ely

-f

Causat ive ( aft er vowels)

t a = lat e, t af = delay

m e- Com parat ive

la = large, m ela = larger

m y- Superlat ive

la = large, m yla = largest

-n

Negat ion

ok = correct , okn = incorrect

-o

Opposit e ( aft er a consonant )

up = up, upo = down; ov = over, ovo = under

-p

Place

au = hear, aup = audit orium

-r

Person

ny = near, nyr = neighbor

- st

Professional

j u = t o j udge, j ust = a j udge

-t

Dim inut ive

bo = t ree, bot = a plant ; nav = ship, navt = boat

-u

Favorable

haz = chance, hazu = lucky or fort unat e

u-

Present part iciple

pu = t hink, upu = t hinking

-x

Opposit e ( aft er a vowel)

bi = life, bix = deat h

y-

Past t ense

pu = t hink, ypu = t hought ( but h = have, hy = had)

-y

Causat ive ( aft er consonant s)

bix = deat h, bixy = kill

-z

Plural

bu = book, buz = books

Many of Dut t on's affixes are idiosyncrat ic; t his is som et im es list ed as a m aj or drawback of t he language. The idiosyncrat ic qualit y of Dut t on's usage is a problem only if you are using Speedwords as an int ernat ional auxiliary language, not if you are m erely t aking not es for yourself.

How It Works The basis for Dut t on Speedwords is a principle known as Zipf's Law. I nform ally put , Zipf's law st at es: 3 I n m ost languages, t here are a few very com m on words ( such as a, and , of , and t he ) and a large num ber of uncom m on words ( such as spont aneit y and forensics ) . Zipf's Law applies not only t o hum an languages, but also t o com put er languages, colors in com put er graphics files, audio frequencies in sound files, and so on. This fact is t he basis for m ost com pression t echniques, which reserve short encodings of one or t wo charact ers for com m on it em s and use long encodings for uncom m on it em s. Alt hough t he English language has already evolved a kind of com pression via Zipf's Law ( of is already short er t han spont aneit y ) , Reginald Dut t on engineered a language t hat would com press language even furt her.

In Real Life Alanguage is m ore t han it s vocabulary. You can't use a language wit hout knowing it s gram m ar as well. Fort unat ely, t he gram m ar of Speedwords is very sim ple. You can use m ost Speedwords as nouns, adj ect ives, or adverbs wit hout changing t hem . This is sim ilar t o languages such as Chinese, which do not dist inguish bet ween part s of speech in t his way.

Act ually, Dut t on was inconsist ent on t his point ; som et im es he did dist inguish bet ween t hese part s of speech, but t hat doesn't m ean you need t o.

Speedwords uses com pound words, such as ca + dor ( i.e., room + sleep ) , which m eans bedroom . Not e t hat t he way in which Speedwords form s com pounds such as cador , lit erally room sleep , is t he reverse of t he way in which English speakers would expect t o form t hem ( dorca or sleeproom ) . The prefix y- indicat es past t ense, and t he let t er r indicat es fut ure t ense: j sa m eans " I know," j ysa m eans " I knew," and j r sa m eans " I will know." When st anding alone, y is t he past t ense of e: sh y fe m eans " She was happy." The cont inuous or progressive verb is also expressed wit h e; for exam ple, j e sa m eans " I am knowing." The English verb do is not t ranslat ed int o Speedwords when it is redundant : j n sa m eans " I ( do) not know." The word t o in t he infinit ive of verbs is also considered redundant ; t hus, sa m eans " know" or " t o know." Pronouns are not inflect ed t o indicat e case: w m eans " we" or " us." Possessive pronouns are creat ed wit h - i: j i m eans " m y," si m eans " his," and shi m eans " her( s) ."

Possession is indicat ed for nouns wit h an apost rophe: j i ar' buz m eans " m y friend's books."

Nouns don't specify pluralit y when it is already indicat ed in som e ot her way ( e.g., j i 5 bu m eans " m y five books" ) , but when pluralit y isn't already specified, use - z ( e.g., j i bu m eans " m y book," and j i buz m eans " m y books" ) . Sent ences t hat describe t he exist ence of an it em do not cont ain t he word t here : E 3 bu ir f v m eans " ( There) are t hree books here for you." Yes- or- no quest ions are sim ply prefixed wit h t he let t er q. For exam ple, v pu k... m eans " you t hink t hat ..." and q v pu k... m eans " do you t hink t hat ...?" For m ost ot her quest ions of gram m ar, you can t reat Speedwords as a " relexificat ion" of, or code for, ordinary English. You m ight not always writ e gram m at ical Speedwords, but if you're only writ ing for yourself, t his should not be a problem . Q v nu h ci ri i rapm ot z? J n es k t r ne v u lo pe.

End Notes

1 . Harrison, Rick. 1994. " Language profile: Speedwords." ht t p: / / www2.cm p.uea.ac.uk/ ~ j rk/ conlang.dir/ Speedwords.overview ( apart from m y personal use of Speedwords over t he past 12 years or so, m ost of t his hack was drawn from Rick Harrison's 1994 overview of Speedwords, which he generously placed int o t he public dom ain) . 2 . Ment at Wiki. " Short hand Syst em ." ht t p: / / www.ludism .org/ m ent at / Short handSyst em ( cont ains m any Speedwords links, as well as ot her ASCI I short hand syst em s) . 3 . Nat ional I nst it ut e of St andards and Technology. " Zipf's Law."

2.

3. ht t p: / / www.nist .gov/ dads/ HTML/ zipfslaw.ht m l.

Hack 15. Speak Your Brain's Language

To a bsor b n e w in for m a t ion a n d t o a ssim ila t e it qu ick ly a n d e ffe ct ive ly, u se le a r n in gst yle t h e or ie s t o u n de r st a n d you r br a in a n d w h a t m a k e s it fu n ct ion be st . I f you have t o drive som ewhere new, how do you figure out how t o get t here? Perhaps you like t o consult a web sit e and get a st ep- by- st ep list of driving direct ions t hat det ails each t urn and st reet nam e. Maybe your dad prefers looking at a m ap and t racing out his rout e t here. I f you asked your friend, she'd t ell you she likes t o call som eone and ask for direct ions, including landm arks and possible pit falls she m ight encount er on t he way. Maybe you've even had argum ent s about t his, wit h each side claim ing t he only " good" way t o be sure you get t here, and secret ly t hinking t hat t he ot her ways are for idiot s. This argum ent happens because each person has a different learning st yle . A learning st yle is a way of t aking in and assim ilat ing inform at ion, and different people's brains do t his in different ways. So, each m et hod of finding out how t o get where you're going m ight be right for t he person who favors it , and for him it m ight really be idiot ic for t hat person t o use a m et hod t hat 's less effect ive. I f you can t une in t o t he best way for your brain t o learn, you can apply t hat knowledge int elligent ly t o learn fast er and ret ain m ore of what you learn. Knowing a lit t le about learning st yles will help you " speak your brain's language" so t hat it works bet t er for you.

Learning Style Theories There are m any, m any t heories about how people learn. This hack discusses t wo t hat have m any support ers and t hat I 've found t o be useful. Furt herm ore, t hey m esh well so t hat you can com bine t hem synergist ically; one is about how t he inform at ion's form at affect s t he brain's abilit y t o t ake it in, and t he ot her has t o do wit h how t he brain assim ilat es new inform at ion.

The VARK system Neil D. Flem ing and Colleen Mills developed t he VARK syst em t o describe different ways people absorb inform at ion.1 VARK st ands for t he four t ypes of learning defined by t he t heory: visual, aural, reading/ writ ing, and kinest het ic. Most people can t ake in inform at ion t hrough all of t hese channels , but each person usually has one preferred form at :

Visual Visual learners underst and when t hey can see a represent at ion of t he m at erial. They learn best from m aps, chart s, pict ures, diagram s, video, and ot her nonverbal form at s. They don't ret ain inform at ion well from speeches, books, or anyt hing else t hat 's t ext heavy. For exam ple, t hey m ight rem em ber phone num bers by pict uring t he pat t ern t heir fingers m ake on t he keypad as t hey dial.

Aural

Aural learners like t o hear inform at ion and can t ake it in easily when t hey can rem em ber what it sounds like. They learn best from lect ures and discussion. For exam ple, t hey oft en rem em ber t he words t o songs and m ight rem em ber phone num bers by t he t ones t hey m ake when t hey're dialed.

Reading/ writ ing Reading/ writ ing learners love words and t ext . They learn best by reading about som et hing and t hen writ ing a sum m ary. For exam ple, t hey m ight rem em ber phone num bers by writ ing t hem down or m aking a code out of t he digit s.

Kinest het ic Kinest het ic learners are t uned int o t heir bodies. They like inform at ion t hey can use and rem em ber inform at ion by rem em bering where t hey were at t he t im e or how it felt t o perform a new skill. They learn best by pract icing and m ight rem em ber phone num bers by m aking t hem int o a lit t le finger dance.

Honey and Mumford's learning styles You can com plem ent t he VARK syst em wit h t he learning st yles defined by Pet er Honey and Alan Mum ford. 2 This schem a t ells less about t he form at of incom ing inform at ion and m ore about how people assim ilat e t he inform at ion once t hey receive it . Honey and Mum ford define four st yles or roles t hat indicat e a preferred approach t o new inform at ion:

Act ivist Act ivist s like t o t ake an act ive role in learningno surprise! They learn best when t hey're involved in a discussion, leading a group, perform ing a t ask or gam e, or t hrown int o a new sit uat ion t hat t hey have t o figure out . They like new ideas and new proj ect s but m ight have t rouble wit h im plem ent at ion and det ailed planning. Act ivist s don't learn well from long lect ures or writ t en inst ruct ions, especially if t hey have t o work on t hem alone.

Reflect or Reflect ors like t o exam ine new inform at ion carefully, from all sides. They observe rat her t han t ake act ion at first , and t hey seek m any different angles and viewpoint s before expressing an opinion. They like t o review and m ake sure t hey have all t he dat a t hey need before proceeding. Reflect ors don't work well under deadlines, and in a group set t ing t hey'd m uch rat her produce necessary analysis t han lead and delegat e.

Theorist Theorist s work t o fit new inform at ion int o a rat ional schem e. They're m ost com fort able wit h ideas t hey can adapt and int egrat e int o logically sound t heories, and t hey like t o learn in an orderly, st ep- by- st ep fashion. Theorist s int eract wit h inform at ion, prefer orderly t asks wit h a clear goal, and oft en probe for t he ideas under ot her ideas t o t est t heir t heories. They don't do well when

asked t o handle subj ect ive inform at ion rat her t han hard fact s, or when t hey have t o perform " arbit rary" t asks whose funct ion t hey don't underst and.

Pragm at ist Pragm at ist s like t o know how t hey can use new inform at ion. They're pract ical and always want t o see how som et hing will fit int o t heir est ablished m et hods or how new ideas will benefit t hem in som e concret e way. They usually want t o " cut t o t he chase" or ask about t he bot t om line, and t hey're im pat ient wit h abst ract or t heoret ical discussion.

Leveraging Your Learning Styles To repeat , m ost people use all of t he VARKchannels som et im es, and m ost people have sit uat ions where t hey use each of t he learning st yles, but alm ost everyone has one or t wo t hat fit m ost closely. Aft er you ident ify your best learning form at and your preferred learning st yle, you can begin t ailoring your learning sit uat ions t o fit . There will always be sit uat ions in which you can't change som e feat ures of t he inform at ion; if you're at work and need t o learn a new process from a verbal present at ion, you probably can't dem and t hat t he present er t urn it int o a sim ulat ion gam e or docum ent ary film . However, you'd be surprised at how oft en you can " t ranslat e" for yourself wit h a lit t le ingenuit y.

VARK types Here are som e suggest ions about alt ering an inform at ion form at t o resem ble m ore closely t he t ype of inform at ion your brain prefers. Just find your t ype and t ry som e of t he ideas list ed under it .

Visual Draw pict ures and diagram s, visualize processes and obj ect s, look at phot os and videos when possible, use colored m arkers and ot her t ools t o m ake t ext visually int erest ing, and replace words wit h sym bols in not es. Don't forget t o pract ice t ranslat ing t he ot her way t o put your pict ures back int o words, since you'll usually be required t o art iculat e your ideas t hat way verbally. Visualizat ion [ Hack # 34] and diagram m ing [ Hack # 16] should work well for you.

Aural Repeat fact s t o yourself out loud, at t end lect ures and present at ions, discuss t hings wit h ot her people, use a t ape recorder t o cat ch not es from yourself or anot her speaker, t ake writ t en not es sparsely using out lines or key phrases ( possibly leaving space t o fill in lat er as you rem em ber inform at ion aft erward) , and concent rat e on list ening t o t he speaker inst ead. Try set t ing inform at ion t o m usic [ Hack # 10] .

Reading/ writ ing Seek out reference books and ot her t ext ual m at erial on your subj ect , writ e list s and out lines t o rem em ber t hings t o do, t ake det ailed not es, rewrit e inform at ion in your own words, writ e t ext descript ions of pict ures and diagram s, and explain your ideas t o som eone else in em ail or on a blog. I dea cat ches [ Hack # 13] and dream j ournals [ Hack # 29] will be useful for you.

Kinest het ic Creat e sense m em ories about inform at ion ( im agine how som et hing m ight sm ell or feel) , part icipat e in dem onst rat ions or t est s, im agine what your body does in perform ing a new t ask, t hink up exam ples for ideas, role- play, and link ideas t o obj ect s and m ot ions. You'll get good use out of sense- based t raining [ Hack # 74] and m em ory j ourneys [ Hack # 3] .

Honey and Mumford learning styles Aft er you've m ade t he inform at ion m ore palat able t o your brain, use your best learning st yle t o help ret ain it . Select your st yle from t he following list and t ry som e of t he act ivit ies associat ed wit h it :

Act ivist Jum p int o new experiences feet first , form a t ask force, volunt eer t o lead a group or discussion, and t rade det ail- orient ed t asks for " big- pict ure" t asks when possible. Try m aking a gam e out of what you have t o learn or do.

Reflect or Talk t o ot her people, review what you know, assim ilat e inform at ion int o graphs or t ables, m ake sure t o give yourself plent y of t im e, and see if you can get som eone else t o run t hrough a t est sit uat ion while you observe. When som et hing works, go back and see how you did it [ Hack # 32] .

Theorist Make sure you underst and t he goal or purpose of what you're doing, get t he larger cont ext of what you're learning and not j ust bare processes, and draw diagram s of how ideas are relat ed t o each ot her. Never be afraid t o ask quest ions [ Hack # 55] unt il you underst and t he t opic t horoughly.

Pragm at ist Figure out how new ideas will profit you, find a m odel you can copy, and seek feedback t o m ake sure you're not wast ing your t im e and effort . Learn som e general t im e- saving t echniques, such as how t o t est for divisibilit y [ Hack # 37] .

In Real Life My first experience wit h applying learning t heory cam e when I st art ed st udying a lot wit h ot her people in college. I was am azed at how m any det ailed not es ot her people t ook; m y not e t aking was always very sparse. I was det erm ined t o be m ore diligent about t aking copious not es, but I found t hat t he m ore not es I t ook, t he less inform at ion I ret ained. I had been inst inct ively playing t o m y st rengt hs; I 'm a very aural learner, so I ret ained a lot m ore inform at ion if I list ened carefully t o a lect ure inst ead of put t ing m y at t ent ion on not e t aking. Furt her evidence about m y proclivit y com es in t he fact t hat I 've been not orious all m y life for rem em bering song lyrics accurat ely, som et im es aft er having heard t he song only once. Ron, t he prim ary aut hor of t his book, is so clearly a t heorist t hat it m ade m e laugh out loud when I was researching and reading descript ions of t his t ype. You m ight also not ice lot s of hacks here t hat suit reader/ writ er learning; Ron is never wit hout his not ebook, and he has kept

a j ournal assiduously since he was 15 years old. He also said t hat one of t he t hings he liked m ost about creat ing t his book was solidifying his underst anding of t he hacks by writ ing t hem . I t has been very int erest ing for Ron and m e t o discuss t his hack, since t he st yle differences it det ails explain several t hings we've frequent ly m isunderst ood about each ot her for years. This is anot her, secondary use for t his hack: it will help you underst and your fam ily, friends, and coworkers bet t er, and when you need t o com m unicat e wit h t hem , you'll have a bet t er idea of how t o do it effect ively.

End Notes

1 . Flem ing, N.D., and C. Mills. 1992. Not Anot her I nvent ory, Rat her a Cat alyst for Reflect ion To I m prove t he Academ y, 11, 137155. 2 . Honey, P., and A. Mum ford. 1992. The Manual of Learning St yles . 3rd Ed. Pet er Honey Publicat ions.

See Also More inform at ion about Flem ing's VARK syst em is available at t he VARK web sit e ( ht t p: / / www.vark- learn.com / english/ index.asp) , including t est ing and t eaching m at erials, furt her art icles, and m uch m ore. I f you'd like t o learn m ore about learning st yles generally, Greg Kearsley's Theory I nt o Pract ice Dat abase ( ht t p: / / t ip.psychology.org/ index.ht m l) is a com pendium of 50 t heories about learning and inst ruct ion, which you can browse individually or by relat ed groups. Many, m any web sit es will allow you t o answer som e quest ions t hat help det erm ine your learning st yle. Not all of t hem are cost - free t o use, but m any are. A few m inut es in t he search engine of your choice should t urn up som e opt ions. Mart y Hale- Evans

.

Hack 16. Map Your Mind

Colle ct in g a n d con n e ct in g r e la t e d ide a s r e ve a l pa t t e r n s t h a t st im u la t e n e w t h ou gh t , a s w e ll a s con t r a dict ion s t o be r e solve d. Are your t hought s organized? Most of t he t im e, people live in a river of t hought s and sensat ions, like t he st ory line of a m ovie. Our t hought s arrive as event s in a sequence. But we can m ap out our t hought s on a plane. When we see t hem side by side, we can com pare t hem wit h one anot her and organize t hem . Observing t he whole pict ure, all at once, we m ake st art ling realizat ions and discover an order t o our t hought s, a t op- down underst anding of t hem . 1 Alt ernat ively, we find a disorder, and gain insight int o t ensions and confusions in our life. As soon as we see t hem clearly, t hough, our m ind st art s cranking away, working t o resolve t hem or, at t he very least , t o underst and t he subt let y behind t he t ension.

In Action Mind m apping begins wit h collect ing t hought s int o a source list : a list of ideas you st art out wit h and t hat you're going t o m ap. I t 's useful t o separat e assem bling your m ind m ap from collect ing your source ideas.

Creating the source list Your source list can com e from free writ ing, from a cat ch [ Hack # 13] , or even from a chat t ranscript . What 's necessary is t o t urn t he source int o a list . Let 's st art wit h free writ ing. Think of a subj ect you t hink about a lot . Sit uat e yourself in front of a keyboard, close your eyes, and t hen t ype out everyt hing t hat com es t o you about t he subj ect . You can t ry t o focus on one t opic, or fan out t o j ust about everyt hing im port ant t o you. What ever you t hink about will appear in t he m ind m ap. When you are done, read what you wrot e. Wherever you spot a com plet e and dist inct idea, enum erat e it . Enum erat e ideas, not sent ences. Three sent ences on t he sam e idea receive j ust one num ber. One sent ence wit h t hree ideas in it receives t hree num bers. Suppose you had writ t en t he following in st ream - of- consciousness free writ ing: I t hink a lot about program m ing. I keep wondering, what about block- level design pat t erns? I 've not iced t hat people who are st art ing t o program don't know how t o hook from " I 'm visit ing every m em ber of a t wo- dim ensional array" t o " I need t wo nest ed for loops." What can we do about t hat ? I t hink we can m ake " Block Level Design Pat t erns." They're t oo elem ent ary t o be not ed by t he sophist icat ed Design Pat t erns com m unit y, but I t hink t hey would be useful nonet heless. We could show pat t erns of except ion use, pat t erns of condit ional loops, and t hings like how t o art iculat e decisions int o variables, and we could explain all t he t rade- offs involved in t hese t hings. Enum erat ed, it would look som et hing like t his:

I t hink a lot about program m ing. I keep wondering, what about ( # 1) block- level design pat t erns? I 've not iced t hat ( # 2) people who are st art ing t o program don't know how ( # 3) t o hook from " I 'm visit ing every m em ber of a t wo- dim ensional array" t o " I need t wo nest ed for loops." What can we do about t hat ? I t hink we can m ake " Block Level Design Pat t erns." They're ( # 4) t oo elem ent ary t o be not ed by t he sophist icat ed Design Pat t erns com m unit y, but I t hink t hey would be ( # 5) useful nonet heless. We could show ( # 6) pat t erns of except ion use, ( # 7) pat t erns of condit ional loops, and t hings like ( # 8) how t o art iculat e decisions int o variables, and we could ( # 9) explain all t he t rade- offs involved in t hese t hings. Now, draw up t he source list :

1 . Block- level design pat t erns 2 . Block pat t erns: for people st art ing t o program 3 . Block pat t erns: visit ing over 2- D array needs nest ed loops 4 . Block pat t erns: t oo elem ent ary for t he Design Pat t erns com m unit y 5 . People: useful for learning 6 . Block pat t erns: except ion handling 7 . Block pat t erns: condit ional loops 8 . Block pat t erns: decision int o variable 9 . Block pat t erns: explain t rade- offs Not e t hat we list t he num ber, a cont ext hint , and a few words t o describe t he idea. The cont ext hint s are j ust like t he cont ext hint s in a cat ch. Now t hat you have your source list , it 's t im e t o assem ble your m ind m ap.

Assembling the mind map Take a few ideas from your source list , and writ e t hem on a piece of paper; t ake a few m ore, and m ap t hem out t oo; and so on, unt il you've m apped t hem all. Cont inuously, in t he background, t hink about t he m ap as a whole. By t he t im e you reach 30 t o 50 it em s, t he m ap should be fairly int erest ing, wit h several clust ers. Put your first idea anywhere on t he page. When you place your second and t hird ideas, t hink about t he relat ionship bet ween t he ideas. Place relat ed ideas nearby , and put unrelat ed ideas far away . When you place an idea, j ust writ e t he num ber and one t o t hree words. Make im port ant ideas large. Make unim port ant ideas sm all. You can even abbreviat e sm all ideas t o j ust t heir num ber. Aft er a while, you'll have int erest ing clum ps of ideas. When you can nam e t he t hem e relat ing ideas t oget her, writ e down t he nam e in big let t ers bet ween t he ideas. I call t hese nam es m agnet words , because t hey represent what pulls ideas t oget her. Wit h t im e, you'll need m ore t han j ust dist ance t o show st ruct ure. I nt roduce lines . Connect relat ed m aj or ideas by line t o see st ruct ure. Vary t he lengt h, darkness, pat h, and arrangem ent of t he lines. I like t o use color. I recom m end four- color pens, if you are doing t his wit h paper. ( Bic m akes som e t hat are com m only available.) You can est ablish any sort of coloring convent ion; I t end t o use blue for st ruct ural elem ent s ( lines, m agnet words, et c.) and black for ideas.

As you draw, you will nat urally pay m ore and m ore at t ent ion t o st ruct ure. You m ight need t o redraw port ions of t he m ap a few different ways t o see what works right and feels right . I deally, wit h few except ions, your st ruct ure will give each idea one obvious place for it t o go. I f you find t hat a pair of ideas m eet s and t hat t hey are really t he sam e idea, j ust expressed in different ways or from different cont ext s, t his is a good sign. I t m eans your t hinking is synchronizing different cont ext s t hat share som et hing.

I f you find cont radict ions exposing t hem selves, t his, t oo, is good.

How It Works Mind m apping works because it challenges you t o place every t hought wit h respect t o all your ot her t hought s. Whenever you place a t hought ont o t he m ap, you ask yourself, " Now, how does t his idea fit in wit h all t he ot her ideas?" But it 's fast er t han com paring one t hought t o every ot her t hought on t he list . When you look at your m ap, you ask yourself, " Where should t his go?" Since t he m ap is spat ially arranged, you m ove t he t hought t o what ever area feels " warm er." When you find t he general place for your t hought , you need t o com pare it only against it s spat ial and st ruct ural neighbors. You can ignore t he ot her t hought s, for t he m ost part , because t hey are far away. I n t his way, you efficient ly place t hought s. When you've placed all your t hought s t his way, in relat ionship t o all t he ot her t hought s and wit h t he st ruct ure t o see t he ideas, you end up wit h a very nice t op- down organizat ion of your t hinking.

In Real Life Figure 2- 1 shows t he m ind m ap creat ed from t he source list in t he previous sect ion. Just like t he source list , each idea in t he m ind m ap consist s of it s num ber, a cont ext hint ( which can com e from spat ial posit ion or links t o ot her ideas) , and a few words t o describe it . The int ent ion is t o be able t o reconst ruct t he st ream of t hought s you st art ed wit h ( in t his case, t he paragraphs of t he exam ple beginning wit h " I t hink a lot about program m ing" ) and t o underst and how each of t hese t hought s relat es t o t he ot hers.

Figu r e 2 - 1 . A m in d m a p for block - le ve l de sign pa t t e r n s

A m ind m ap creat ed by anot her person can only be a pale exam ple, t hough; if you creat e your own, you'll really see how useful m apping your m ind can be.

End Notes

1 . Buzan, Tony, and Barry Buzan. 1993. The Mind Map Book . Penguin Books USA.

See Also Kim bro, Lion. 2003. How t o Make a Com plet e Map of Every Thought You Think online at ht t p: / / www.speakeasy.org/ ~ lion/ nb. Lion Kim bro

. Published

Hack 17. Build an Exoself

Ta k e a H ipst e r PD A, com bin e it w it h a pock e t cou n t dow n t im e r ca lle d t h e M ot ivAide r , a n d ga in be t t e r con t r ol of you r t h ou gh t s, e m ot ion s, a n d a ct ivit ie s. Science fict ion writ er Greg Egan explores t he concept of t he exoself in som e of his novels. I n Perm ut at ion Cit y , he defines it as " sophist icat ed, but nonconscious, supervisory soft ware which could reach int o...brain and body and fine- t une any part of it as required." 1 I n a lat er novel, Diaspora , he describes t he exoself's out look com ponent : " soft ware t hat could run inside your exoself and reinforce t he qualit ies t hat you valued m ost , if and when you felt t he need for such an anchor." 2 Pret t y excit ing! I 'd give a lot for a m ent al exoskelet on t hat I could program one day t o m ake m e less lazy t he next day, and keep m e from get t ing sucked int o a cult or pyram id schem e t he day aft er t hat . Needless t o say, however, we lack t he t echnology necessary t o build a t rue exoself t oday. Of course, it 's a lot easier t o reprogram yourself when you've been uploaded int o a com put er, as in Egan's fict ion. This hack creat es a sim pler syst em for repat t erning your t hinking, by using a Hipst er PDA ( m ade from a deck of index cards) and a periodic alarm device such as t he Mot ivAider. Com pared t o Egan's fict ional exoself, it 's alm ost em barrassingly prim it ivebut it 's a st art .

In Action Here's how t o design an exoself wit h t oday's m at erials. Not e t hat t he design is flexible. Many com ponent s have subst it ut es. I f we ever develop real exoselves, t hey'll be m ore com plex t han t oday's m ost powerful com put er, so feel free t o elaborat e on t his ext rem ely basic design.

Stack Bind t oget her a st ack of index cards wit h a binder clip or rubber band. Merlin Mann of t he 43 Folders product ivit y blog m ade t his design popular as t he " Hipst er PDA,"3 but t he st ack is m ore st ruct ured t han t he loose bundle of not es t hat t hat t erm im plies. Here are a couple t hings no good st ack should be wit hout :

I nst ruct ion cards As you encount er high- priorit y t o- do- list it em s, place t hem at t he t op of your st ack, wit h t he m ost im port ant it em on t op, followed by ot her it em s in decreasing priorit y. For exam ple, t he t op inst ruct ion card m ight read, " Finish writ ing paper." The one beneat h it m ight read, " Celebrat e writ ing paper." Aft er you " execut e" t he t op inst ruct ion card, discard it and st art t he one beneat h it . Thus, in t his case, first you'd writ e your paper, t hen go out for a lit t le R&R. Your st ack works m uch like t he inst ruct ion st ack in a com put er; only wit h t his hack, you're program m ing yourself.

To- do list

You should print t his four- up and duplex for com pact ness, if possible, and t hen bind it t o your st ack wit h rubber bands, a binder clip, or som et hing sim ilar. The st ack proper cont ains t asks you int end t o do t oday, and t he t o- do list cont ains t asks you plan t o do event ually. The goal is t o gradually t ransfer all of t he it em s on your t o- do list int o your st ack and " execut e" t hem . An int erm ediat e st aging area bet ween t he t o- do list and inst ruct ion cards m ight be calendar cards : one for each day in t he next week and each m ont h in t he next year. You can bind t hese anywhere in your st ack t hat you t hink is appropriat e.

To-do-list software Use any t o- do- list soft ware wit h which you're com fort able. I use Em acs PlannerMode. 4 The im port ant t hing for t he purpose of t his hack is t o be able t o print out your t o- do list so t hat you can bind it t oget her wit h your st ack.

Your outlook Not t o be confused wit h t he bloat ed soft ware product of a sim ilar nam e, t his is t he part of your exoself t hat m aint ains your clarit y and focus. I n t he back of your st ack, insert cards wit h m ot ivat ional quot at ions, short m ent al exercises t o m aint ain m ood and rat ionalit y ( such as t hose in t he em ot ional ABCs [ Hack # 57] ) , or rem inders and heurist ics ( such as " Rem em ber t o buy m y wife present s, j ust whenever" ) . Consult your out look when you feel st ressed, or sim ply whenever it occurs t o you.

MotivAider The Mot ivAider 5 is a sm all device, m uch like a pager, t hat you can set t o vibrat e at set int ervals t o keep you focused on what ever behavior you wish t o associat e wit h it . You can put t his silent count down t im er int o your pocket or clip it t o your belt , and t hen set it t o int ervals ranging from one m inut e t o one day. I t will vibrat e at t he specified int erval, t hen im m ediat ely reset it self, so if you set it for 45 m inut es it will vibrat e silent ly at 45- m inut e int ervals. Lat er m odels can vary t he int erval random ly. The Mot ivAider is a sublim e t ool. Som e people use it t o rem ind t hem selves t o sm ile or not t o slouch. You will use it t o rem ind yourself t o consult your st ack. " Program " yourself t o consult your st ack whenever t he Mot ivAider goes off, do what 's on t op, t hen posit ion t he next card. Writ e new cards as needed, offload long- t erm t o- do it em s t o your t o- do list , and som et im es m ove t hem t he ot her way.

Backup system Scan t he cards in your st ack, plus any ot her paper not es you have, and t hen save t hem t o hard disk wit h your t o- do list and ot her crit ical personal dat a. Check your crit ical dat a int o CVS or Subversion and find a friend wit h whom you can exchange rem ot e backups. Encrypt sensit ive dat a so t hat rem ot e sit es can't poke around in t he files. I f you enable secure rem ot e access t o your reposit ory, you can access your crit ical personal dat a from anywhere in t he world t hat has an I nt ernet connect ion. 6

In Real Life I haven't yet scanned all m y not ebooks and index cards and checked t hem int o Subversion; however, I have done everyt hing else in t his hack, and it keeps m e on t rack bet t er t han anyt hing else I 've t ried.

Here are som e exam ples of t he inst ruct ion cards I have writ t en for m y exoself: Card 1: Finish your t ask review. Card 2: Surf your del.icio.us inbox as a reward for finishing your t ask review. ( This pair of cards is an exam ple of snapping yourself t o at t ent ion [ Hack # 74] .) Do t he next t hree cards now! ( You can m ake using your exoself fun.) Do t his card; t hen st ick it back ont o t he st ack, five cards down. ( This card creat es a periodic rem inder.) Sure, it 's m ore like a child's crayon drawing of an exoself t han t he real t hing, but it could be your head st art on t he Singularit y. ( See ht t p: / / www.ugcs.calt ech.edu/ ~ phoenix/ vinge/ vingesing.ht m l for m ore on t he Singularit y.)

End Notes

1 . Egan, Greg. 1994. Perm ut at ion Cit y . HarperPrism . 2 . Egan, Greg. 1998. Diaspora . HarperPrism . 3 . Mann, Merlin. 2004 " I nt roducing t he Hipst er PDA." ht t p: / / www.43 folders.com / 2004/ 09/ int roducing_t he.ht m l. 4 . Em acsWiki. 2005. " Planner Mode." ht t p: / / www.em acswiki.org/ cgi- bin/ wiki/ PlannerMode. 5 . Mot ivAider; ht t p: / / habit change.com . ( You can order a Mot ivAider here. The sit e also cont ains downloadable docum ent at ion for t he device.) 6 . Hess, Joey. 2005. " Keeping Your Life in Subversion." ht t p: / / www.onlam p.com / pub/ a/ onlam p/ 2005/ 01/ 06/ svn_hom edir.ht m l.

See Also Mann, Merlin, and Danny O'Brien. 2005. " Focus: Or, Why Your Web Browser Needs a Hypot halam us." Make , Volum e 2 ( O'Reilly) . ( Rum inat ions on how t o rem ind yourself t o st ay on t rack.) MarkTAW.com . 2005. " Get t ing Back To Work: A Personal Product ivit y Toolkit ." ht t p: / / www.m arkt aw.com / blog/ Get t ingBackToWork.ht m l ( ent er a t ask for yourself t o do next , and keep t rack wit h a web app of how m any t im es you have followed t hrough) .

Hack 18. Pre-Delete Cruft

Cr u ft is clu t t e r t h a t bogs t h in gs dow n a n d ge t s in t h e w a y of ge t t in g t h in gs don e . I de a clu t t e r is m ost ly st u ff t h a t w e cou ld h a ve got t e n r id of t o be gin w it h . W h e n you in it ia t e a n a ct ivit y, de t e r m in e a k ill da t e for it a t t h e sa m e t im e . Com put er deskt ops overflow wit h icons. I nboxes are filled wit h ancient em ail. Real deskt ops overflow wit h paper: m ail, m agazines, print out s, not ebooks filled wit h old not es and sum s, wait ing t o be int egrat ed som eday ( when we have t he t im e) int o som e m ast er Tower of Babel, st epping us int o t he st ars. Face it : it 's m ost ly j unk, even when we've t ried t o weed it out along t he way. We im agine t hat we'll use it , and if we t hink we'll need even a sm all fract ion of it one day, we t hink we'd bet t er keep it . Som e of us are deeply at t ached t o old brilliance and are convinced t hat our m ount ains of ideas will be reviewed, collect ed, priorit ized, t urned int o plans, and convert ed int o fruit ful act ion som ehow. Or we worry t hat at som e point we're going t o need one of t hose lit t le not es, and we're going t o be sorry t hat we don't have it . Or perhaps we're worried t hat we're going t o have good ideas for only a lim it ed t im e, so we st art t o squirrel t hem away and hoard t hem . We spend so m uch t im e hoarding t hem st acking t hem , sort ing t hem , working around t hem , feeling bad about t hem t hat we don't get t o im plem ent any of t hem . Whet her you're at t ached t o your ideas or you're sim ply having problem s wit h your clut t er ( a.k.a. cruft ) , here's a lit t le t rick t hat will quickly wipe out m ost of your fut ure clut t er. I t 's called pre- delet ing , and it 's sim ple. The only hard part is adj ust ing your m ind int o t he st at e where you're willing t o do it . " But I don't want t o dest roy anyt hing, ever! " Don't worry, we'll address t hat lat er in t his hack. " But I 've got a com put er, and it can rem em ber t hings forever! " We'll t alk about t hat lat er also. " But it 's got t erabyt es of" Yes, yes, I know. We'll t alk lat er .

In Action Every t im e you creat e or receive som et hing, decide right t hen how long you're likely t o need it . I f you're working on som et hing for a couple of weeks, give it a kill dat e t wo m ont hs away. Give it as long a life as it m ight possibly need, but pick a dat e . Furt her, record t he inform at ion in a regular way. For exam ple, if you writ e t he year t hat it 's safe t o dest roy a part icular piece of paper on t he t op- right corner in purple ink, always do it t hat way. Make it consist ent , and m ake it easy t o see quickly. Then, when you're looking over papers lat er, you won't have t o search all over a page t o see whet her you can safely t hrow it away. You can j ust look in t he sam e spot : " Oh, t here, it says I could t hrow t his away t wo years ago, so it 's t rash ." Wit h a j aunt y grin, crum ple up t he paper t o t he ast onishm ent of your friends and co- workers, and casually t oss it over your shoulder int o t he t rash bin. Fellow t hought - keepers m ight be shockedshocked! at your readiness t o dest roy dat a .

Paper Whenever you writ e som et hing down, figure out when it will be safe t o dest roy it , and m ark it

accordingly. I f you're writ ing on a page and you know you won't want t o keep it a long t im e, or if you're j ust using a few sheet s of paper t o work out som e t hought s, put a light ly dashed X in red ink across t he front of t he page. You should st ill be able t o use t he page. This j ust signals you t o " dest roy on sight ." Nat urally, you'll know not t o t oss t he page t he hour or day when you're using it . But when you're done, if you ever see t hat paper again, you know t hat you have preaut horized t he im m ediat e dest ruct ion of t he page. Don't t hink t wice! Just t hrow it in t he t rash! But have fun doing so. That gleeful grin on your face can help dispel doubt in your m ind. Mark m ail as it com es in, m agazines, everyt hing t hat hit s your desk. Then respect t he kill dat es and don't second- guess yourself. You can even set up files for t hings t hat need t o be around a bit longer. I f t oday is June 7 and you know you'll need som et hing for t wo weeks, put it in a file m arked " June" and t hen t hrow away everyt hing in t hat file when July com es around. Make a file for July if you feel it will be needed unt il som et im e in July. Just be sure t hat you aren't m oving t hings forward indefinit ely. Be firm and st ick wit h t he original kill dat e.

Computer files You can m ark t hings sim ilarly when you work on your com put er. Creat e a direct ory called t m p , give yourself perm ission t o t hrow away anyt hing in it , and t hen work in it . Work inside t m p , save im port ant files t o m ore perm anent direct ories, and t hen delet e everyt hing in it at t he end of t he day. Have no doubt s: if t here were som et hing in it t hat you int ended t o keep for longer t han a day, you wouldn't have put it int o t hat direct ory . Your proj ect 's source code, if you are a program m er, does not go in t m p . But keep t he t ext of a t em porary file, or a download, or a t hrowaway proj ect , or anyt hing else wit h lim it ed ut ilit y in your t m p direct ory, and t hen get rid of it all every day. I f you need t o keep som et hing for a couple of days or a week, m ake folders for t he m ont hs as you did for paper. I n t hat case, m ake a t m pj un folder for t he m ont h of June and delet e t m pj un when July com es. You can also nam e t he folder t m p2006 and delet e it in 2007. By now you should have t he idea. For any m edium , you can find a st rat egy for com m unicat ing t o yourself when t o st op caring and j ust t hrow it out . When you have t hose rare t hings t hat you really m ust keep for a long t im e, you'll know it at a glance, because it won't have any red t ext on it or what ever signal you used for t hat m edium . For t hose im port ant t hings, you m ust do t he opposit e of pre- delet ion: set aside a special, prot ect ed space for t hem .

How It Works The heart of t his hack is m aking it easier t o rut hlessly elim inat e clut t er. Clut t er poses several problem s.

Clutter demands attention When you have a lot of clut t er, you need t o figure out which t hings you st ill need and which t hings you can chuck. I f you run int o a st ack of ideas ( in paper or elect ronic form ) , you don't necessarily know if you need t hem . Maybe t here's som et hing im port ant in t here, right ? So, you pull up a chair, and you go t hrough t hem one by one. I t can be quit e an em ot ional

ordeal. I f you've pre- delet ed, however, t here's no heart break, no t hinking, no considerat ion. Just t ossing.

Clutter makes it harder to find things I f you have clut t er, it 's obviously harder t o find t hings physically. But t his principle applies t o com put ers, t oo. Even if you have a lot of st orage and a wonderful indexing and searching syst em , it becom es harder and harder t o m anage and use t he m at erial you have as you gain m ore m at erial. The less you save, t he less you have t o work t hrough t o find what you need, and t he fast er it goes. You'll find t hat it 's m iraculously easier t o do t hings, all over t he placeat work, on t he com put er, whereverbecause you t hrew away your j unk. You m ight lose som et hing, of course, and t here m ight be t im es t hat you t hrew away som et hing you could have used, but you m ight have lost t he sam e t hing in t he clut t er, t oo. Given t hat you've st ored t ruly im port ant t hings in a safe place, and t hat alm ost anyt hing else can be replicat ed in one way or anot her, you m ight find t hat your newfound agilit y offers ret urns in increased concent rat ion t hat m ore t han com pensat e.

Clutter fills the future with the past An int erest ing t hing about records is t hat we t end t o see t hem again. That 's what t hey're t here for, aft er all. There's som et hing about looking backward, however, which seem s t o dam age t he soul. React ivat ing dead t hought pat t erns, over and over again, we can feel old desires like ghost s, m oving us t his way and t hat as we put ourselves under t heir sway again. A 15- year- old boy rem em bers want ing t o becom e an ast ronaut . A 23- year- old m an lam ent s a lost girlfriend. Even t he lit t le t hings carry ghost s: a shopping list never fulfilled for an old proj ect , a half- finished drawing, a st ory idea in a line. I f t he bad m em ories nag, happy m em ories can be even worse. Winning a m edal in sixt h grade. Old soccer t rophies. A special love let t er. To be sure, we rem em ber t hese t im es wit h love and fondness, but t here is also som et hing bad t here. There can com e t o be a st range gnawing feeling and a dissat isfact ion wit h a present t hat can never live up t o t he polished m em ories of old expect at ions. Be careful of what you force yourself t o rem em ber. Be m indful when sending m essages t o your fut ure self, because it m ight not want t o be bot hered so m uch.

In Real Life Pre- delet e t he t rappings of t he im m ediat e day. Keep t he im port ant m ent al art ifact s as long as you m ust , but be ready t o discard t hem when you are done. Don't end up saddled wit h a warehouse full of old ideas and m em ories so t hat t aking care of t hem edges out everyt hing else you can do t oday and t om orrow. You'll have less st uff pulling at your at t ent ion, it 'll be easier t o find what you want in t he present , and you'll set your fut ure free. Lion Kim bro

Chapter 3. Creativity Every hum an achievem ent is t he result of an init ial act of creat ivit y. St onehenge could not have been creat ed wit hout it , nor could t he book you are holding. Even som e kinds of logic, such as induct ive reasoning, require leaps of creat ivit y. Creat ivit y m ight appear t o be a m yst ical force, but in fact , it 's available t o everyone, even people who claim t hey're not creat ive. As count erint uit ive as it m ight seem , creat ivit y can be hacked . Som e of t he hacks in t his chapt er go so far as t o t ry t o m echanize creat ivit y. Whet her t hey all succeed is som et hing you'll have t o j udge yourself, but I hope you'll learn t o boost your creat ivit y regardless.

Hack 19. Seed Your Mental Random-Number Generator

You r m in d is lik e you r com pu t e r 's r a n dom - n u m be r ge n e r a t or : it n e e ds a " se e d" fr om t h e e n vir on m e n t t o br e a k ou t of it s r ou t in e s. You h a ve t o pu t som e t h in g in t o it t o ge t som e t h in g ou t ! Too oft en, brainst orm ing m eet ings t ake place in st erile, em pt y conference room s wit h bare walls and not hing t o look at anywhere else. They are alm ost like t he indust rial clean room s where m icrochips are m anufact ured and not a speck of dust is allowed t o gat her. I s it any wonder t hat so m any bad ideas com e out of t hese room s? The t rut h is t hat brains need " dust ." Brainst orm s, like rainst orm s, need nuclei around which ( b) raindrops can form . I f you st art wit h no ideas, you will end wit h no ideas. 1 Think of your m ind as a deskt op com put er faced wit h t he problem of generat ing a random num ber out of t hin air. Such a com put er cannot generat e t ruly random num bers; it can only perform a series of rigid calculat ions. From t he hum an point of view, random ness ent ers t he com put er only when it is program m ed t o consult it s real- t im e clock for som e real- world quant it y, such as t he num ber of m illiseconds since January 1, 1970. Given t his unpredict able input , t he PC can t hen go on t o generat e out put t hat looks quit e random and even creat ive. I n ot her words, t he com put er needs input from an out side source t o break out of it s rigid pat t erns. Hum ans, t oo, can becom e st uck in creat ive rut s. Everyone has a cert ain set of int erest s, ranging from t hings about which t hey are m ildly curious t o t hose about which t hey're com plet ely obsessed. Choreographer Twyla Tharp calls t his our " creat ive DNA." Som et im es, t hishardwiring leads t o repet it ion in our creat ive out put . At t hat point , we, t oo, need t o seed our m ent al random - num ber generat ors wit h new dat a t o kick us out of our rut s.

In Action You can seed your own creat ive process wit h alm ost anyt hing: Read a st reet sign. Read a st reet sign backward. Turn on t he radio or TV for 10 seconds. ( Rem em ber t o t urn it off! Don't accum ulat e negat ive m om ent um [ Hack # 65] ! ) Open a book at random . Use t he random - page feat ure of t he Wikipedia. Buy a m agazine you would never dream of reading, and read all of it . Free- associat e from t he first random st im ulus you encount er via one of t hese m et hods. What does it m ake you t hink of, and how does it relat e t o your proj ect ? You m ay find po [ Hack # 21] useful here t o j oin ideas t oget her.

Follow t hat t hought as far as you can, possibly em ploying t echniques such as SCAMPER[ Hack # 22] . Don't be afraid t o be silly. Som et im es a great idea is several silly ideas down t he line from t he seed. When you reach a dead end, seed again! I f you are having a brainst orm ing m eet ing in an em pt y conference room of t he sort already described, bring som e books, a m agazine, m usic, pict ures, anyt hing t hat can act as a creat ive seed. The Oblique St rat egies [ Hack # 23] are explicit ly designed wit h t his purpose in m ind. I f t he rut you are in ext ends not only t o your proj ect but also t o t he rest of your life, t ry rolling t he dice [ Hack # 49] .

In Real Life While working on m y lat est board- gam e design on t he bus t o work, I passed a sign in an indust rial zone t hat read " Am erican Fram e and Alignm ent ." I decided t o use t he word fram e as t he seed for m y brainst orm . One t hing led t o anot her, and I soon had a bunch of ideas dealing wit h enclosing gam es wit hin rule st ruct ures, wit h recursive gam es and fram es wit hin fram es , like t hose pict ures t hat show a person holding a pict ure of herself holding a pict ure of herself, and so on. This one seed for m y m ent al random - num ber generat or event ually shaped t he design of m y gam e syst em a great deal, and it is now called Gam eFram e. I t 's a sure t hing t hat m y " creat ive DNA" det erm ined t he shape of m y gam e, at least part ially. For exam ple, I 've been fascinat ed wit h recursion and self- reference at least since I read Gödel, Escher, Bach when I was 14. These powerful inclinat ions are analogous t o t he rigid program m ing of one's PC. However, t he st reet sign bum ped m e out of m y rut . Before I gave m y random - num ber generat or a seed t o chew on, t he only idea I cam e up wit h was t hat m y gam e m ight use drinking st raws as com ponent s!

End Notes

1 . Hall, Doug, and David Wecker. 1995. Jum p St art Your Brain . Werner Books.

See Also Random Wikipedia page ( ht t p: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Special: Random page) Random page from H2G2 ( ht t p: / / www.bbc.co.uk/ dna/ h2g2/ Random Edit edEnt ry) Ot her random URLs ( ht t p: / / random url.com ) Wikipedia ent ry for " Random num ber generat or" ( ht t p: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Random _num ber_generat or)

Hack 20. Force Your Connections

Use a sim ple pr oce ss t o ge n e r a t e m a n y com ple x ide a s qu ick ly fr om a lim it e d pool of sim ple ide a

The process of m orphological forced connect ions is fairly old; t he pict ure books for children t hat allow you t head of a giraffe wit h t he body of a hippo and t he t ail of a fish are one exam ple. The process was form alized at Calt ech in t he 1960s1 and was popularized in 1972 by Don Koberg and Jim Bagnall in t heir book The Univ

Most ot her books t hat discuss t he t echnique seem t o derive t heir discussion of it from The Universal Traveler t he sam e exam ple: creat ing a new design for a ballpoint pen. We'll t ake a som ewhat different approach.

In Action The basic process for m aking forced connect ions, as out lined by Koberg and Bagnall, is sim ple and sound:

1 . List possible feat ures of t he obj ect you are t rying t o creat e, one feat ure per colum n. For exam ple, t he include color, size, and shape.

2 . I n t he colum n under each feat ure variable, list as m any values for t hat variable as you can. For exam p you m ight list all t he colors of t he rainbow, as well as black, whit e, gold, and silver.

3 . Finally, random ly com bine t he values in your t able m any t im es, using one value from each colum n. To exam ple, you would use one color, one size, and one shape each t im e.

Technically, st eps 1 and 2 are m orphological analysis , and st ep 3 is t he m orphological force connect ions st age.

The result will be a random ly generat ed list of possibilit ies, none of which m ight be j ust what you're looking which will probably be int erest ing. Feel free t o fine- t une t he result s. For exam ple, you m ight not like t he sug t et rahedron, a m et er on a side," but " orange, t et rahedron, half a m et er on a side" m ight hit t he spot .

Of course, you can force connect ions wit h a pen and paper, as recom m ended in The Universal Traveler , but becom e widespread since 1972 and you m ight find t hem t o be a m uch m ore efficient t ool. To t hat end, t his Perl script called pyro , which is a som ewhat st ream lined successor t o a HyperCard st ack for t he Macint osh c I nspirograph t hat I released in t he 1980s. 3

I nspirograph could generat e anyt hing from New England place nam es ( like Lake Nat t agoonsucket pocket ) t o headlines. Because t he exam ples I included were hum orous, m any people who downloaded t he st ack t houg good for a laugh, but it was act ually int ended for serious design, as is pyro .

The Code

Place t he following Perl script in a file called pyro and m ake it execut able. You also can download t he pyro s accom panying ut opia.dat file from t his book's page on O'Reilly's web sit e ( see t he Preface for det ails) .

#!/usr/bin/perl -w my $infilename = $ARGV[0]; my $basevar = "\\@$ARGV[1]\\@"; my $pickatrandom = 1; if (($ARGV[2]) && ($ARGV[2] eq "all")) { $pickatrandom = 0; } # Seed the output file my $outfilename = "/tmp/pyro.txt"; open(OUTFILE, "> $outfilename") or die "Couldn't open $outfilename for writing: $!\\n"; print OUTFILE "$basevar\\n"; close(OUTFILE); local $/; undef $/; open(INFILE, "< $infilename") or die "Couldn't open $infilename for reading: $!\\n"; $infilecontents = ; close(INFILE); open(OUTFILE, "< $outfilename") or die "Couldn't open $outfilename for reading: $!\\n"; $outfilecontents = ; close(OUTFILE); while ($outfilecontents =~ /\\@[A-Za-z0-9]+\\@/) { local $/; undef $/; open(OUTFILE, "< $outfilename") or die "Couldn't open $outfilename for reading: $!\\n"; $outfilecontents = ; close(OUTFILE); # $baseline is the first line in OUTFILE with a variable. if ($outfilecontents =~ /^(.*?)(\\@\\w+\\@)(.*?)$/m) { $baseline = "$1$2$3"; $varname=$2; } chomp $varname; if ($infilecontents =~ /\\#$varname\\n(.*?)\\n\\n/s) { $varblock = "$1\\n"; } else { die "Did not find variable $varname in $infilename.\\n"; } @varblockarr = split (/\\n/, $varblock); @outlinesarr = (); if ($pickatrandom) { # Generate a random string from the input elements

$randline = $varblockarr [ rand @varblockarr ]; $curline = $baseline; chomp ($curline); chomp ($randline); $curline =~ s/$varname/$randline/; push (@outlinesarr, $curline); } else { # Generate all possible combinations of the input elements foreach $varline (@varblockarr) { $curline = $baseline; chomp ($curline); chomp ($varline); $curline =~ s/$varname/$varline/; push (@outlinesarr, $curline); } } $outlines = join ("\\n", @outlinesarr); $outfilecontents =~ s/\\Q$baseline\\E/$outlines/s or die "baseline not found.\\n"; $outfilecontents =~ s/\\n\\n/\\n/mg; open(OUTFILE, "> $outfilename") or die "Couldn't open $outfilename for writing: $!\\n"; print OUTFILE $outfilecontents; close(OUTFILE); } if ($pickatrandom) { print $outfilecontents; }

Running the Hack Here are t he first 20 lines of a dat afile ( called ut opia.dat ) for t he pyro script . You can use t his file t o genera set t ings for fant asy and science fict ion st ories. The values for t he variables were culled from t wo reference speculat ive fict ion. 4,5

I n case you don't have a com put er running Perl handy, or if you'd sim ply rat her not get int code, I 'll explain an alt ernat e way t o do t he sam e t hing wit h dice lat er.

#@place@ @type@ made of @material@ @location@, inhabited by @inhabitants@, @govt@, @special@ #@type@ a cavern a city a country a forest a jungle a mountain a planet a sealed habitat

a village an island #@material@ a superstrong material crystal flesh gold

See t he " How t o Run t he Program m ing Hacks" sect ion of t he Preface if you need general in on running Perl script s.

I f you have Perl inst alled on your syst em , save t he pyro script and t he ut opia. dat file in t he sam e direct ory, pyro by t yping t he following com m and wit hin t hat direct ory: perl pyro utopia.dat place

I f you're on a Linux or Unix syst em , you m ight also be able t o use t he following short cut : ./pyro utopia.dat place

Each variable in any pyro dat afile you creat e should be wrapped in t wo @ signs, as in t his exam ple. To assig possible values t o a variable, place t he variable on a line by it self preceded by a hash m ark ( #) .

Each successive line should cont ain one possible value. Separat e variable/ value sect ions wit h blank lines, an m ore blank lines at t he end of t he file. You can creat e variables whose values cont ain ot her variables, as sh place variable in t his exam ple.

In Real Life

Table 3- 1 shows t he dat a from ut opia.dat in t abular form . Each colum n of t ext cont ains t he 10 possible valu variable, whose nam e is at t he head of t hat colum n. There are six colum ns of 10 it em s, so you can generat possible fant asy places from t his dat a.

Ta ble D a t a t o ge n e r a t e fa n t a sy pla ce s No.

Type

Material

Location

Inhabitants

Govt.

0

A cavern

A superst rong m at erial

I n an unknown place

Aliens

A socialist ut opia

Exc war

1

A cit y

Cryst al

I n anot her universe

Apes

An anarchy

Wh can pra

2

A count ry

Flesh

I n space

Com plet ely norm al people

Ruled by a corporat ion

Wh is h

3

A forest

Gold

I n t he desert

Fairies

Ruled by a council of m any species

Wh is in

4

A j ungle

Paper

I n t he dream world

Fish

Ruled by a god

Wh is e

5

A m ount ain

Porcelain

I n t he fourt h dim ension

Ghost s

Ruled by a heredit ary m onarch

Wh is c

6

A planet

Rubber

I n t he polar regions

Giant s

Ruled by a m agical elit e

Wh bou

7

A sealed habit at

St one

I n t he sky

I nsect s

Ruled by ancient rit ual

Wh m ic

8

A village

Wat er

Under t he Eart h

I nt elligent plant s

Ruled by com put er

Wh

9

An island

Wood

Under t he sea

Robot s

Ruled by wom en

Wh cha

I f you have a 10- sided die ( or, even bet t er, six of t hem ) , or if you have som e ot her way t o generat e random creat e fant asy places using Table 3- 1, generat ing digit s sequent ially and select ing one it em from each colum Ut opia # 895779 is " a village m ade of wood in t he fourt h dim ension, inhabit ed by insect s, ruled by an ancien locat ion changes." The pyro script will do t he sam e t hing fast er. I t t akes t wo m andat ory argum ent s and a t hird opt ional one: The first argum ent is t he nam e of t he dat afile t o use, such as ut opia.dat .

The second argum ent is t he nam e of t he variable from t he dat afile t hat you want t o expand, such as p wrap t he variable nam e in @ signs t o m at ch t he dat afile; pyro will do t hat for you.) The t hird argum ent , which is opt ional, is t he word all. I f t his opt ion is used, pyro will generat e all pos com binat ions of t he elem ent s in t he dat afile, inst ead of one random elem ent .

Generat ing all possible com binat ions wit h t he all argum ent m ight t ake som e t im e.

Thus, t he following com m and will generat e all one m illion possible fant asy places and leave t he result s in t h / t m p/ pyro.t xt : ./pyro utopia.dat place all

But t his com m and will sim ply generat e one fant asy place: ./pyro utopia.dat place

Here's a slight ly edit ed console log of running t he previous com m and:

$./pyro utopia.dat place a mountain made of rubber in the sky, inhabited by fish, ruled by a hereditary monarch, where learning is exalted $./pyro utopia.dat place an island made of crystal in the fourth dimension, inhabited by aliens, an anarchy, which $./pyro utopia.dat place a sealed habitat made of paper in the dream world, inhabited by giants, a socialist utopia, where learning is exalted $./pyro utopia.dat place an island made of flesh in the fourth dimension, inhabited by fairies, an anarchy, which is boundless $./pyro utopia.dat place a mountain made of a superstrong material in the dream world, inhabited by apes, an anarchy, where cannibalism is practiced $./pyro utopia.dat place a cavern made of porcelain in the polar regions, inhabited by intelligent plants, ruled by a council of many species, which is microscopic $./pyro utopia.dat place a sealed habitat made of stone in an unknown place, inhabited by giants, ruled by a magical elite, where everyone is insane $./pyro utopia.dat place a sealed habitat made of flesh in the desert, inhabited by giants, ruled by a corporation, where cannibalism is practiced $./pyro utopia.dat place an island made of paper under the sea, inhabited by fairies, an anarchy, which is boundless $./pyro utopia.dat place a forest made of flesh in an unknown place, inhabited by fairies, ruled by computer, exceedingly warlike

While pyro is useful as it st ands, it 's cert ainly possible t o im prove it . More robust error checking could be add checks for circular variable definit ions, and lack of a newline at t he end of t he file or bet ween ent ries) , and i t he num ber of random st rings t o be generat ed were an alt ernat e value for t he t hird com m and- line opt ion. I so hack away!

End Notes

1.

1 . Rit chey, Tom . 2002. " General Morphological Analysis: A general m et hod for non- quant ified m odeling." ht t p: / / www.swem orph.com / m a.ht m l.

2 . Koberg, Don, and Jim Bagnall. 1976. The Universal Traveler: A Soft - Syst em s Guide t o Creat ivit y, Problem t he Process of Reaching Goals . William Kaufm ann, I nc. 3 . The original I nspirograph. ht t p: / / ron.ludism .org/ cloudbust ers/ inspirograph- 10.hqx. 4 . Manguel, Albert o, and Gianni Guadalupi. 1980. The Dict ionary of I m aginary Places . Macm illan Publishi 5 . St ableford, Brian. 1999. The Dict ionary of Science Fict ion Places . The Wonderland Press.

See Also

Raym ond Queneau of t he French lit erary group, t he Oulipo [ Hack # 24] , used m orphological forced conn 1960 book Cent Mille Milliards de Poèm es , or One Hundred Thousand Billion Poem s , a flip book wit h 10 for each of t he 14 lines of a sonnet , hence 10 14 or 100,000,000,000,000 sonnet s. As usual, com put er t hing easier. Here's a decent web version in English: ht t p: / / www.bevrowe.info/ Poem s/ QueneauRandom

The Oulipo m em ber Harry Mat hews also devised a forced- connect ions procedure dubbed Mat hews's Al neit her random nor exhaust ive. You can read about it and experim ent wit h it online: ht t p: / / bum ppo.hart wick.edu/ Oulipo/ Mat hews.php.

Hack 21. Contemplate Po

Use a n e w w or d t o e x a m in e se e m in gly im possible a lt e r n a t ive s, j u x t a pose r a n dom ide a s, a n d ch a lle n ge st a le con ce pt s. Creat ivit y expert Edward de Bono invent ed t he word po t o shake up people's t hought s. He list ed several et ym ologies for it . One is t hat it can be seen as " arising from such words as hypo t hesis, suppo se, po ssible, and even po et ry" ; anot her is t hat it st ands for provocat ive operat ion , a kind of m ent al hack t o get ideas " unst uck" and m ove t hem forward. 1 Wherever t he word com es from , po is a great t ool for playing wit h ideas and seeing t he pot ent ial surrounding t hem , wit hout get t ing t oo caught up in t he det ails.

In Action Provocat ive operat ions wit h po com e in t hree basic kinds, which de Bono calls PO- 1, PO- 2, and PO- 3. 2 Each is useful t o provoke cert ain kinds of t hinking and m ove a creat ive sit uat ion forward in a different way.

PO-1 PO- 1 m eans using po t o prot ect a " bad" idea from prem at ure j udgm ent so t hat it can be used as a st epping- st one t o genuinely good ideas. For exam ple, if you are considering solut ions t o t he problem s t hat t he U.S. space program has suffered, you m ight say t o yourself, " Po t he space shut t le should be blown int o a m illion pieces." Norm ally, blowing up t he space shut t le would be a bad idea, but po " prot ect s" it so t hat it can lead t o pot ent ially good ideas. You don't t hink about and j udge t hat specific idea, but focus inst ead on ideas t hat com e from it . I n t his exam ple, one idea m ight be a group of sm aller, m odular vehicles holding only one person t hat assem ble int o a larger st at ion when in space, and t hen break apart again for reent ry. Not only m ight t his be cheaper and easier t o produce, but also, in case of a disast er, only one person would be killed inst ead of t he whole crew.

PO-2 PO- 2 m eans using po t o j uxt apose ideas random ly t o help you seed your m ent al random num ber generat or [ Hack # 19] . Suppose you are t rying t o develop a new idea for a gam e. You m ight provoke yourself wit h t he phrase " gam e po eyeglasses," which m ight t hen lead t o t he following ideas: An inexpensive video gam e syst em built int o a set of goggles t hat proj ect t he graphics direct ly ont o t he ret ina A scavenger hunt for charit y, wit h prizes for t he t eam t hat collect s t he largest num ber of used eyeglasses t o be recycled in developing count ries A dext erit y gam e in which people who wear eyeglasses are handicapped by having t o t ake

t hem off and people who don't are handicapped by having t o put t hem on Probably not all of t hese ideas would be useful t o you, but som e m ight , and if t hey aren't , you can replace eyeglasses wit h som e ot her word.

PO-3 PO- 3 m eans using po as a creat ive challenge for change. I t is used t o set aside an exist ing idea, or part s of one, wit hout act ually rej ect ing it . For exam ple, consider t he st at em ent m ade in a m eet ing you are at t ending: " Our group should m eet every week, as we always have." You m ight ask t he following quest ions: " Po every : why not alt ernat e weeks?" " Po week : why not every five days, or every m ont h?" " Po group : why doesn't our group break int o m ult iple sm aller, overlapping special int erest groups t hat can m eet when t hey want ?"

How It Works The subt it le of de Bono's book Po is Beyond Yes and No . According t o de Bono, t he problem wit h m uch of hum an t hought is t hat we prem at urely accept or rej ect ideas wit h yes or no , and once we accept one, we cling t o it far longer t han is useful. The word po is int ended t o provide a kind of breat hing space out side of what de Bono calls t he " YES/ NO syst em ," where we can pause and coolly consider all t he possibilit ies. Met aphorically speaking, inst ead of aut om at ically t urning t o yes or no when we see an idea, we can j um p up and look at t hem bot h from a higher viewpoint .

Douglas Hofst adt er has anot her word for t his: he calls it j oot sing , for j um ping out of t he syst em .

In Real Life Po is a t errific t ool for isolat ed brainst orm ing scenarios, but it can be highly useful in t he heat of everyday life as well. For exam ple, if som eone cut s you off in a car, your nat ural react ion m ight be t o get hot and lean on t he horn, cussing loudly. I f inst ead you m ut t er " po" t o yourself, you m ight rem ind yourself t o invoke what general sem ant ics calls a sem ant ic pause or t he wedge of awareness : 3 a pause t o reflect on what you are doing before you do it . You can t hen ask yourself whet her it 's really wort h upset t ing yourself over t he incident . Sim ilarly, if your spouse knows t he word po , one of you can say it t o rem ind yourselves t hat an argum ent need not have a winner and a loser, but t hat bot h part ies can ret ain t heir different viewpoint s. By saying " Po! " you're saying, " Let 's agree t o disagree." You can also use it t o reach a reasoned decision t oget her. When you're t em pt ed t o run t o opposit e sides and dig in your heels, you can bot h st ep up ont o po and look at t he sit uat ion from t he sam e calm spot .

End Notes

1 . de Bono, Edward. 1999. Six Thinking Hat s . Back Bay Books. 2 . de Bono, Edward. 1972. Po: Beyond Yes and No . Penguin Books. 3 . Dawes, Milt on. " The Wedge of Consciousness: A Self- Monit oring Device." ht t p: / / m ilt ondawes.com / m d_wedge.ht m l ( well wort h reading if you find t his hack useful) .

See Also The Po Machine ( ht t p: / / www.davidaspit zley.org/ PoMachine/ I ndex.asp) conj oins words random ly wit h PO- 2 and collect s visit ors' connect ions bet ween t hem .

Hack 22. Scamper for Ideas

SCAM PER is a m n e m on ic a cr on ym for a se t of ba sic ope r a t ion s t h a t you ca n a pply t o old ide a s t o e x t e n d t h e m in n e w dir e ct ion s. The SCAMPER ( Subst it ut e, Com bine, Adapt , Modify, Put t o anot her use, Elim inat e, Reverse) t echnique is a highly port able creat ivit y t oolbox. I t was developed by Bob Eberle as a unified set of brainst orm ing t ools wit h a sim ple m nem onic and was first published by Michael Michalko in his book Thinkert oys .1 You can't get dat a off a com put er wit h a blank hard drive, and you can't get creat ive ideas out of your brain wit hout having put som et hing int o it first . SCAMPER is a st ruct ured way of seeding your brain's random - num ber generat or [ Hack # 19] t o produce creat ive out put when you feel uninspired.

In Action Use SCAMPER as a checklist . Choose an obj ect t o t hink about creat ively, such as a drinking cup, and t hen run down t he it em s in t he m nem onic checklist ( Subst it ut e, Com bine, Adapt , and so on) , asking yourself t he quest ion associat ed wit h each one in Table 3- 2, which explains t he basic st ruct ured brainst orm ing t echniques of SCAMPER. The word t arget refers t o t he obj ect you're t hinking about , such as t he drinking cup in t he previous exam ple.

Ta ble SCAM PER m n e m on ic ch e ck list Mnemonic

Key

Questions to ask

S

Subst it ut e

How can you subst it ut e som et hing else for t he t arget or wit hin t he t arget ?

C

Com bine

How can you com bine som et hing else wit h t he t arget t o produce som et hing new?

A

Adapt

What t echniques, m echanism s, or com ponent s can you adapt t o t he t arget from elsewhere?

M

Modify/ m agnify

How can you m odify t he t arget in a useful way? What aspect s of t he t arget should you m agnify or increase?

P

Put t o anot her use How can you put t he t arget t o ot her uses ?

E

Elim inat e/ m inim ize

What should be elim inat ed from t he t arget , or m inim ized in it ?

What is t he opposit e ( reverse ) of t he Reverse/ rearrange t arget ? What rearrangem ent s are possible wit hin t he t arget or by using it ?

R

For exam ple, if t he it em is Subst it ut e and you're working wit h t he drinking cup, ask yourself, " How can I subst it ut e som et hing else for t he cup? How can I subst it ut e som et hing else wit hin t he cup?" You m ight com e up wit h t he idea of a new kind of bot t le t o drink from inst ead of a cup ( here in hydrat ed Seat t le, everyone I know drinks from Nalgene bot t les and t he like) , or you m ight develop t he idea of subst it ut ing a bet t er m at erial for t he one t he cup is m ade of. What about an indest ruct ible t it anium cup? The only cup you'll ever need!

You can generalize t he t echnique used t o creat e SCAMPER it self and assem ble your own m ent al t oolbox [ Hack # 75] t hat goes beyond brainst orm ing, including hacks for m em ory, m ent al m at h, crit ical t hinking, and so on.

How It Works The SCAMPER t echnique is basically a cross bet ween seeding your m ent al random - num ber generat or [ Hack # 19] and using m nem onics ( your dear, dear friend) j ust as you can use t hem t o rem em ber 10 t hings t o bring when you leave t he house [ Hack # 1] . I n t his case, however, t he seeding is done in a very st ruct ured way, wit h " known fruit ful" m ent al seeds, and t he m nem onics are used t o rem em ber t o carry m ent al t ools wit h you, inst ead of physical ones.

In Real Life I recent ly applied SCAMPER t o t he t radit ional card gam e Rum m y ( ht t p: / / pagat .com / rum m y/ rum m y.ht m l) t o develop t he basis for a new card gam e, Scrum m y. I n case you haven't played Rum m y, it 's a card gam e based on collect ing set s ( cards wit h t he sam e num ber, such as 5, 5, and 5) and runs ( cards in sequence, such as 5, 6, 7, and 8) . These cards are laid on t he t able in groups called m elds ; players can also add t o a m eld on t he t able by laying off t heir own cards in front of t hem selves. A Rum m y gam e ends when a player goes out by playing her last cards. Here are som e ideas t hat cam e t o m e by applying SCAMPER operat ions t o t he basic rules of Rum m y. Not e t hat I didn't use t he SCAMPER t ools in st rict order. You don't need t o, eit her. Also, I m ight not use all t he ideas I generat ed in t he final gam e. SCAMPER is best used for brainst orm ing new ideas; edit ing t he possibilit ies is a j ob for lat er developm ent .

Rearrange Set s and runs can be rearranged t o m ake new kinds of m elds, such as t he digit s of p ( 3, 14, 15, 9...) or even num bers only ( 2, 4, 6, 8 ...) .

Put t o anot her use Use Scrum m y t o select a winner for a prize, such as get t ing a back rub, not having t o cook dinner, or picking t he next gam e t o play.

Subst it ut e Use a deck of cards ot her t han t he st andard deck t o play, such as St icheln, a six- suit ed Germ an deck t hat has t hree suit s wit h cards from 018 and t hree suit s t hat range from 020.

Com bine Com bine card play wit h dice play. For exam ple, if I decided t o use t he St icheln cards, I could specify a 20- sided die ( d20) and link rolling a 120 on t he die wit h t he num bers on t he cards from 0 t o 20 t o m ake cert ain special act ions possible.

Adapt There is already a gam e syst em t hat com bines dice wit h special cards, and it 's called t he Dice Deck. Can you play a kind of rum m y wit h t he Dice Deck? Yes: Dice Deck Rum m y. I f you roll a 7 during Dice Deck Rum m y, you can lay down a set of sevens ( such as 7, 7, 7) or a run t hat begins or ends wit h 7 ( such as 4, 5, 6, or 8, 9, 10) . The single 20- sided die should work well if I adapt t his.

Elim inat e/ m inim ize Elim inat e players' m elding or laying off in front of t hem selves: each player m ust lay cards direct ly in front of anot her player.

Reverse Point s in Scrum m y are negat ive rat her t han posit ive: you t ry t o avoid t hem rat her t han score t hem , as you do in Rum m y. Ot her players receive negat ive point s when you lay cards in front of t hem .

Modify Modify t he concept of " going out ." Replace it wit h " m axing out ." No one ends t he gam e by going out when his hand is em pt y; he j ust replenishes his hand. Maxing out happens when a player scores - 100 point s; she is t hen out of t he gam e.

Magnify Magnify t he " pet t y diplom acy" com m on in som e gam es. Through t he rules, encourage players t o gang up and knock one anot her out . And so, by applying SCAMPER t o an old gam e, I quickly developed t he out line of a new gam e. What new places can you SCAMPER t o?

End Notes

1 . Michalko, Michael. 1991. Thinkert oys . Ten Speed Press.

Hack 23. Deck Yourself Out

Cr e a t ivit y de ck s a r e se t s of su gge st ive a ph or ism s for ge t t in g cr e a t ive ly u n st u ck for e x a m ple , u n block in g you r w r it e r 's block . Th e y com e in se ve r a l for m s: a s de ck s of ca r ds, a s PC a n d PD A a pplica t ion s, a n d e ve n a s scr ipt s t h a t you ca n con su lt via t h e W e b, w h e r e ve r you a r e . Many hacks in t his book use som e form of random ized input t o st im ulat e creat ivit y or t o break deadlocked decisions, such as seeding your m ent al random - num ber generat or [ Hack # 19] , rolling t he dice [ Hack # 49] , not overt hinking it [ Hack # 48] , and forcing connect ions [ Hack # 20] . This should not surprise you. Hum an use of random st im uli is ancient , ranging from st aring at t he clouds, t o reading ent rails, t o poring over Tarot cards. The hum an brain is well adapt ed t o finding pat t erns in a wide range of st im uli, so it 's sm art t o use t his nat ural funct ionalit y t o focus conscious t hought and capt ure less- conscious t hought s. I n recent years, a new genre of random st im ulus has been developed t hat I 'll call t he creat ivit y deck . Designers of creat ivit y decks aim t o fill t hem wit h ideas and st rat egies t hat are good in t hem selves and don't require so m uch dream y dissociat ion t o workas cloud gazing does, for exam ple. These decks have becom e enorm ously popular, so t here are now m any t o choose from . And t hey're available in m any different form at s, so you can select a deck and form at t o suit your t ast es and needs.

In Action This hack will exam ine t hree of what I consider t he m ost im port ant and popular creat ivit y decks current ly available: t he Oblique St rat egies, t he Creat ive Whack Pack, and t he Observat ion Deck.

The Oblique Strategies The Oblique St rat egies are a creat ivit y deck developed in 1975 by Brit ish paint er Pet er Schm idt and m usician Brian Eno ( not ed for his m ind m usic [ Hack # 27] ) . They have since gone t hrough several edit ions. The st rat egies were originally int ended for m usicians and ot her art ist s. Each card cont ains a st rat egy for solving a problem in t he st udio or anot her work environm ent . The cards are int ended t o rem ind t he user of ideas t hat m ight not seem obvious under pressure. All of t he st rat egies were originally im port ant working principles for som eone: init ially Eno and Schm idt , and lat er t heir friends and colleagues such as St ewart Brand of t he Whole Eart h Cat al og . Alt hough no m agical powers are claim ed for t he deck, an Oblique St rat egies consult at ion has a subt le, m yst erious, gnom ic feel t o it , som ewhat like t he I Ching. Oft en, t he user has t o t ap int uit ion t o int erpret a card, which adds t o t he divinat ory feeling. Here is t he t ext from som e t ypical cards: Ask people t o work against t heir bet t er j udgm ent Which part s can be grouped?

Take away t he elem ent s in order of apparent non- im port ance Go t o an ext rem e, m ove back t o a m ore com fort able place Wat er Over t he years, t he original Oblique St rat egies have been m ade available in m ult iple edit ions and in a variet y of form at s. For exam ple, t hey were recent ly released as a widget for Mac OS X. 1 Figure 3- 1 shows what t he widget looks like before and aft er t urning over t he virt ual card.

Figu r e 3 - 1 . Th e Obliqu e St r a t e gie s w idge t for M a c OS X

The st rat egies t hem selves have also becom e applicable t o m ore sit uat ions t han j ust m usic and paint ing, alt hough vest iges of t he original purposes rem ain. I f you are a sm art , creat ive person who prefers elegant am biguit y t o having everyt hing spelled out , t he Oblique St rat egies deck m ight be for you. You can find Oblique St rat egies applicat ions for num erous plat form s, including t he Palm , at t he official Oblique St rat egies web sit e. 2 As I m ent ioned, you can also consult t he st rat egies online. 3

The Creative Whack Pack The popular Creat ive Whack Pack,4 developed by Roger von Oech in 1992, is sim ilar t o t he Oblique St rat egies deck in concept , but is posit ioned m ore for businesspeople t han art ist s. The deck has 64 cards wit h t ext and graphics t aken prim arily from von Oech's book, A Whack on t he Side of t he Head . The cards are split int o four suit s of 16 cards each: Explorer ( blue) , Art ist ( orange) , Judge ( green) , and Warrior ( red) . These suit s represent von Oech's view of t he m ain roles in creat ive t hought , sim ilar t o Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hat s .5

You can obt ain t he Creat ive Whack Pack and relat ed m at erials from t he aut hor's web sit e, 6 where you'll also find an online version of t he deck t hat you can t ry. Figure 3- 2 shows a sam ple page wit h t he t ext and im age of a t ypical Judge card from t he Creat ive Whack Pack.

Figu r e 3 - 2 . An on lin e sa m ple ca r d fr om t h e Cr e a t ive W h a ck Pa ck

The deck com es wit h num erous exercises ot her t han j ust drawing a card and following inst ruct ions. For exam ple, t he " Three Day Agenda" exercise inst ruct s you t o pick five cards for act ions you'd like t o t ake in t he next t hree days, ret urning t hose cards t o t he deck as you com plet e t hem .

The Observation Deck The Observat ion Deck 7 is a creat ivit y deck aim ed especially at writ ers wit h writ er's block. I t was developed in 1998 by Naom i Epel, an aut hor whose day j ob is lit erary escort ( m aking sure t hat aut hors on book t ours get fed, arrive at t heir venues on t im e, have necessary supplies, and so on) . I n t he course of escort ing aut hors around San Francisco, she grilled t hem on t heir own m ind perform ance hacks, which she t hen dist illed int o a deck of 50 cards and an accom panying 160- page book. When st uck, a writ er draws a card from t he deck and looks up t he corresponding chapt er in t he book. The t it les are brief and evocat ive. Here are a few: " Zoom I n and Out " " Rearrange" " Feed Your Senses" " Swit ch I nst rum ent s" The chapt ers are t oo long t o quot e in full, but by way of exam ple, t he " Swit ch I nst rum ent s" chapt er suggest s t rying different ways of writ ing, such as dict at ion, handwrit ing, or writ ing in anot her language. I t backs up t hese suggest ions wit h anecdot es about aut hors such as Spalding Gray and T.S. Eliot .

Unfort unat ely, t here is no online version of t he Observat ion Deck, as t here is wit h t he Oblique St rat egies and Creat ive Whack Pack decks, but at t he t im e of t his writ ing, t he Observat ion Deck is available from m ost m aj or brick- and- m ort ar bookst ores and online booksellers.

In Real Life To get st art ed on writ ing t he current hack, I pulled a card from t he Observat ion Deck. I t was " Ask a Quest ion." The inspirat ion for t he card cam e t o Epel from colum nist Jon Carroll, who quot ed Rudyard Kipling when asked where he got his m at erial: I have six hum ble serving m en They t aught m e all I knew Their nam es are what and where and when and why and how and who. Epel describes her int eract ion wit h Carroll in t he book t hat accom panies t he Observat ion Deck, and suggest s t here t hat t he reader creat e yet anot her deck of cards. She writ es: Creat e a deck of quest ion cards t o use whenever you feel st uck. Print one quest ion on each of seven blank cardsyou should have six serving m en cards and one t hat reads " What if?" Epel's idea is t hat t he reader should draw a quest ion card at random and t hen use t hat quest ion t o go deeper int o his m at erial. When I st art ed writ ing t he current hack, I m ade m y own " serving m en" deck. I drew t he " Who?" card first , so I st art ed by learning m ore about t he creat ors of t he various creat ivit y decks I was going t o describe, such as Brian Eno and Pet er Schm idt , Roger von Oech, and Naom i Epel herself. I didn't use all t he m at erial I gat hered, but it was a great j um p- st art . Here's a som ewhat less art ificial exam ple of using a creat ivit y deck. On one recent t echnical writ ing j ob, I was working wit h a part icularly int ransigent lit erat e program m ing t ooland som e part icularly int ransigent upper m anagem ent . I consult ed t he Oblique St rat egies. I t hink t he st rat egy I drew was " Disciplined self- indulgence," which led m e t o ask m yself which part s of m y j ob I enj oyed t he m ost and whet her I could use t hem t o solve t he problem . One of t he aspect s of m y j ob t hat I enj oyed m ost was script ing t he docum ent at ion build process, usually wit h Perl, so I cam e up wit h t he idea t o post - process t he t roublesom e docum ent at ion wit h a series of Perl script s, which I quickly wrot e. When I showed t he final product t o m y m anager, she was am azed and all but called m e a m agician. She asked m e how I had got t en t he idea for t he solut ion, so I showed her t he online Oblique St rat egies applicat ion I had consult ed. She was crest fallen. Suddenly, I was no longer a m agician, but a m ount ebank. I n t his case, t he Oblique St rat egies cert ainly helped m e solve t he problem , but I found a possible pit fall wit h creat ivit y decks: people who don't underst and t hem m ay believe t hat t he decks are doing your t hinking for you.

End Notes

1 . The Mac OS X widget for t he Oblique St rat egies is available at ht t p: / / www.apple.com / downloads/ dashboard/ reference/ oblique.ht m l. 2 . The Oblique St rat egies web sit e is locat ed at ht t p: / / www.rt qe.net / Oblique St rat egies. 3 . You can find Oblique St rat egies online at ht t p: / / st oney.sb.org/ eno/ oblique.ht m l. 4.

2. 3. 4 . von Oech, Roger. 1992. Creat ive Whack Pack . U.S. Gam es Syst em s, I nc. 5 . de Bono, Edward. 1999. Six Thinking Hat s . Back Bay Books. 6 . Buy t he Creat ive Whack Pack, find relat ed m at erials, and view sam ple cards at ht t p: / / www.creat ivet hink.com . 7 . Epel, Naom i. 1998. The Observat ion Deck . Chronicle Books.

See Also The I dea Generat ion Met hods sit e ( ht t p: / / www.ideagenerat ionm et hods.com / m et hods/ card- decks.ht m l) list s a num ber of ot her creat ivit y decks. You can buy an official Oblique St rat egies deck of t he lat est edit ion online ( ht t p: / / www.enoshop.co.uk) for 30 Brit ish pounds. I f you'd like a real deck of Oblique St rat egies cards t hat you can hold in your hand, but you don't want t o pay m ore t han $50 plus shipping from t he UK, you can obt ain a print able PDF deck from ht t p: / / www.st ret t a.com / ~ m at t hew/ resources/ oblique/ index.ht m l. ( I have also creat ed a print able deck based on t he com bined list of st rat egies from t he GPLed Palm applicat ion at t he official Oblique St rat egies sit e and m ay m ake it available som eday.) A GreaseMonkey script ( ht t p: / / m asculinehygiene.com / sburke/ Oblique_St rat egies.user.j s) for Oblique St rat egies is available for download at ht t p: / / dunck.us/ collab/ GreaseMonkeyUserScript sGeneric.

Hack 24. Constrain Yourself

Rigidly con st r a in you r cr e a t ive w or k t o fin d t h e pot e n t ia lly fa scin a t in g e m e r ge n t e ffe ct s t h a t h a ppe n w h e n you h a ve t o ove r com e a r t ificia l obst a cle s. Because t he word const raint has such negat ive connot at ions in our cult ure, and because t his book is about freeing your m ind, you m ight be wondering if I 'm about t o at t em pt an Orwellian war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is st rengt h reversal. Exam ples of paradoxically product ive, even freeing const raint fam iliar t o people in our cult ure aren't hard t o com e by, however: for exam ple, it is act ually easier t o writ e good poet ry wit h rhym e and m et er t han good free verse, because rhym e and m et er force your pen t o int erest ing places it would never norm ally visit a pot ent m ind perform ance hack bequeat hed t o us by t he ancient s! Som e French art ist s known collect ively as t he Oulipo ( Ouvroir de Lit t èrat ure Pot ent ielle , or Workshop for Pot ent ial Lit erat ure) have brought t he t heory and pract ice of creat ive const raint s t o a refinem ent never before experienced. Unconst rained writ ing, such as free verse or ordinary prose, is of no int erest t o t he Oulipo. Rules and gam es as applied t o lit erat ure are t he sole reason for being of t he group, which was founded in 1960. Even rhym e and m et er are considered insignificant as const raint s by t hese pioneers, who prefer t o writ e enorm ous palindrom es, novels wit hout t he let t er E, and farces whose st ruct ure is det erm ined by t he m at hem at ical principles of com binat orics. There are m any m edia t o which const raint s can be applied besides lit erat ure, so you can st ill use t his hack even if you are not a writ er. Oulipian offshoot s for different art form s include t he Oubapo ( for bandes dessinèes , or com ic st rips) , Oucinepo ( cinem a) , Oucuipo ( cuisine) , Ouhist po ( hist ory) , Oum upo ( m usic) , Oupeinpo ( peint ure , or paint ing) , and Ouphopo ( phot ography) ; experim ent s have even been perform ed in Oulipian com put er program m ing and m at hem at ics. Right about now, you m ight be wondering where t he po or pot ent ial in pot ent ial lit erat ure com es from . Essent ially, t he Oulipo part y line is t hat t he art ist ic pot ent ial of a work is generat ed by t he const raint s placed upon it . An analogy I like t o use is squeezing a t ube of t oot hpast e: t he const raint s on t he t ube are your fingers, which generat e physical pressure, analogous t o pot ent ial, which in t urn producessquirt ! t oot hpast e, or inspirat ion. Due diligence alone will produce t he creat ive work it self; alt oget her, I like t o call t his t he " Muse helps t hose who help t hem selves" m odel of creat ivit y or, m ore irreverent ly, " praise t he Muse and pass t he inspirat ion! "

In Action Likely, you have a creat ive proj ect t o which you would like t o apply t his m et hod. I f so, st art t hinking about const raint s t hat m ight apply t o it . Find one or t wo t hat suit you from t he following list or from one of t he sources list ed in t his hack's " End Not es" sect ion. Exploit it t o t he m ax! A few sam ple const raint s can be illust rat ed wit h t ext and m usic. 1,2

Text Usually, you'll be doing som e form of writ ing ; fort unat ely, t his is t he m ost heavily explored

m edium . Here are a few sam ple const raint s for t ext :

Snowballs Poem s in which each successive word is one let t er longer ( or each word one syllable longer, or each sent ence one word longer, or each paragraph one sent ence longer) ; som et im es t he process reverses m idway, and t his is called a m elt ing snowball.

Exercises in st yle Tell t he sam e st ory over and over from m ult iple perspect ives ( sim ilar t o changing your worldview [ Hack # 31] ) .

Record set t ing Taking an ordinary const raint of a t ext and set t ing a record for t he longest t ext using t hat const raint , or for t he t ext t hat uses t hat const raint t he m ost , and so on ( for exam ple, t he palindrom e creat ed by one prom inent Oulipian was m ore t han 5,000 let t ers long) .

S+ 7 A fam ous Oulipian t echnique in which every noun in a piece of writ ing is replaced by t he sevent h noun following it in a specified dict ionary; t his t ends t o produce eerie nonsense, which m ight be what you want , or m ight j ust be useful as a way t o seed your creat ive random - num ber generat or [ Hack # 19] .

Music Music can also be creat ed wit h Oulipian m et hods:

Alphabet ical const raint s Alt hough t he Oulipo t end t o abhor random ness, you can use m usician Brian Eno's Oblique St rat egies [ Hack # 23] nonrandom ly by ordering t he deck alphabet ically and ( for exam ple) choosing every 12t h st rat egy card t o creat e a com plex const raint .

Not at ion New m usical not at ions can be developed, as in Andrew Hugill's choral piece Rèvèlat ions et Diversit ès , whose score is a kind of giant chessboard across which each singer " m oves" like a gam e pawn.

Unplugging not es From an exist ing m usical piece based on som e predet erm ined crit erion. Christ opher Hobbs's syst em at ic excision of t he m usical not es from classical pieces corresponding t o t he let t ers in t he nam e BACH has report edly produced som e int erest ing result s.

Arrhyt hm ic and m icrot onal m usic

Music wit hout apparent rhyt hm , or using pit ches t hat are m inut ely different iat ed as com pared t o t he t radit ional West ern scale, are also areas t hat have been explored by Oum upo groups, and which you can explore, t oo.

Lim it s Lim it s can be broken ( see " Record set t ing," described earlier) . For exam ple, t he score of t he Funeral March for t he Burial of a Great Deaf Man ( Alphonse Allais, 1897) is ent irely blank, ant icipat ing John Cage's 4'33" by 50 years ( ironically so, since t he Cage est at e sued com poser Mike Bat t for recording silence on an album , and t hen set t led for a sixfigure sum ) . 3

In Real Life Being a great fan of t he Oulipo, I have used t heir t echniques m any t im es; for exam ple, in t he 1990s, t here was an explosion of int erest in t he art ist ic form of t he Glass Bead Gam e as im agined by novelist Herm ann Hesse. You m ight like t o explore t hinking analogically [ Hack # 25] ; m y own experim ent s in form al const raint , such as recursive use of t he Old Norse poet ic form called t he kenning, were highly influenced by t he Oulipo. Generally speaking, t he influence of t he Oulipo has been hist orically som ewhat narrow. Even so, m any people have used Oulipian t echniques wit hout knowing it . Oulipians j okingly consider such people t o be unconscious plagiarist s and call t heir forebears ( Lewis Carroll, for exam ple) ant icipat ory plagiarist s . Read t he Oulipo, t hen, for exam ples of t he highest developm ent of t he Oulipian art . Graeco- Lat in bi- squares t oured by a chessboard knight are sim ply not used every day t o plot novels! Exam ples of " t rue" Oulipian work by writ ers in English are t herefore hard t o cit e. St ill, you find Oulipian const raint s where you least expect t hem .... Perhaps som e of t he works you read every day incorporat e const raint s wit hout your knowing it ; t here are t wo schools of t hought in t he Oulipo, one of which says a work's const raint s should be m ade ut t erly explicit , t he ot her t hat t hey should be hidden. E- Prim e [ Hack # 52] is used as a hidden const raint in som e of t he psychological t ext s of Albert Ellis[ Hack # 57] . Reversed is t he sit uat ion of t he French novel La Disparit ion ( as well as it s English t ranslat ion, A Void , by Gilbert Adair) , in which t he disappearance of t he let t er E from t he world ( and t he t ext ) is m ade t he cent ral plot elem ent and a highly explicit const raint . Explicit ness of const raint , or t he lack t hereof, can it self be a const raint on a work, of course. Cat alog t he num ber of const raint s you can exploit such as explicit ness, exercises in st yle, record set t ing, E- Prim e, and so on; t hen t ry a few, and you'll see t hat t hese seem ing shackles are really keys t o great er creat ivit y.

Even t he body of t his hack is a real- life exam ple of incorporat ing t wo st ringent , sem i- hidden t ext ual const raint s int o a piece. ( 1) I f you t ake t he first let t er of every sent ence in t he body of t he t ext , t hey form t he sent ence BE SURE TO READ LI FE A USERS MANUAL BY GEORGES PEREC ; each word corresponds roughly t o one paragraph. ( 2) Neit her t he cent ral Oulipian aut hor Georges Perec nor his m ast erpiece Life: a User's Manual is ever m ent ioned explicit ly in t he hack, alt hough bot h are alluded t o several t im es. This m irrors t he disappearance of t he cent ral let t er E in A Void , which Perec also wrot e.

End Notes

1 . Mot t e, Warren F. 1986. Oulipo: A Prim er of Pot ent ial Lit erat ure . Universit y of Nebraska Press.

1.

2 . Mat hews, Harry, and Alast air Brot chie. 1998. Oulipo Com pendium . At las Press. 3 . BBC News. 2002. " Silent m usic disput e resolved." ht t p: / / news.bbc.co.uk/ 1/ hi/ ent ert ainm ent / m usic/ 2276621.st m .

Hack 25. Think Analogically

Use a n a logie s t o solve pr oble m s a n d e x t e n d old ide a s in n e w dir e ct ion s. I n " Enj oy Good, Clean Mem et ic Sex" [ Hack # 26] , I com pare t hinking t o sex and explore t he consequences of t hat analogy. However, I don't explore t he process of com parison it self and how t o elaborat e t he analogy derived. Making analogies is an excellent t hinking hack, and t he t echniques for doing so are wort h explorat ion. Recent st udies indicat e t hat m uch creat ive t hought is t he result of cognit ive blending m apping t he elem ent s of one idea ont o anot hera prim ary form of which is analogy. 1 Thinking analogically can help you t o creat e m ore prolifically, 2 and recent advances in form alizat ion of analogical t hought m ean t hat you can underst and t he richness available ever m ore rigorously. 3

In Action Alt hough t here are m any ways t o approach t he process of creat ing and exploring analogies, t his hack focuses on t wo of t hem t ables of correspondences and kennings and t he ways in which t hey're relat ed.

Tables of correspondences First , consider Table 3- 3, which sum m arizes som e of t he ext ended t hought / sex analogy.

Ta ble Sim ple com pa r ison of t h ou gh t a n d se x Thought

Sex

Brain

Genit alia

Reading

I nsem inat ion

Underst anding

Concept ion

Creat ion

Offspring

Each it em in t he first colum n corresponds t o t he it em in t he sam e row in t he second colum n. For exam ple, creat ion in t he Thought colum n corresponds t o offspring in t he Sex colum n. Table 3- 3 is also sim ilar t o an old concept , t he t able of correspondences used by m edieval alchem ist s and ot her occult ist s. Such a t able m ight show t hat t he m et al corresponding t o t he sun is gold, and t he corresponding anim al is t he lion. You are not expect ed t o believe t his; t hink of it as poet ry for now.

Kennings Transhum anist t hinker Hans Moravec wrot e a book called Mind Children 4 in which he m ade t he point t hat robot s, m em es, and ot her hum an m ent al creat ions are our descendant s, in a way. Since t he phrase m ind children is synonym ous wit h t hought offspring , perhaps Moravec was using a m et aphor t hat can be derived from t he t op and bot t om rows of our t able: thought :: sex creation offspring

Moravec's analogy t hat hum an creat ions are our t hought offspring can be derived by st art ing from creat ion , m oving up across t he line t o t hought , and t hen j um ping diagonally t o offspring . I n fact , four m et aphors can be derived from t his analogy: Thought = creat ion sex Creat ion = t hought offspring Sex = offspring t hought Offspring = sex creat ion Som e of t hese m et aphors m ight not m ake sense unt il you ponder t hem a while. For exam ple, t o call sex offspring t hought is t o say t hat it is a deliberat e, creat ive process t hat produces offspring. ( Rephrasing it as t he t hought of offspring m ight m ake t his clearer.) I call each of t hese t wo- t erm m et aphors a kenning , because t hey work like t hat Old Norse poet ic form , which called t he sea a ship road and a sword a flam e of bat t le .5 Alt hough you m ight not be an alchem ist t rying t o t ransm ut e base m et als or a skald recit ing an epic poem in old Norway, you m ight be surprised at how useful t ables of correspondences and kennings st ill are.

For pract ical exam ples, one of t hem wort h t ens of m illions of dollars, see t he " I n Real Life" sect ion of t his hack.

You can use t ables of correspondences t o generat e great gobs of kennings wit h a sim ple procedure. Here are t he five st eps of t hat procedure, generat ing t he t hought offspring kenning from Table 3- 3 as an exam ple:

1 . Select a t arget t erm for which you wish t o find a kenning, such as creat ion . 2 . Select anot her t erm in t he sam e colum n as t he t arget , such as t hought . 3 . Select a t erm in t he sam e row as t he t arget , such as offspring . 4 . Put t erm s 2 and 3 t oget her t o m ake a kenning, such as t hought offspring . 5 . Opt ionally replace t he t erm s of t he kenning wit h synonym s, such as m ind children .

5.

Depending on t he t able of correspondences, you m ight have t o rot at e t he t able 90 degrees m ent ally so t hat t he rows becom e colum ns and t he colum ns rows, before t his procedure will work.

At able of correspondences can have an unlim it ed num ber of rows and colum ns. Table 3- 4 shows t he result of adding a single Met abolism colum n t o t he Thought and Sex colum ns of Table 3- 3.

Ta ble Ta ble of cor r e spon de n ce s w it h t h r e e colu m n s Thought

Sex

Metabolism

Brain

Genit alia

Digest ive t ract

Reading

I nsem inat ion

Eat ing

Underst anding

Concept ion

Digest ion

Creat ion

Offspring

???

The t hought - as- m et abolism m em e runs deep in our cult ure. Consider t his Francis Bacon quot e from Elizabet han t im es: Som e books are t o be t ast ed, ot hers t o be swallowed, and som e few t o be chewed and digest ed. 6 Consider also t he m agazine Reader's Digest : predigest ed, pre- underst ood m at erial, like t he food a m ot her bird regurgit at es for her young. When a m et aphor such as underst anding is digest ion runs t his deep in a cult ure, it is like a vein of precious m et al: it m ight be t apped out already, or fant ast ic riches m ight be wait ing j ust a lit t le deeper. The t able of correspondences is your j ackham m er for m ining our cult ure. The poet John Donne was fam ous for his m et aphysical conceit s, elaborat e m et aphors t hat ran all t he way t hrough som e of his poem s. A bigger t able of correspondences, however, will enable you t o creat e a m et aphor of lit erally book lengt h or longer. Since an analogy is a way of underst anding som et hing, a com plex analogy will help you underst and a com plex phenom enon. What you choose t o underst and, and what you do wit h t hat underst anding, is up t o you. The m ain pit fall of t his t echnique is t he forced analogy. Som et im es a correspondence sim ply doesn't exist . I f you pore over m any a quaint and curious volum e of forgot t en lore, you'll find t hat t radit ional t ables of correspondences oft en cont ain bizarre " knowledge," such as t he correspondence of m ugwort t o quart z, or t hat of m usk perfum e t o t he Power of t he Evil Eye. Don't give in t o t he t em pt at ion t o fill blank spaces wit h j ust anyt hing, or t hings t hat have t enuous connect ions; your analogies will suffer. Also, beware correspondences wit h cult ural overt ones t hat m ight be false or cult urally insensit ive, unless you don't m ind t he risk of offending people wit h your ideas.

Filling in the blanks You m ight have not iced t hat t he bot t om - right cell in Table 3- 4 is blank. What should go t here? I would argue nut rit ion or energy , because it is t he end product of m et abolic processes, j ust as offspring are t he end product of sex and creat ivit y is t he end product of t hought .

You m ight prefer t o replace energy wit h excrem ent if you have an anal- expulsive personalit y, or you m ight com e up wit h an ent irely different answer. The point is t hat a blank space in a t able of correspondences is an opport unit y t o be creat ive.

In Real Life One of m y m ost successful recent gam e designs grew from filling in a blank t hat I not iced while m aking a t able of correspondences about gam es. While t he card gam e Heart s is so popular t hat it has been adapt ed t o m any different t ypes of decks ( what I call card gam e syst em s ) , it had not been port ed t o m y fellow gam e designer Tim Schut z's alphabet deck: Alpha Playing Cards. 7 I designed a Heart s gam e for Alpha Playing Cards using a subt able or int ernal t able of correspondences t hat com pared t he int ernal feat ures of t he st andard deck of cards t o t he int ernal feat ures of Alpha Playing Cards. For exam ple, I com pared t he four suit s of t he st andard deck ( heart s, spades, diam onds, and clubs) t o t he t wo pseudosuit s of Alpha Playing Cards ( consonant s and vowels) . I nam ed m y gam e Consonant s, because only consonant cards score point s in it , j ust as only heart cards score point s in Heart s. This was, in fact , a kenning: I was saying t hat consonant cards were t he heart cards of Consonant s , and heart cards were t he consonant cards of heart s . Thus, a blank space in a t able of correspondences showed m e an opport unit y for a creat ive act , and I used a subt able t o analyze t he st ruct ural analogies bet ween m y st art ing point ( t he st andard deck of cards and t he gam e Heart s) and m y t arget ( Alpha Playing Cards and m y new gam e, Consonant s) . I call t his t echnique analogical design , and it 's powerful. For an even m ore pract ical exam ple, consider The Hit chhiker's Guide t o t he Galaxy ( H2G2) . H2G2 st art ed out as a radio show, was adapt ed int o a series of science fict ion novels, t hen a TV show, a com put er gam e, com ic books, and so on. Each of t hese involved a kind of int ernal t able of correspondences as t he aut hor, DouglasAdam s, and his colleagues decided how best t o t ranslat e a j oke, charact er, alien, or bit of t echnology from one m edium t o anot her. One blank space rem aining t o be filled was a Hit chhiker's m ovie. A m ovie was finally m ade aft er t he deat h of Douglas Adam s, and while it m ight not have been an art ist ic success, it has grossed m ore t han $51 m illion as of August 2005. You m ight say t hat t he creat ors of t he m ovie found an em pt y niche in t he m em et ic ecology and filled it successfully.

End Notes

1 . Fauconnier, Gilles, and Mark Turner. 2002. The Way We Think: Concept ual Blending and t he Mind's Hidden Com plexit ies . Basic Books. An excellent book on analogical t hought . 2 . Hofst adt er, Douglas. 1997. Le Ton Beau de Marot : I n Praise of t he Music of Language . Basic Books. Anot her excellent book on analogical t hought , t his t im e from a m ore art ist ic perspect ive. Prepare for an " Aha" on every page. 3 . Fauconnier, Gilles, and Mark Turner. 2002. 4 . Moravec, Hans. 1988. Mind Children: The Fut ure of Robot and Hum an I nt elligence Harvard Universit y Press. 5 . William son, Craig. 1982. A Feast of Creat ures: Anglo- Saxon RiddlePennsylvania Press. Part ially available online at ht t p: / / www2.kenyon.edu/ AngloSaxonRiddles/ Feast .ht m .

.

Songs . Universit y of

6 . Bacon, Francis. 15611626. Of St udies . Quot ed in ht t p: / / en.wikiquot e.org/ wiki/ Books. 7.

6. 7 . Alpha Playing Cards; ht t p: / / www.t j gam es.com .

See Also I f you enj oy playing wit h kennings and t ables of correspondences, you m ight enj oy visit ing t he hom e page for m y gam e, Kennexions, on t he Glass Bead Gam e wiki, at ht t p: / / www.ludism .org/ gbgwiki/ Kennexions.

Hack 26. Enjoy Good, Clean Memetic Sex

You ca n t h in k of con ve r sa t ion a s a k in d of m e n t a l se x t h a t pr odu ce s ide a s r a t h e r t h a n ph ysica l offspr in g. To pr odu ce good ide a s, t h ou gh , it 's be st t o follow a fe w r u le s of " m e m e t ic h ygie n e ." Mem es are self- reproducing ideas. According t o t he t heory of m em et ics, t hey act like genes by using our m inds t o replicat e t hem selves, j ust as our genes use our bodies t o do so. The idea of m em es was independent ly discovered by Brit ish et hologist Richard Dawkins and several ot her t hinkers. Dawkins, who coined t he t erm m em e , explains m em es t his way: Exam ples of m em es are t unes, ideas, cat ch- phrases, clot hes fashions, ways of m aking pot s or of building arches. Just as genes propagat e t hem selves in t he gene pool by leaping from body t o body via sperm or eggs, so m em es propagat e t hem selves in t he m em e pool by leaping from brain t o brain via a process which, in t he broad sense, can be called im it at ion. 1 There are m any sim ilarit ies bet ween genes and m em es. Just as genes are t ransm it t ed during sexual int ercourse in t he biosphere, so are ideas t ransm it t ed during social int ercourse in t he m ent al realm , or ideosphere . Table 3- 5 shows som e exam ples of correspondences bet ween t he genet ic and m em et ic realm s.

See " Think Analogically" [ Hack # 25] for m ore inform at ion on using t ables of correspondences.

Ta ble Ge n e t ic/ m e m e t ic cor r e spon de n ce s Genetic

Memetic

Gene

Mem e

Sexual int ercourse

Social int ercourse

Genet ic engineering

Mem et ic engineering ( for exam ple, m arket ing and t he art of rhet oric)

Seduct ion

Persuasion

Concept ion of an em bryo

Concept ion of a new, " em bryonic" idea

Sperm bank

Library

Virginit y

I gnorance

The m em et ic realm also has som e im port ant differences from t he genet ic realm . Mem es com bine, recom bine, m ut at e, and reproduce m uch m ore flexibly and rapidly t han genes do.

This is one way t hat genet ic sex does not m ap com plet ely t o m em et ic sex. For exam ple, t he m em et ic count erpart s of gender and sexual orient at ion are com plicat ed. From a m em et ic st andpoint , we are all int ersexual beings: everyone is able t o bot h t ransm it and receive ideas, alt hough som e people have a st ronger t endency t oward one t han t hey do t oward t he ot her. I 'll j ust suggest t hat a m em et ic equivalent of t he Kinsey Scale m ight be called for, and t hen m ove on.

In Action Good, clean, fulfilling m em et ic sex is t he birt hright of anyone wit h a brain, so it 's im port ant t o educat e yourself about m em et ic sexual hygiene. Here are nine point s t o keep in m ind.

Seek partners outside your family I nbreeding is sex bet ween t wo individuals t hat are genet ically t oo sim ilar, and it oft en produces low- qualit y offspring. The m em et ic equivalent of inbreeding ( m em et ic incest ) is groupt hink , which som et im es happens when t wo or m ore people who are t oo sim ilar t ry t o creat e som et hing. I t 's a com m onplace idea t hat Hollywood is incest uous : t he sam e people wit h t he sam e lim it ed set of ideas m eet over and over. I s it any surprise, t hen, t hat so m any Hollywood m ovies are so bad and t hat so m any of t hem look so sim ilar? The logical culm inat ion of m em et ic inbreeding is Jonest own.

Seek partners within your species Conversely, som et im es people t ry t o m em et ically m at e out side t heir m em et ic species . From t he perspect ive of one specialist ( such as a Chaucer expert ) , anot her specialist ( such as a part icle physicist ) is a m em ber of anot her m em et ic species. Because m em et ics is fluid, it 's not t rue t hat you can never creat e ideas wit h som eone dissim ilar from yourself, because all hum ans have som e m em es in com m on. Nevert heless, t he rabid anim e fan and t he rabid m odel railroad ent husiast are relat ively m ut ually infert ile.

Broaden your taste Mem bers of t wo different m em et ic species can som et im es spark int erest ing ideas from each ot her, and it 's good t o rem ain open t o t hat possibilit y. From t he perspect ive of a generalist or com prehensivist , however, a specialt y is less like a species and m ore like a m em et ic fet ish. Generalist s are flexible; because t hey don't have fet ishes ( specialt ies) t hem selves, t hey can enj oy m em et ic sex wit h ot her generalist s and also wit h specialist s of all kinds. Generalist s are, in short , m em et ic slut s, and t hey have a great t im e, but you don't have t o be a m em et ic slut t o benefit from broadening your t ast es.

Make sure your partners are healthy On t he ot her hand, even generalist s probably shouldn't have m em et ic sex wit h j ust anyone. You m ight do well t o avoid people in dark suit s who ring your doorbell early in t he m orning wit h a rabid look in t heir eyesand as for t he pam phlet s people leave at bus st ops, well, you j ust don't know where t hey've been, m em et ically speaking.

Practice safe sex Much as in t he biological realm , you can prevent not only unwant ed concept ions but also t hought viruses in t wo basic ways: abst inence and condom s. Abst inence m eans som et hing like m oving t o a m onast ery, t aking a vow of silence, and reading not hing but The Book. Wearing a m ent al condom is m ore pract ical and consist s of exercising your skept icism , cynicism , irony, and hum or.

Gain experience The m em et ic virgin, or aut odidact , is m ore likely t o produce horrendous doggerel or m assive t reat ises proving t hat p equals 3 t han som eone who has had regular m em et ic int ercoursein t his case, an educat ion.

Insist on satisfying sex The m em et ic equivalent of orgasm is t he " Aha! " m om ent , which occurs when you com plet ely grok a concept or get a j oke. I f your m em et ic part ners don't m ake you say " Aha! " or " Ha ha! " oft en enough, you m ight need som e new friends, books, TV and radio shows, or ot her ways t o get ideas.

Respect people's boundaries Asafeword is a word used during sex t hat m eans, " St op, right now! I 'm not kidding! " I n real life, t he expression " Too m uch inform at ion! " or "TMI ! " oft en funct ions as a conversat ional m em et ic safeword. Unfort unat ely, som e people have m em es t hat t hey feel com pelled t o evangelize at all cost s, and t hey won't st op when t hey're t old t o. Mem et ically, t his is t he equivalent of rape. Avoid m em et ic rapist s, and respect t he boundaries t hat ot hers set , if you want t hem t o respect yours.

Have lots of kids As t he world m oves from using forest s for idea st orage t o ever m ore efficient elect ronic devices, t here will cease t o be any correspondence bet ween t he biosphere's populat ion problem and t he ideosphere. Thus, alt hough it 's not always a good idea in t he physical world, in t he ideosphere, t he m ore m em es ( or m ind children ) , t he m errier!

How It Works This hack works because genes and m em es are replicat ors : form s of inform at ion t hat reproduce and evolve. Evolut ion occurs when: Pat t erns reproduce wit h arbit rary variat ions. The new, varied pat t erns persist or are dest royed because of environm ent al condit ions. The persist ing pat t erns repeat t he cycle by reproducing wit h arbit rary variat ions.

Since m em es share t hese propert ies wit h genes, m em es behave in m uch t he sam e way as genes.

In Real Life Alt hough aut hor Scot t Thorpe does not seem t o have encount ered t he idea of m em et ics, he has num erous suggest ions for fruit ful " cerebral sex" in his book How t o Think Like Einst ein .2 Here are a few suggest ions, inspired by his book, from t he m ost risky t o t he least risky.

Name tags Writ e a quest ion you need answered, such as " How can I becom e a cult aut hor like H.P. Lovecraft ?" in big let t ers on a nam e t ag and wear it everywhere you go. St rangers will go out of t heir way t o answer your quest ion when t hey see you on t he st reet . Maint ain your sense of hum or. ( See " Pract ice safe sex" earlier in t his hack.)

Memetic orgies I nvit e t he sm art est people you know t o a problem - solving part y. I nform t hem t hat t he best beer and m unchies will be fort hcom ing only aft er t hey've collect ively generat ed som e possible solut ions for your problem .

Old friends Old friends are like old lovers, m em et ically speaking. You probably share a lot of m em et ic offspring wit h your old friends, but t im e has changed you all, and now t hey have som e new m em es t o share wit h youm em es t hat you m ight very well have conceived yourself had you been in t heir place.

Memetic marriage The safest m em et ic sex of alland yet oft en t he m ost sat isfyingcan be t hat wit h a long- t erm m em et ic part ner, som eone who knows you well enough t o t ickle your m em et ic t oes but is st ill different enough from you t o com plem ent your weaknesses so t hat your m ind children will have hybrid vigor. Your m em et ic spouse can be your real- life spouse ( m ine is) , but need not be. For exam ple, t wo of t he best gam e design part ners I know are brot hers, and good friends can work well, t oo.

End Notes

1 . Dawkins, Richard. 1989. The Selfish Gene . Oxford Universit y Press. 2 . Thorpe, Scot t . 2002. How t o Think Like Einst ein . Barnes & Noble Books.

Hack 27. Play Mind Music

You ca n con dit ion you r se lf t o u se you r fa vor it e m u sic a s a cr e a t ive t r igge r , a s w e ll a s a filt e r for e n vir on m e n t a l n oise , a n d if you pu t it on you r iPod or M P3 CD pla ye r , you 'll a lw a ys h a ve it a t h a n d. Pract ically everyone has worked t o m usic at one t im e or anot her, from lat e- night college st udy sessions t o t he night shift at a fast - food j oint . Consider t he beat of a drum t o encourage a crew pulling at oars, or t he fife and drum corps of an arm y. Music has always been used t o change people's m oods and get t hem t o work t oget her; it coevolved wit h rit ual dram a, which was also used t o change people's st at e of m ind. However, what is appropriat e for one sit uat ion m ight not be appropriat e for anot her, and t he sam e m usic t hat get s a t eam working in synchrony m ight be com plet ely dist ract ing for som eone who is t rying t o t hink in solit ude. The converse holds t rue, of course. Som e kinds of m usic are appropriat e for t hinking t hat would probably be a drag on physical work.

In Action Get yourself a good pair of headphones t hat are as sonically isolat ed as possible, and m ake yourself a m ind m usic MP3 CD or playlist on your iPod t hat you can fill wit h m usic t o help you concent rat e and focus on t hinking. You m ight already have an idea what m usic t his m ight be; if not , see t he " I n Real Life" sect ion of t his hack for som e ideas. Condit ion yourself t o t hink while t his m usic is playing so t hat it becom es a kind of m usical t hinking cap: put it on and you becom e a t hinker for t he durat ion. To t hat end, list en t o t his m usic only when you int end t o t hink so t hat your condit ioned response of t hinking hard while it is on does not becom e ext inguished accident ally. You don't need a lot of different pieces in your m ind- m usic collect ion, because your response will probably be st ronger if t heir scope is lim it ed.

Think of your unconscious m ind as being like your dog. I m agine if you had t o t each your dog 100 different words for sit .

You m ust decide how m uch m usic should be in your m ind- m usic collect ion. A short , quickly repeat ing loop of m usic drives som e people crazy. However, if you have a good sense of how long one of your t ypical working sessions is, you can use your m ind m usic as a t im er. You can pace your work like a workout , wit h bot h warm - up and cool- down m usic. When you hear a cert ain piece of m usic, you will know t hat it is t im e t o st art wrapping up. A short m usic loop can nevert heless be useful, because you will som et im es associat e cert ain t hought s you are having wit h a cert ain part of t he m usic you are hearing, so t hat on t he next t im e t hrough t he loop, you will be rem inded of t hose t hought s when you hear t hat part of t he m usic again, in an int erest ingand som et im es creat ively fruit fulm ent al echo effect . I nst rum ent al m usic is preferable, because research has shown t hat people need t o keep t he speech cent ers of t heir brains free t o t hink about com plex inform at ion. As point ed out in " Talk t o Yourself" [ Hack # 62] ,1 you can list en t o pop m usic or t alk radio while driving a fam iliar rout e

wit hout m any t urns, but if you get off t he highway and need t o locat e a new dest inat ion, you'll t urn off t he radio because it 's dist ract ing you from t hinking. But don't rule out m usic wit h lyrics ent irely. I f you're in a good m ood and t he m usic is upbeat , you m ight find t he m usic will occasionally t oss up lyrics t hat seed your creat ive random num ber generat or [ Hack # 19] as well as get your t oes t apping, so you are filled wit h new ideas. Chant s ( such as Gregorian chant s) and m usic in foreign languages are a gray area in t his respect . To som e ext ent , you are likely t o hear a voice in anot her language as j ust anot her inst rum ent , or your brain m ight t reat t he m usic as a verbal Rorschach t est ont o which t o proj ect som e creat ive and int erest ing lyrics of it s own. Yet anot her alt ernat ive is t hat you will unconsciously st rain t o m ake out t he foreign- language lyrics in your own language so t hat t hey int erfere alm ost as m uch as lyrics you do underst and. Gauge your own react ion, which will probably vary from piece t o piece.

In Real Life Here are t he pieces on m y m ind- m usic CD, all inst rum ent al: The Goldberg Variat ions by Johann Sebast ian Bach, as perform ed by Glenn Gould Music for Airport s by Brian Eno Neroli: Thinking Music, Part I V Suit e for Flut e and Jazz Piano

by Brian Eno by Claude Bolling and Jean- Pierre Ram pal

Specifically, I have found t hat alm ost any Bach is good for t hinking, because of it s form al nat ure. I chose Glenn Gould's perform ance of t he Goldberg Variat ions because it is legendary; t he confluence of a com poser and a perform er of genius spurs m e on. I placed t he t wo fugues on t he CD int o a separat e folder so t hat I can put j ust t he Goldbergs on repeat m ode if I wish; t hey already form a kind of m usical closed circle, so t his is appropriat e. Alm ost at t he ot her end of t he spect rum , Suit e for Flut e and Jazz Piano bubbles wit h playfulness. I t is less subdued t han t he ot her pieces on m y disc and t herefore m ore suit ed for filt ering out noise from t he environm ent . I list en t o it when I am designing gam es, or when I need som e playful energy; not only have I loved t his piece for a long t im e, but also I have fond m em ories of a lat e friend at Yale who in t he spring used t o play it s flut e part barefoot in t he court yard. He was one of t he m ost creat ive people I ever knew, and I like t o t hink of his playful spirit occasionally ent ering m y work. Thus, one can choose m ind m usic for personal reasons as well. I f you are not fam iliar wit h am bient m usic or Brian Eno, becom e so. Am bient m usic is not t o all t ast es, but as t he t it le Thinking Music, Part I V suggest s, it is specifically designed t o enhance rat her t han det ract from one's abilit y t o concent rat e. As Brian Eno writ es in his 1978 "Am bient Music Manifest o: " Whereas convent ional background m usic [ e.g., Muzak] is produced by st ripping away all sense of doubt and uncert aint y ( and t hus all genuine int erest ) from t he m usic, Am bient Music ret ains t hese qualit ies. And whereas t heir int ent ion is t o 'bright en' t he environm ent by adding st im ulus t o it ( t hus supposedly alleviat ing t he t edium of rout ine t asks and levelling out t he nat ural ups and downs of t he body rhyt hm s) Am bient Music is int ended t o induce calm and a space t o t hink. 2 As for t he t wo Eno pieces in m y collect ion, Thinking Music, Part I V is deep and som ewhat dark, suit able for ponderous t hought s, and Music for Airport s is som ewhat light er. I not e wit h sat isfact ion t hat m any ot her people online have chosen t his piece as " t hinking m usic," t oo. 3,4

End Notes

1 . St afford, Tom , and Mat t Webb. 2005. Mind Hacks . O'Reilly. ( " Talk t o Yourself" [ Hack # 62] originally appeared in Mind Hacks as Hack # 61.) 2 . Eno, Brian. 1978. " The Am bient Music Manifest o." ht t p: / / www.elem ent al.org/ ele_m ent / said&did/ eno_am bient .ht m l. 3 . Ment at Wiki " Ment at Music" page; ht t p: / / www.ludism .org/ m ent at / Ment at Music. 4 . " Good Thinking Music" pages on t he original wiki; ht t p: / / c2.com / cgi/ wiki? GoodThinkingMusic and ht t p: / / c2.com / cgi/ wiki?GoodThinkingMusic Test im onials.

Hack 28. Sound Your Brain with Onar

Ona r , or on e ir ic son a r , is a h a ck for plu m bin g you r u n con sciou s m in d in se a r ch of n e w ide a s du r in g h ypn a gogic sle e p. I t 's sim ila r t o m e t h ods u se d by Sa lva dor D a li a n d Th om a s Edison . Hypnagogia is t he m ent al st at e bet ween waking and sleep, t he " half- asleep" st at e. The word com es from t he Greek hypnos ( sleep) and agogeus ( leader or conduct or) ; hypnagogia is t he st at e t hat leads us int o or out of sleep.

Som e researchers draw a dist inct ion bet ween hypnagogia , which occurs when we are falling asleep, and hypnopom pia , which occurs when we are waking up.

Many t hinkers t hroughout hist ory have found hypnagogia t o be a fat hom less well of creat ive black gold. For exam ple, t he surrealist paint er Salvador Dali developed a t echnique t o help him visualize dream landscapes of bizarre beaut y, which he would paint upon awaking. Dali is also said t o have t rained him self t o doze in a chair wit h his chin rest ing on a spoon t hat was held in one hand, propped by his elbow, which rest ed on a t able. I n t his posit ion, when his m uscles relaxed and he was on t he verge of falling asleep, his chin would drop and he would wake, oft en in t he m iddle of a hypnagogic dream or vision which he would t hen proceed t o paint . 1 For inst ance, t his t echnique likely inspired his paint ing " Dream Caused by t he Flight of a Bum blebee Around a Pom egranat e a Second Before Awakening." 2 Such t echniques can also be useful t o hardheaded businesspeople and invent ors. For exam ple, Thom as Alva Edison was known t o use a sim ilar t echnique. He put t he hypnagogic st at e t o work when he was an adult and had an unusual t echnique: he would doze off in a chair wit h his arm s and hands draped over t he arm rest s. I n each hand, he held a ball bearing. Below each hand on t he floor were t wo pie plat es. When he drift ed int o t he st at e bet ween waking and sleeping, his hands would nat urally relax and t he ball bearings would drop on t he plat e. Awakened by t he noise, Edison would im m ediat ely m ake not es on any ideas t hat had com e t o him . 3 A part ial list of ot her t hinkers who have been inspired by hypnagogia is im pressive: 4

Art ist s Jean Coct eau, Max Ernst

Musicians JohannesBrahm s, Giacom o Puccini, Richard Wagner

Poet s William Blake, John Keat s

Scient ist s Albert Einst ein, Friedrich August Kekule

Writ ers Ray Bradbury, Charles Dickens, Johann Wolfgang von Goet he, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert LouisSt evenson, Leo Tolst oy, Mark Twain I call t he t echniques used by Dali, Edison, and som e of t hese ot her t hinkers onar , which is a port m ant eau [ Hack # 50] of oneiric ( " relat ed t o dream s" ) and sonar . Onar allows you t o sound your m ind in sleep t he way a subm arine sounds t he dept hs of t he ocean. This hack shows how t o do it wit hout spoons, ball bearings, or pie plat es. You can even do it on an airplane.

In Action To undert ake an onar expedit ion, you will need a quiet place t o doze and som e way t o t ake not es ( in t he dark, if necessary) . The following seven st eps com prise t he onar process:

1 . Lie on your back in bed or sit in a com fort able arm chair. 2 . Rest your elbow on t he surface of t he bed or t he arm of t he chair so t hat your forearm is point ing st raight up. Let your wrist go lim p if t hat is m ore com fort able for you. 3 . Focus your m ind on a problem you wish t o solve. 4 . Allow yourself t o drift t oward sleep, while cont inuing t o focus on t he problem as long as you can. 5 . Wait for your arm t o relax and fall, waking you up. This will happen nat urally when you begin t o fall m ore deeply asleep. 6 . Record any creat ive t hought s you had while dozing. 7 . Repeat . Depending on how sleepy you are, your arm m ight not so m uch fall as m erely t wit ch. Don't worry about it ; as long as you can ent er hypnagogia and bring back int erest ing t hought s and im ages, onar should work for you.

How It Works Hypnagogia occurs when you're falling asleep. As you fall asleep, your brain t urns inward, shift ing from t he alpha and bet a waves of ordinary waking consciousness and sensory processing t o t he deeper delt a and t het a waves of lat er st ages of sleep, including dream ing. 5 Wit h few or no sensory anchors during hypnagogia, t he sleeper begins t o hallucinat e. ( I hypot hesize t hat a sim ilar phenom enon occurs during sensory deprivat ion experim ent s in "float t anks." ) As sensory references disappear, concept ual boundaries also t end t o be blurred or lost . This m eans t hat ego boundaries are lost , and fram es of reference m ight be blended. Many cognit ive psychologist s t oday believe t hat t he blending of concept ual fram es is t he prim ary m echanism of creat ivit y. 6 ( See " Think Analogically" [ Hack # 25] for m ore det ails.)

In Real Life I decided I would em ploy onar on t he t opic of onar it self, as an exam ple for t his hack. I laid on m y back one night before sleep wit h m y cat ch not ebook [ Hack # 13] and flashlight by m y side. Act ually, I always have t hem t here, because I find t hat m any good ideas com e t o m e during hypnagogia, regardless of whet her I want t hem t o. The first result I obt ained while focusing on t he concept of onar was t he word alarm , signifying m y current use of m y arm as a kind of alarm clock. As I fell deeper asleep, I " saw" a diagram like t he one in Figure 3- 3 t hat com pared using onar t o keeping a dream j ournal [ Hack # 29] .

Figu r e 3 - 3 . A h ypn a gogic im a ge

The last int erest ing result I obt ained did not relat e t o t his onar hack, but t o t he Hot el Dom inic [ Hack # 7] inst ead. I t was t he idea of using t he Hot el Dom inic t o keep a m ent al file on each of m y friends and acquaint ances, cont aining not only t heir spouses' and children's nam es, ages, and so on, but also any personal preferences I m ight not ordinarily rem em ber, such as whet her t hey like people t o rem ove shoes when ent ering t heir houses. Aft er t hat short dip int o hypnagogia, I relaxed and let m yself fall fully asleep, sat isfied I had brought back som e int erest ing specim ens from t he m esopelagic zone of t he m ind's ocean.

End Notes

1 . Mavrom at is, Andreas. 1987. Hypnagogia: The Unique St at e of Consciousness Bet ween Wakefulness and Sleep . Rout ledge & Kegan Paul. An am azing accom plishm ent , t his book is probably t he m ost com prehensive work on hypnagogia in English. 2 . URL for t he Dali paint ing: ht t p: / / www.art quot es.net / m ast ers/ salvador- dali/ flight - of- abum blebee.ht m . 3 . Golem an, D., and P. Kaufm an. 1992. " The Art of Creat ivit y." Psychology Today . ht t p: / / cm s.psychologyt oday.com / art icles/ pt o- 19920301- 000031.ht m l. 4 . This list of t hinkers was culled from Mavrom at is. 5 . " St ages of Sleep." Psychology World . ht t p: / / web.um r.edu/ ~ psyworld/ sleep_st ages.ht m . 6.

4. 5. 6 . Fauconnier, Gilles, and Mark Turner. 2002. The Way We Think: Concept ual Blending and t he Mind's Hidden Com plexit ies . Basic Books.

Hack 29. Keep a Dream Journal

Re cor d you r dr e a m s t o se e a n d h e a r a r ich , cr e a t ive w or ld. Dream s can be am azing t hings and can offer incredible creat ive riches in t he form of beaut iful im ages, plot lines for fict ion, even ideas for new invent ions. I f you want a connect ion t o t he act ivit ies of t he dream world, t his is t he easiest way t o do it .

In Action Keeping a dream j ournal is very sim ple. Just place a piece of paper next t o your bed. When you wake up, writ e down key words about any dream s you had. I f you had no dream s, writ e down " no dream s last night " on t he paperfirst t hing, right out of bed. That 's really all t here is t o it , and it always works. I f you're get t ing a lot of " no dream s last night ," however, when you wake up, don't im m ediat ely leap t o writ e " no dream s last night ." I n fact , don't m ove at all . I nst ead, as soon as you realize t hat you are awake, st art searching your m ind for dream s. I f you can find som e left over fragm ent of a dream , hold on t ight t o it . Ment ally probe it ; you should be able t o get som e m ore det ails. I f you're lucky, t he whole dream will recur t o you at once. I n your m ind, st art t aking not es. ( Don't m ove! Don't get out of bed! ) Find keywords t o describe what you are experiencing, and m em orize t hem ; you don't want t o forget . And you can forget : if you get up t oo quickly, you'll forget everyt hing, except t he sensat ion of having looked t hrough a nondescript dream . Keep exploring your m em ory of t he dream , and keep t aking m ent al not es. When you are confident you have t he m aj or part s of it , st ring t he keywords int o a sent ence in your head. Repeat it over and over and over, j ust as when you hold a seven- digit phone num ber in your head, so you can writ e it down. Mnem onic t echniques, such as t he num ber shape syst em [ Hack # 2] , can be handy here. Then m ove, get out of bed, find your pen right next t o your j ournal, and writ e down t hose keywordsim m ediat ely! Quickly st art writ ing det ails. The dream should rem ain in your m ind. Then, writ e out m ore det ailsfull sent ences, paragraphs, what ever you have t im e for. I f you ride t he bus, keep writ ing what you can rem em ber. Your m em ory of t he dream should now be fully int egrat ed int o your working daily m em ory.

In Real Life I like t o draw annot at ed m aps of places t hat I 've seen in dream s and pict ures of scenes and peculiar obj ect s I saw. I f you can rem em ber t he full t ext of a dialogue, writ e it out ; I once had a good j oke t old t o m e in a dream ! Every so oft en in m y life, I reinvest igat e m y dream s. First , I st art rem em bering a dream a night . Aft er a week or t wo of paying at t ent ion t o t hem , I rem em ber t wo dream s a night . Aft er anot her week, I rem em ber several dream s per night . I usually have t o st op around here: I

st art waking up several t im es in t he night , because I keep waking up im m ediat ely aft er ( or during) dream ing and have t o writ e t hem down. I t int erferes wit h sleep, and I decide t o st op invest igat ing m y dream s. When it get s t o be t oo m uch for you, and you j ust want a good night 's sleep, j ust st op paying at t ent ion t o your dream s. Poof! Unint errupt ed night s of sleep.

See Also Cart an, John. " Who Do We Dream Against ?" ht t p: / / www.cart ania.com / dream ing.ht m l. Garfield, Pat ricia L. 1976. Creat ive Dream ing . Ballant ine Books. Lion Kim bro

Hack 30. Hold a Question in Mind

On e of Sir I sa a c N e w t on 's m a n y discove r ie s w a s t h a t oft e n t o a r r ive a t t h e t r u t h , you n e e d on ly con t e m pla t e t h e qu e st ion . Besides discovering t he principles of gravit at ion, Sir I saac Newt on discovered a basic principle of hum an t hought : if you want an answer t o a quest ion, sim ply hold t he quest ion firm ly in m ind. When Newt on was asked how he had discovered t he laws of gravit at ion, he answered, " By t hinking about it day and night ." He also said, " I f I have ever m ade any valuable discoveries, it has been due m ore t o pat ient at t ent ion t han t o any ot her t alent ," and " I keep t he subj ect const ant ly before m e and wait 't ill t he first dawnings open slowly, by lit t le and lit t le, int o a full and clear light ." 1 I n his book The Laws of Form , m at hem at ician and philosopher G. Spencer Brown writ es about Newt on's insight in t his regard: To arrive at t he sim plest t rut h, as Newt on knew and pract ised, requires years of cont em plat ion . Not act ivit y. Not reasoning. Not calculat ing. Not busy behavior of any kind. Not reading. Not t alking. Not m aking an effort . Not t hinking. Sim ply bearing in m ind what it is one needs t o know. And yet t hose wit h t he courage t o t read t his pat h t o real discovery are not only offered pract ically no guidance on how t o do so, t hey are act ively discouraged and have t o set about it in secret , pret ending m eanwhile t o be diligent ly engaged in t he frant ic diversions and t o conform wit h t he deadening personal opinions which are being cont inually t hrust upon t hem . 2 The m ore int ent ly you hold t he quest ion in m ind, t he closer t he answer t o t he quest ion will com e t o you. However, Newt on's quot at ions and Brown's com m ent ary require int erpret at ion. People frequent ly reply, " I t can't be like t hat . Just holding a quest ion in m ind doesn't help. You have t o do st uff." That is t rue. You do have t o read. You have t o work and t hink. You have t o pay at t ent ion. Most im port ant ly, you have t o be ready t o receive result s, inst ead of pursuing t hem aggressively.

In Action The key t o t his hack is t hat by repeat edly asking t he quest ion, you set your m ind in such a way t hat you are recept ive. When som et hing relevant crosses your pat h, your m ind will cat ch it , because it 's seeing t he world in t erm s of t hat part icular quest ion. By fram ing your experiences wit h t he quest ion, you have creat ed a cont ext for t he answer t o fit int o when it com es your way, as in t he following exam ples: I f you are looking at Google, for inst ance, t he first t hing you m ight t hink is " Well, can t his answer m y quest ion?" I deas of how t o search will occur t o you, and you can t ry t hem . I f you are at a part y, and you have your quest ion in m ind, your conversat ions will gravit at e t oward t he quest ion and it s possible answers. You can look for people who m ay answer your quest ion. I f you are reading t he newspaper, your choice of reading and int erpret at ion of what you

read will be shaped by your quest ion. I f you keep a not ebook, keep not es on what you've learned t hat can help answer t he quest ion; put t ing m any pieces of inform at ion in one place can help out line a bigger pict ure.

How It Works You m ight not need t o put a whole lot of effort int o using t his hack; your m ind will probably provide t he suggest ions t o pull you in t he right direct ion, as long as you are focusing on t he quest ion. You'll build curiosit y and at t ent iveness as you st ay focused and t urn t he quest ion around t o see all it s sides. " Well, t hat 's obvious," you m ight say. " I ask quest ions, I research, I find t he answer." OK, but t he point of t his hack is t wofold: t o increase your recept ivit y and help you t hink about how m any ways a quest ion can be answered, and t o help build your confidence, because confidence is anot her key t o finding answers. When we get frust rat ed, we are usually in a com plex sit uat ion. Quest ions regularly have com plicat ed answers, and it 's not unusual t hat we find ourselves lost in com plexit ies. But com plexit ies can be frust rat ing. Confidence and believing t hat an answer will com e can help cut t hrough all t hat . This hack is sim ple . By rem inding yourself t hat " all you have t o do" is hold t he quest ion in m ind, you can relax, perhaps put act ive invest igat ion ( or worry) on hold, and let t he m ind and t he world do what ever it needs t o do t o help you answer t he quest ion. Don't give up on t he quest ion, but , rat her, j ust look at t he world freshly, holding t he quest ion in m ind. Som et im es j ust t hat lit t le bit of relaxat ion helps a lot . When you relax, you m ight not ice som et hing from out side of your usual way of t hinking t hat helps you see som et hing new t hat m ight lead t o your answer. Wit h t im e, everyt hing will show it self t o you. Som ehow, it will all piece t oget her. Tim e lim it s on your seeking, t hough, are an ent irely different m at t er.

End Notes

1 . Ask Met aFilt er. 2005. " Who advised people t o sim ply hold im port ant quest ions in t heir m inds?" ht t p: / / ask.m et afilt er.com / m efi/ 19491. 2 . Spencer- Brown, G. 1994. The Laws of Form . Cognizer Co.

See Also When holding a quest ion in m ind isn't enough, consult Ask Met aFilt er ( ht t p: / / ask.m et afilt er.com ) . That 's what we did t o t rack down t he Newt on quot at ions. Not e t hat like anot her of Newt on's discoveries, t he calculus, t he principle in t his hack has been discovered m ore t han once; t he earlier Met aFilt er t hread quot es several ot her people wit h sim ilar ideas. Lion Kim bro

Hack 31. Adopt a Hero

Br e a k dow n t h e w a lls of w h a t you t h in k of a s r e a lit y; you m igh t fin d som e in t e r e st in g solu t ion s. A pr oble m t o you m igh t n ot be a pr oble m t o som e on e you a dopt a s a h e r o. Suppose you are writ ing a screenplay. Here are som e exam ples of quest ions you m ight ask yourself when you are st uck: Wit h m y charact er Fred's luck, what would happen next ? What would happen next in a 1940s m ovie m usical? What would happen next in a dream ? Som e of your m ost fruit ful t hinking can occur when you deliberat ely swit ch t o anot her way of looking at t hings. You can t hink of t hese swit ches as being like key changes in a piece of m usic. For exam ple, you can obt ain useful effect s by unexpect edly swit ching " keys" in t he m iddle of a work of fict ion from space opera t o soap opera. Modulat ing from t he sublim e ( such as saint hood) t o t he ridiculous ( such as plat form shoes in a 1970s disco) is a com ic effect known as bat hos , but it 's equally possible t o m odulat e from t he ridiculous back t o t he sublim e. Jam es Joyce's book Finnegans Wake oft en fuses chords of t he sublim e, t he ridiculous, and t he grit t ily polit ical not j ust wit hin a paragraph or a sent ence, but oft en wit hin a single word. ( You can, t oo, if you put your words in t he blender [ Hack # 50] .) Changing concept ual keys works for all form s of art at least , in som e sit uat ions. I m agine t hat you're an archit ect or an int erior decorat or. You m ight decide t hat you want t he ent ry t o a house t o have Got hic sweep, but t hat a m ore int im at e int erior m edit at ion room should be st yled aft er a Japanese zendo .

Be conscious of t he appropriat eness of your borrowings; m ixing t oo m any st yles or st yles t hat are t oo discordant can result in a post m odernist m ush.

The m ost useful key change for problem solving, as well as cert ain art form s, m ight not be adopt ing anot her st yle, but adopt ing t he ent ire worldview of anot her person, creat ure, or even inanim at e obj ect .

In Action Let 's change t he key of t his hack from m usic t o religion. Consider t he short - durat ion personal savior ( ShorDurPerSav) . 1 By t em porarily ( for a short durat ion , as opposed t o t he rest of your life) adopt ing t he viewpoint of anot her person, even an im aginary oneor one you would ordinarily find repugnant you can learn m uch. Why lim it yourself t o asking, " What would Jesus do?" ( WWJD?) when you can not only ask " WWBD?" ( " What would Buddha do?" ) or " WWMD?" ( " What would Moham m ed do?" ) , but also:

WWBBD? What would Bugs Bunny do?

WWMAD? What would Marcus Aurelius do?

WWMPD? What would Mary Poppins do?

WWRMSD? What would Richard M. St allm an do?

WWSOHD? What would Scarlet t O'Hara do?

WWYMD? What would your m om do? Get all New- Agey for a m inut e and channel t hat person. Alt hough t his hack is relat ed t o t he old occult idea of t he m agical personalit y , you don't have t o believe t hat you're lit erally in cont act wit h anot her being m agically; what you're aft er is t he st at e of m ind you're in when you see a m ovie, or when you act in one. What would t hat person do? How would she solve your problem ? When you wat ch Gone wit h t he Wind , you don't lit erally believe t hat Scarlet t O'Hara exist s, but a chill goes t hrough you ( adm it it ! ) when she raises her fist t o t he sky and cries, " As God is m y wit ness, I 'll never be hungry again! " Most of t he t im e, you're em pat hizing wit h her, feeling what she's feeling, but you can go a st ep furt her: you can em ulat e Scarlet t in t he sam e way t hat a deskt op PC circa 2005 can em ulat e a Com m odore 64 circa 1980. The worldview of anot her person, even ( or especially) a fict ional one, is like a program t hat your brain can run. Try it now. How would each of t hese people or charact ers react t o finding t hat t hey had a flat t ire?

What would Bugs Bunny do? He'd be undaunt ed, wit h absolut e fait h in him self. I f he didn't have a spare, he m ight t rick som eone int o giving him hers or find anot her way t o get t here. And if he couldn't do t hat , he'd sit down in t he shade and whip out a banj o t o pass t he t im e.

What would Marcus Aurelius do? He'd calm ly fix t he t ire or, failing t hat , endure t he flat t ire wit hout sinking int o crippling self- pit y or anger at t he uncaring gods.

What would Mary Poppins do? She'd m ake fixing t he flat t ire int o a gam e!

What would Richard St allm an do? He'd appeal t o random passersby on et hical grounds t o share t heir individual t alent s and help him fix t he t ire.

What would Scarlet t O'Hara do? The young Scarlet t would use her charm t o get som eone else t o fix it . The older Scarlet t would st eal som eone else's t ire if she didn't have a spare, using brut e force if necessary.

What would your m om do? I don't know; what would your m om do?

How It Works Bot h m et hod act ors and psychot herapist s have refined t he t echnique of adopt ing anot her person's viewpoint . Act ors m ust learn how t o becom e anot her person during a perform ance. Part of t he t echnique of m et hod act ing is deliberat ely not int erfering wit h t he process, but let t ing t he alt ernat ive personalit y com e t hrough and not censoring it s t hought s. Preparat ion for m et hod act ing involves accessing act ors' personal m em ories of t he em ot ions t hat m ust be brought fort h t o give t he perform ance life. They draw on t heir inner resources t o call fort h em ot ions t hey have experienced at ot her t im es and places, and t hen t ransform t hem int o t he words and m ot ions of t he charact ers t hey're playing. 2 Psychot herapist s som et im es use role- playing t o feel t heir client s' em ot ions inst ead of int ellect ualizing about t hem . This helps t he t herapist s underst and t heir client s bet t er. Having a supervisor and a set procedure for de- roling aft erward enables a t herapist t o go deeply int o t he experience. 3

In Real Life The next t im e you're confront ed wit h a daunt ing 11- page t ax form , t ry m et hod- act ing a t ax at t orney. Knowing t hat t here are people who don't m ind such form s doesn't m ake t he t ask of filling t hem out easy, but adopt ing t he m indset of an at t orney who sees such form s every day, and who is anyt hing but int im idat ed by t hem , can help. Such confidence m ight even help you find m ore advant ageous ways t o fill out t he form s t hat you m ight not have t hought about . You m ight also want t o adopt anot her personalit y t rait : eagerness t o finishing t he t ask. I f you know som eone nam ed Fred wit h t hat personalit y t rait , go ahead and ask yourself, WWFD? One of m y friends role- played a bird and learned t hat wing beat s are synchronized wit h a bird's breat hing, which t urned out t o be t rue. Albert Einst ein cont ribut ed t o his t heories of relat ivit y by im agining he was a phot on, and Jonas Salk m ade progress on his polio vaccine by fant asizing t hat he was a virus. Whet her it 's Scarlet t O'Hara's spunk or t he knowledge of what it 's like t o t ravel at t he speed of light , by pret ending t o be what we're not and swit ching t o ot her m odes of t hought , we can

oft en gain access t o inform at ion and abilit ies t hat we don't norm ally use.

End Notes

1 . Dobbs, J.R. " Bob" . 1987. The Book of t he SubGenius . Sim on & Schust er. 2 . St anislavski, Const ant in. 1986. An Act or Prepares . Met huen. 3 . Brearly, G., and P. Birchley. 1986. I nt roducing Counselling Skills and Techniques: Wit h Part icular Applicat ion for t he Param edical Professions . Faber & Faber.

See Also Wilson, Robert Ant on. 1980. The I llum inat i Papers . And/ Or Press. Each art icle in t his book is writ t en from t he viewpoint of a different charact er from Wilson's fict ion. Edward de Bono's book Six Thinking Hat s is anot her exam ple of " t rying on" alt ernat e personalit ies t o solve problem s. I n t his book, t he personalit ies are visualized as hat s of six different colors.

Hack 32. Go Backward to Be More Inventive Going Forward

Re vie w t h e st e ps t h a t le d t o a n e w ide a , a n d m a ybe you ca n do e ve n be t t e r n e x t t im e . When you next have an idea t hat solves a problem or t hat you are pleased wit h for som e ot her reason, t ake t he t im e t o review t he process by which you got t here. Doing so can help you refine t he idea, and it also helps you t o have m ore good ideas in t he fut ure.

In Action One approach is t o look at t he em ot ions around idea form at ion. Try t his out t he next t im e you have one of t hose " Aha! " m om ent s, while t he em ot ions around t he discovery are st ill new. Not ice t he em ot ions around t he discovery. You m ight have bot h posit ive ones and negat ive ones. Bot h are part of your norm al discovery process. Use t he posit ive em ot ions t o reward your m ind for t he connect ions it has j ust m ade. I t m ight feel st range, but do it anyway. This in it self m ight lead t o clarifying relat ed ideas t hat were j ust below t he surface. The negat ive feelings m ight have been expressed in t hought s like, " I should have seen t hat sooner." I nst ead of doing not hing wit h t hat feeling, t reat it as som et hing useful: a spur t o ret urn t o what you were t hinking j ust before t he idea st ruck and, if possible, how you felt j ust before you m ade t he connect ion. I t 's im port ant t o do t his right when you have t he idea, while t he cont ext of t he idea is fresh in your m ind and easier t o go back t o. I f t his works for you, t he pre- idea t hought s m ight not be ent irely logical; in fact , t hey can be im ages or feelings, a sense of what 's im port ant , or a fleet ing im pression t hat felt right . You're not t rying t o explain t he t hought process; j ust reaching it again is enough. Som et im es t he idea cam e because you were also t hinking about som et hing else at t he sam e t im e. Going back t o t he m om ent s when you m ade t he connect ion m akes you m ore aware of how you m ade it , which helps you m ake sim ilar connect ions in t he fut ure m ore easily.

How It Works The rapid change of em ot ions around a discovery can m ake it harder t o reach t he t hought s t hat happened earlier. Those t hought s happened in a different em ot ional cont ext . The approach I 've described t o get back t o t hose t hought s works consciously wit h t he em ot ions. I t uses t he energy of t he em ot ions of discovery t o get back t o t he earlier em ot ional cont ext . Thought form at ion is oft en nonverbal, yet report ing on it t ends t o lead t o a m ore verbal way of t hinking. To count eract t his, t he hack deliberat ely looks for t he nonverbal connect ions. The key aspect of t he hack is t he conscious act of looking at t he process of a discovery at t he t im e of m aking it , which can be by t his rout e or by a rout e of your own invent ion. By giving at t ent ion t o a process t hat m ight norm ally be t aken for grant ed, you m ake opport unit ies t o encourage and enhance t he process. The point of reviewing t he process of reaching an idea isn't j ust t o underst and t he process t hat got you t here. I t 's also t o look for an alt ernat ive rout e t hat could have got t en you t here m ore

rapidly or brought you m ore relat ed ideas. Robert Floyd, winner of t he 1978 ACM Turing Award for Excellence, has t his t o say about his own process of discovery: I n m y own experience of designing difficult algorit hm s, I find a cert ain t echnique m ost helpful in expanding m y own capabilit ies. Aft er solving a challenging problem , I solve it again from scrat ch, ret racing only t he insight of t he earlier solut ion. I repeat t his unt il t he solut ion is as clear and direct as I can hope for. Then I look for a general rule for at t acking sim ilar problem s t hat would have led m e t o approach t he given problem in t he m ost efficient way t he first t im e. Oft en, such a rule is of perm anent value. 1 Floyd's suggest ions help st ream line t he process of discovery. More t han t hat , t hey also help t o clarify how seem ingly unrelat ed discoveries m ay be relat ed at a deeper level.

In Real Life I had a sm all epiphany t hat led m e t o a m et hod for est im at ing t he num ber of wing beat s per second for a wasp. The " Aha! " m om ent was t he realizat ion t hat t he pit ch of t he not e I could hear in a wasp's buzz gives an indicat ion of t he rat e at which it beat s it s wings. Lower not es are slower; higher not es are fast er. Tracing it back, I found t hat I didn't arrive at t he idea by any logical process or argum ent , but m ore int uit ively. Part of t he idea was rem em bering t hat one of t he pioneers of com put ers, Herm an Hollerit h, t aught his clerks t o count decks of punched cards by flicking t hrough t hem and list ening t o t he sound. I was im agining t his being done slowly ( click- click- click) and t hen speeded up. Part of t he idea was im agining t he wasp flying in slow m ot ion, slow enough t hat I could see t he individual cycles of wing m ovem ent . The idea of rapid count ing brought t hese t wo ideas t oget her. Could I have got t en t he idea m ore quickly? Probably so. I f I 'd t hought about t he changes in sound an aircraft engine m akes as it slows down, I m ight also have t hought of t he relat ion bet ween t he pit ch of a sound and speed.

End Notes

1 . Bent ley, Jon. 1988. More Program m ing Pearls . Addison Wesley. Bent ley lucidly explains t he principles of som e algorit hm s for generat ing perm ut at ions t hat Floyd designed and report s t his quot at ion, from Floyd's Turing lect ure on " The Paradigm s of Program m ing." Jam es Crook

Hack 33. Spend More Time Thinking

Be com e m or e pr odu ct ive by st a r in g in t o spa ce pu r pose fu lly. I 've suggest ed elsewhere t hat som et im es it 's useful not t o overt hink t hings [ Hack # 48] . Som et im es, however, it is useful t o chew a t opic over and over unt il you know it like t he t ast e of your own m out h. As part of a recent j ob, I had t o spend up t o an hour t wice a day com m ut ing on a bus. I spent a lot of t im e reading. I also spent a lot of t im e m edit at ing [ Hack # 60] , because if you can m edit at e on a noisy, crowded bus and not j ust in a t ranquil zendo , you're get t ing som ewhere, and I don't m ean downt own. But t he t hing I did t he m ost by far was st are int o space, and I don't regret it at all. What I was really doing was t hinking, pure t hinking. Thinking is a wonderful way t o spend your free m om ent s. Thinking is port able, inexpensive, and environm ent ally safe; it requires no equipm ent , and you can do it even wit h a serious physical disabilit y. Best of all, since t hinking is universally applicable, you can m ake progress on any problem of int erest sim ply by direct ing your at t ent ion t oward it . The kind of t hinking I 'm describing is ext rem ely focused. I 'm not t alking about daydream ing here, alt hough experim ent s at Yale have shown t hat daydream ing can increase your selfcont rol and creat ivit y.1

Recent research suggest s daydream ing m ight have harm ful effect s as well. 2

What I am t alking about is set t ing som e t im e aside for an ext ended course of direct ed t hought , which can be hard work but is usually m ore fruit ful t han woolgat hering. I f you're lucky enough t o be self- em ployed or independent ly wealt hy, you can m ake your own schedule for direct ed t hought . The rest of us can st ill grab t im e on t he bus, at t he doct or's office, in t he car while driving t he kids t o soccer pract ice, or in line at t he grocery st ore. I f you give yourself t he gift of t his t im e for purposeful, direct ed t hought inst ead of ( say) ogling soap opera st ars in t he t abloids at t he checkout count er, you will enrich your life considerably.

In Action There's not m uch t o t he t echnique of direct ed t hought , but t hat doesn't m ean it 's as easy as get t ing hit by a bus, eit her:

1 . Decide what t opic or problem you will t hink about . 2 . Turn t he problem over in your m ind as if it were a t hree- dim ensional obj ect . Scrut inize it . I f you not ice a new angle , follow it and see where it t akes you. Alt ernat ively, if you are t hinking about an event or process, m ove around it in t im e as well as space: rehearse it . 3.

2.

3 . Don't let yourself get lost . I f you find yourself daydream ing, ret urn your at t ent ion t o t he problem at hand. St ep 3 is t he hardest , but if you have som e experience wit h m edit at ion [ Hack # 60] , you can ret urn your at t ent ion t o your problem as if you were ret urning your at t ent ion t o your breat h during m edit at ion.

Do not om it st ep 3. I f you do, you will get on t he bus t hinking about t he plot of your novel and leave it half an hour lat er t hinking about what you should have said t o your ex- girlfriend five years ago.

I n m edit at ion, you allow t hought s t o slip t hrough your m ind, but in direct ed t hought , you will probably want t o hold on t o your good ideas. You can do so wit h a cat ch [ Hack # 13] , but I prom ised you t his hack required no equipm ent , and it doesn't . I f your environm ent won't perm it you t o use a cat ch not ebook ( you're in a bum py m oving vehicle, it 's t oo crowded, it 's raining, et c.) , you can use a m nem onic syst em t o cat ch your ideas inst ead. Good candidat es for a m nem onic cat ch include t he following: The num ber- shape syst em [ Hack # 2] The num ber- rhym e syst em [ Hack # 1] The Maj or Syst em [ Hack # 5] Am em ory j ourney [ Hack # 3] When you arrive som ewhere t hat you can writ e, t ranscribe your ideas int o your cat ch; lat er, m ove t hem from your cat ch int o m ore perm anent st orage, such as a j ournal or a proj ect file.

In Real Life You can go far on a proj ect even if you spend only your com m ut ing t im e on it . As Ovid ( 43 BC17 AD) wrot e, " Add lit t le t o lit t le and t here will be a big pile." I call t his t echnique rat chet ing , and you will be am azed at how well it works if you're new t o t his idea. Over t he course of a couple of m ont hs on t he bus, I accum ulat ed a list of about 400 num bered ideas for m y Gam eFram e gam e proj ect ; about 80 percent of t he ideas were useful. Thinking on t he bus also helped m e feel bet t er about m y j ob by m aking m y com m ut e seem less like wast ed t im e, and less like ext ra t im e I had t o donat e t o m y j ob inst ead of spending on m y own proj ect s. Direct ed t hought can be useful for sim ulat ing physical obj ect s, t oo. Nikola Tesla was fam ous for being able t o leave a sim ulat ion of a m echanical part " running" in his head for weeks at a t im e, t hen com ing back t o check it lat er for wear. I don't know anyone wit h t hat power of visualizat ion, but m y wife, Mart y, has it t o a lesser degree. She saves on t im e and m at erials for her art proj ect s by t rying out various assem blages and t echniques in her head before finally put t ing t he pieces t oget her and oft en ends up wit h m ore int erest ing im plem ent at ions of her original ideas.

End Notes

1 . Singer, Jerom e L. 1975. The I nner World of Daydream ing . Harper & Row. 2.

1. 2 . Bell, Vaughan. " I s daydream ing linked t o Alzheim er's?" Mind Hacks blog, ht t p: / / www.m indhacks.com / blog/ 2005/ 08/ is_daydream ing_linke. ht m l.

See Also MacLeod, Hugh. " How t o Be Creat ive." This is an excellent essay on how t o m ake t he m ost of t hose lit t le m om ent s, by an art ist whose m edium is cart oons drawn on t he back of business cards. ( The cart oons in t he essay are great , t oo.) Soon t o be a book, apparent ly: ht t p: / / www.gapingvoid.com / Moveable_Type/ archives/ 000932.ht m l. Arnold Bennet t 's Edwardian self- help classic, How t o Live on 24 Hours a Day , is an excellent m ot ivat ional book about how t o squeeze m ore out of t he 24 hours every hum an being is allot t ed each m orning: ht t p: / / www.gut enberg.org/ et ext / 2274.

Hack 34. Extend Your Idea Space with Word Spectra

Visu a lize w or d clu st e r s t o h e lp cr e a t e a n d a ppr e h e n d n e w con ce pt s. When t ranslat ing t ext from one language t o anot her, you m ight need words t hat seem t o lie som ewhere bet ween t he available words. When you apprehend new concept s, you m ight face a sim ilar problem . Visualizing t he spect rum of m eanings t hat lie bet ween t wo words can help you form new concept s and work wit h t hem m ore easily.

In Action Here are t wo exam ples of foreign words t hat are useful, but t hat are alm ost unt ranslat able. Please not e t hat you don't need t o speak Germ an or Port uguese t o appreciat e t he problem ! From Germ an, we have Gem üt lichkeit . I t 's a descript ion of a good m ood, t he warm feeling of being t oget her wit h good friends, and it usually also involves wine or beer. How should it be t ranslat ed? Happiness? Com panionship? Sm ugness? I t 's none of t hese and all t hree. Figure 3- 4 shows a visual way t o represent t he unt ranslat able.

Figu r e 3 - 4 . W or d spe ct r u m for t h e Ge r m a n w or d Ge m öt lich k e it

The second exam ple is once again a word t hat describes a m ood, but t his t im e from Port uguese. The word saudade is a m ix of hom esickness, nost algia, and good m em ories, wit h a t inge of sadness. There sim ply is no direct t ranslat ion int o English. I n one cont ext , it m ight t ranslat e t o nost algia , in anot her t o hom esickness . I f you visualize nost algia and hom esickness as being at t wo ends of a spect rum , saudade lies som ewhere in bet ween, as shown in Figure 35.

Figu r e 3 - 5 . W or d spe ct r u m for t h e Por t u gu e se w or d sa u da de

So, what about new concept s in English t hat don't yet have words for t hem ? Biologist s run int o t his problem t im e and again; evolut ion j ust doesn't respect t he boundaries m ade wit h words. For exam ple, m any of t he com ponent s in subsyst em s t hat repair dam age t o t he body are also part of t he norm al growt h and developm ent syst em . Repair and growt h can be placed on a spect rum . The syst em t hat st rengt hens bones where t hey are under great est st ress could be classified arbit rarily as being a repair syst em , because it repairs m icroscopic dam age from m echanical st ress. Alt ernat ively, t he bone st rengt hening could be seen as part of t he norm al growt h process, bringing t he right com ponent s t o t he place where t hey are needed m ost . I t all depends on your point of view. As wit h t he foreign- language exam ples, it looks as if t here is a word m issing t hat com bines aspect s of growt h and aspect s of repair ( Figure 3- 6) . The hack of visualizing repair and growt h as being at t wo ends of a spect rum m akes it easier t o explore t he connect ions bet ween t hose t wo concept s.

Figu r e 3 - 6 . W or d spe ct r u m for t h e En glish w or ds r e pa ir a n d gr ow t h

The value of finding spect ra bet ween words isn't confined t o biology. I n com put er program m ing, recursion and dynam ic program m ing are som et im es t aught as if t hey are t wo ent irely different t echniques. I n realit y, dynam ic program m ing and recursion are at different ends of a spect rum of program m ing t echniques t hat break larger problem s int o sm aller ones. This is a useful idea t o have, because a recursive form ulat ion of an algorit hm m ay be a lot sim pler t han t he corresponding dynam ic program m ing form ulat ion.

How It Works This hack works because language is inherent ly a process of using discret e words t o cover ranges of m eaning. Visualizat ion of word posit ions, as in t he t riangle of words for Gem öt lichkeit , encourages us t o see t he cont inuous range of m eanings again. We can t hen hom e in on m eanings t hat have been m issed by t he words available t o us. The visual posit ion gives us a handle for a part icular m eaning. The act ual visualizat ion of t he words doesn't seem t o be absolut ely essent ial t o t he hack. The essent ial part is ident ifying t hat t he endpoint s are relat ed and t hat t here is som e possibilit y bet ween t hem t hat com bines t heir elem ent s. However, visualizat ion m akes t he hack easier t o apply, and t he visualizat ion helps m ap words t o ranges of m eaning.

See Also D. Bickert on's Dynam ics of a Creole Syst em ( Cam bridge Universit y Press) analyzes socalled cont act languages , where sim pler variant s of languages arise. I t shows t he heroic m easures t hat speakers of such languages m ust t ake t o express m ore com plex concept s. This hack is relat ed t o " Put Your Words in t he Blender" [ Hack # 50] and " Learn an Art ificial Language" [ Hack # 51] , but it 's less com plex. You could use it as a precursor t o invent ing new words. Jam es Crook

Chapter 4. Math Num eracy ( t he abilit y t o use num bers) is as im port ant as lit eracy. And while people vary in m at hem at ical apt it ude, alm ost everyone can im prove t heir m at h skills, because num bers are happy t o repay t he effort of m aking t heir acquaint ance. Because so m any people in our cult ure have t rouble wit h m at h, im proving your m at h skills will not only help you direct ly, but can also help you look good and give you an edge at work or school. I n keeping wit h t he " m ent al art s" approach out lined in t he Preface, m ost of t he hacks in t his chapt er involve m ent al m at h: m at h you can do in your head.

Hack 35. Put Down That Calculator

You don 't n e e d a ca lcu la t or t o do sim ple m a t h ! Le a r n a fe w t r ick s, a n d w it h a lit t le pr a ct ice , you 'll be su r pr ise d h ow m u ch a r it h m e t ic you ca n do in you r h e a d. Most people need a calculat or t o do even sim ple arit hm et ic. There's not hing wrong wit h t hat , but if a calculat or isn't available, it can becom e a problem . And even if you don't count t he t im e t o find t he calculat or, m ent al arit hm et ic can act ually be fast er t han a calculat or, t oo.

In Action Ent ire books have been writ t en on m ent al arit hm et ic, so we're not going t o cover everyt hing in t his hack. This hack covers som e t ypical t echniques useful in t heir own right , and som e of t he ot her hacks in t his chapt er are also useful in doing m ent al m at hem at ics. I f you find t his hack int erest ing and useful, you can check out one of t he m any books on t he subj ect , som e of which are list ed at t he end of t his hack. You should st art at a level t hat 's not frust rat ing for you. I f you reach for a calculat or t o m ult iply 8 x 7, st art by learning t he m ult iplicat ion t ables. Use paper and pencil at first , and check your work .

Rearrange Suppose you need t o add t he following num bers: 9 + 8 + 7 + 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1

You could add 9 + 8 t o get 17, and t hen add 7 t o t hat t o get 24, and so on. But it 's m uch easier t o rearrange t he addit ion: 9 + 1 + 8 + 2 + 7 + 3 + 6 + 4 + 5

Each of t he first pairs of num bers adds up t o 10. So, we have t he following easy addit ion: 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 5

which is 45. I n addit ion t o rearranging t o find 10s ( or 20s) , rearranging num bers so t hat t hey're in descending order t ends t o help. For inst ance, suppose you're adding t he following num bers: 1100000 270000 3300000 + 30000

I t 's probably easier t o rearrange t hat as follows: 3300000

1100000 270000 + 30000

I t 's easier because you don't need t o keep t rack of as m any nonzero digit s while adding 3,300,000 and 1,100,000. Adding 270,000 and 30,000 will also help, so you're left wit h 4,400,000 + 300,000an easy sum t hat t ot als t o 4,700,000. 1

Put down that burden When you learned t o do paper- and- pencil m ult iplicat ion in school, you probably learned t o work from right t o left , carrying as you went :

1 2

841 x 74 3364 5887 62234

Not ice t hat you had t o carry t wice, once in m ult iplying t he 4 in 74 by t he 4 in 841, and once in m ult iplying t he 7 by t hat 4. I f you t ry t o do t his m ent ally, you'll have t o keep t rack of m ult iple num bers bet ween st eps. For inst ance, when m ult iplying t he 7 by t he 8, you need t o rem em ber t he 3,364 from t he first m ult iplicat ion, t he 87 you've already figured out , and t he carried 2. I nst ead of working right t o left , let 's work left t o right , j ust m ult iplying one of t he six pairs of digit s at a t im e. We're not doing t his j ust t o be different ; rat her, we want t o lim it t he am ount of inform at ion we need t o keep t rack of. Before we at t em pt our previous exam ple, let 's do a sim pler problem . Mult iplying a t wo- digit num ber by anot her t wo- digit num ber t urns out t o be part icularly nice. Suppose we need t o m ult iply 42 x 29. We m ult iply each pair of num bers ( keeping t rack of t he powers of 10) , st art ing at t he left , and keep a running t ot al:

The individual calculat ions look like t his: 40 x 20 = 800 40 x 9 = 360, and 800 + 360 = 1,160 2 x 20 = 40, and 1,160 + 40 = 1,200 2 x 9 = 18, and 1,200 + 18 = 1,218

Not ice t hat we have t o rem em ber only one num ber bet ween st eps; t his rem ains t rue even for larger problem s. Of course, t here's not hing wrong wit h writ ing down t hat num ber if paper and pencil are handy, and you'll probably find t his m et hod is st ill easier and less error prone t hat t he usual m et hod.

Because you need t he num ber for only a short t im e, t he m nem onics from Chapt er 1 probably aren't necessary here.

Moving from higher num bers t o lower ones t ends t o work bet t er because it 's easier t o add a sm all num ber t o a large one. As a bonus, if you need only an est im at e, you can st op aft er doing t he first few m ult iplicat ions. Now, back t o our init ial exam ple. I t cont ains pairs of digit s:

The calculat ions look like t his: 800 x 70 = 56,000 800 x 4 = 3,200, and 56,000 + 3,200 = 59,200 40 x 70 = 2,800, and 59,200 + 2,800 = 62,000 40 x 4 = 160, and 62,000 + 160 = 62,160 1 x 70 = 70, and 62,160 + 70 = 62,230 1 x 4 = 4, and 62,230 + 4 = 62,234

Of course, t his is t he sam e answer t hat we got before; doing a problem t wo ways is a good way t o check it .2

" Calculat e Ment al Checksum s" [ Hack # 38] and " Est im at e Orders of Magnit ude" [ Hack # 41] discuss ot her ways of checking your work.

Look for friendly numbers Which addit ion problem would you rat her do: 79+87 or 80+86? Probably t he second; it 's easier because t he 80, ending in 0, is a friendly num ber [ Hack # 36] . For addit ion, num bers ending in 0 are friendly because adding t he corresponding place is t rivial ( adding 0 t o a num ber doesn't change it ) . Thus, we can m ent ally add t he t ens place ( 8+8=16) and t hen j ust append t he 6 for t he ones place t o get t he answer, 166. 3 The t rick for m ore difficult addit ion problem s is t o change t he problem wit hout changing t he answer so t hat we have friendly num bers. For inst ance, if we had 79+87, we'd not ice t hat 79 is near t he friendly num ber 80. To t urn 79 int o 80, we have t o add 1, so t o keep t he answer t he sam e, we need t o subt ract 1 som ewhere. Let 's subt ract 1 from t he ot her num ber, 87, t o get 86 and do 80+86=166, as in t he previous exam ple.

Alt ernat ively, you can add 80+87=167, and subt ract t he 1 from t he result .

The sam e principle works wit h m ult iplicat ion. 4 Suppose I ask you t o com put e 300x70 in your head. Mult iplying 3x7=21 and t hen adding t he t hree 0s, you easily get 21,000. Again, t he 0s at t he end m ake t he m ult iplicat ion easy. I f we need t o m ult iply 302x69, we can t hink as follows: 302 x 69 = (300 + 2) x (70 - 1)

Now we can do t he sam e cross- m ult iplicat ion we did before, but wit h bigger chunks: 300 300 2 x 2 x

x 70 x -1 70 = -1 =

= 21,000 = -300 and 21,000 - 300 = 20,700 140 and 20,700 + 140 = 20,840 -2 and 20,840 - 2 = 20,838

Num bers t hat end in 0 are t he friendliest , but fact ors of 100 [ Hack # 36] are pret t y friendly, t oo. For inst ance, if you t hink about t he fact ors of 100, you'll find t hat 25 is a friendly num ber, and 75 is at least t he friend of a friend. Then, t he exam ple we used earlier, 841x74, looks like t his: 841 x 74 = 841 x (75 - 1) = 841 x 75 - 841

Rem em ber t he m inus 841, and let 's do 841 x 75: 841 x 75 = = = = = = = =

841 x 3 x 25 2523 x 25 (2524 - 1) x 25 2524 x 25 - 25 2524 x 100 / 4 - 25 252400 / 4 - 25 63100 - 25 63075

Finally, subt ract t he left over 841, part by part : 63,075 - 800 = 62,275 62,275 - 40 = 62,235 62,235 - 1 = 62,234

which is a t hird confirm at ion of t he result !

How It Works All of t hese t ricks rely on basic propert ies of int egers. For inst ance, t he first m ult iplicat ion exam ple we gave was 841 x 74. We figured t hat out by using: 841 x 74 = (800 + 40 + 1) x (70 + 4) = 800 x (70 + 4) + 40 x (70 + 4) + 1 x (70 + 4) = 800 x 70 + 800 x 4 + 40 x 70 + 40 x 4 + 1 x 70 + 1 x 4

The first line uses t he definit ion of t he decim al num ber syst em [ Hack # 40] , and t he rem aining lines are repeat ed applicat ions of t he dist ribut ive propert y.

In Real Life Suppose you're playing a card gam e [ Hack # 67] wit h a 52- card deck. Your final score is based

on your final cards, and each num ber card is wort h it s num ber ( so t he 4 of heart s is wort h 4 point s) , wit h an ace wort h 1 point and each face card wort h 10 point s. Your hand is shown in Table 4- 1.

Ta ble Th e ca r ds you 'r e de a lt Suit

Cards

Spades

2, 7

Heart s

A, 8

Diam onds

2, 3, 8, 10

Clubs

A, 2, Q

The rearranging m et hod works especially well because we have act ual cards t o rearrange. Put t he 10 and queen aside: t hey're wort h 20 point s. Then, arrange cards in t he following groups ( Figure 4- 1) : Ace of heart s, 2 of spades, 7 of spades = 10 point s 8 of heart s, 2 of diam onds = 10 point s 8 of diam onds, 2 of clubs = 10 point s

Figu r e 4 - 1 . Gr ou pin g t h e ca r ds in you r h a n d

There are 50 point s so far; we j ust need t o add t he rem aining cards, which are t he ace of clubs and t he 3 of diam onds, for 4 m ore point s. Your t ot al score is 54 point s, and you've probably figured t his out so m uch fast er t han anyone else t hat you can double- check t he rules t o m ake sure t he t hree 2s don't get you som e kind of bonus.

End Notes

1 . St icker, Henry. 1955. How t o Calculat e Rapidly . Dover. 2 . Julius, Edward H. 1996. More Rapid Mat h: Tricks and Tips . Wiley. 3 . Kelly, Gerard W. 1984. Short - Cut Mat h , Chapt er 2. Dover. 4 . Julius, Edward H. 1992. Rapid Mat h Tricks and Tips . Wiley.

See Also Gardner, Mart in. 1989. Mat hem at ical Carnival . Mat hem at ical Associat ion of Am erica. Chapt ers6 and 7 discuss calculat ing prodigies and som e of t he t ricks t hey used. Doerfler, Ronald W. 1993. Dead Reckoning: Calculat ing Wit hout I nst rum ent s . Gulf Publishing Com pany. This book is a bit m ore advanced. I n addit ion t o t he basic operat ions, it covers ext ract ing root s, and even higher m at hem at ical funct ions, such as logarit hm s and t rigonom et ric funct ions. Mark Purt ill

Hack 36. Make Friends with Numbers

W it h a lit t le e x pe r ie n ce , you ca n le a r n t o r e cogn ize m a n y in dividu a l n u m be r s by t h e ir spe cia l pr ope r t ie s. Som e of t h e se pr ope r t ie s ca n h e lp you w it h m e n t a l a r it h m e t ic a n d m e m or y. Just like a face in a crowd, a num ber such as 1,729 probably doesn't m ean m uch t o you. But 1,000,000 looks like a friendly face. Wit h som e effort , m ore num bers can look like friends. Here's how t o get st art ed m aking t heir acquaint ance.

In Action Let 's st art wit h som e num bers t hat you're probably already friendly wit h10 and it s powers: 100, 1,000, and so fort h. Because we use a decim al num ber syst em [ Hack # 40] , powers of 10 end in zeros. Com panies are aware of t hat and t ry t o get phone num bers t hat are m ult iples of a power of 10, because t hose num bers are easy t o rem em ber. For inst ance, t he publisher of t his book, O'Reilly Media, has a local phone num ber of ( 707) 827- 7000, which is a m ult iple of 1,000. Mult iplying by a power of 10 is easy; you j ust have t o append zeros: 314 x 1000 = 314000

Sim ilarly, dividing by a power of 10 j ust rem oves zeros ( or m oves t he decim al point t o t he left if t here aren't enough zeros) : 2030 / 100 = 20.3

I f we look at t he fact ors of 10, which are 2 and 5, we can com e up wit h ot her useful rules. ( Fact ors of 10 are also called aliquot part s .) For inst ance, t o m ult iply a num ber by 5, first m ult iply by 10 and t hen t ake half t he result . This is based on t he not ion t hat , for m ult iplicat ion and division, 2 is a friendlier num ber t han 5. For inst ance, 386 x 5 = ( 386 x 10) / 2 = 3,860 / 2 = 1,930. This idea can be ext ended t o fact ors of powers of 10. For inst ance, 100 = 4 x 25, so t o divide by 25, double t he num ber t wice ( which is t he sam e as m ult iplying it by 4) and divide by 100: 217 / 25 = (4 x 217) / 100 = 868 / 100 = 8.68

I f you're est im at ing, near fact ors can also be useful: 33 x 3 = 99, which is alm ost 100, and 17 x 6 = 102, which is j ust a lit t le m ore t han 100.

How It Works Unlike som e of t he hacks in t his chapt er, t his one can't give you a st raight forward recipe t hat 's guarant eed t o m ake every int eger you encount er unique. Aft er all, t he hack involves finding som et hing unusual about t he num ber. I f every num ber you m et exhibit ed t he sam e unusual feat ure, it obviously wouldn't be unusual. Becom ing m ore fam iliar wit h t he num ber syst em is a gradual process. However, I can give you a few t ips:

St art wit h sm allish num bers Alt hough we'll give an exam ple of hacking a seven- digit phone num ber lat er, it m ight be easier t o hack t he t hree- digit and four- digit part s separat ely, or even split t he num ber int o t he t hreedigit part and t wo t wo- digit part s.

Try fact oring We already t alked about fact ors of powers of 10 ( such as 4 and 25) . Fact oring in ot her ways can be useful in m ent al ( or paper- and- pencil) arit hm et ic. For inst ance, if you have t o m ult iply 193 by 56, it m ight be easier t o fact or 56 int o 8 x 7, and t hen m ult iply each fact or separat ely: 193 x 56 = 193 x 8 x 7 = 193 x 23 x 7 = 386 x 22 x 7 = 772 x 2 x 7 = 1544 x 7 = 10808

I n t his exam ple, we m ult iplied by 8 by doubling t hree t im es.

Look for pat t erns and near pat t erns I once had a prescript ion num ber t hat was 66123465. This was easy t o rem em ber because of t wo pat t erns: all m y prescript ion num bers st art ed wit h 66 and t he rest of t he num ber was alm ost 123456. Rem em bering t he one difference from t he pat t ern was easier t han rem em bering t he whole num ber.

Associat e num bers wit h uses I f you're a sport s fan and you know your favorit e player wore num ber 80, rem em bering ot her 80s m ight be easier by associat ing t hem wit h t hat player. ( This is a variant of t he m nem onic t echniques present ed in Chapt er 1.)

Find friends of friends I n arit hm et ic, t his m ost ly m eans num bers close t o ot her num bers. For inst ance, 4 x 24 is easy t o com put e as 4 x ( 25 1) = 100 4 = 96. I n t erm s of m nem onics, any way you can connect num bers is fine.

In Real Life We've already t alked about arit hm et ic, so we'll concent rat e on m nem onics here. Let 's see what we can do wit h O'Reilly's t oll- free num ber( 800) 998- 9938in case you want t o order m ore copies of t his book. ( What am I saying, " in case" ?) Since m any t oll- free num bers st art wit h 800, t his should not be a problem . Not ice t hat 800 was chosen t o be a m ult iple of 100. Then not ice t hat t he 998 alm ost repeat s: not only is t he second part 99?8, but t he ext ra digit is a 3, which you can t hink of as a broken 8. Depending on your t ast es, t here are ot her ways t o proceed. For inst ance, back in college, I rem em ber one t im e I ran int o m y friend Ben at t he beginning of t he school year. He t old m e his phone num ber: 436- 7062. I didn't bot her writ ing it down. I was sure I could rem em ber it wit hout writ ing it down. And, 20 years lat er, I do rem em ber it , even t hough Ben m oved out of t hat part icular dorm room 19 years ago. How did I do it ? I saw t hat num ber not m erely as a sequence of seven num erals, in which form it

seem s rat her arbit rary, but as a part icular seven- digit num ber, and looked for it s special propert ies as a num ber. Let 's t ry fact oring t o st art , alt hough we'll use som e of t he ideas m ent ioned previously as we go along. First , checking for divisibilit y [ Hack # 37] , I saw t hat 4,367,062 is divisible by 2 ( because t he last digit is even) and 7 ( because + 62 367 + 4 = 301 and 301 / 7 = 43) . I could also see t hat t here were no m ore sm all fact ors. I f we divide by t he fact ors I got ( t hat is, 2 and 7) and use t echniques sim ilar t o t hose in " Put Down That Calculat or" [ Hack # 35] , we obt ain t he following result s: 4367062 / 2 = 2183531 2183531 / 7 = 311933

So, 4,367,062 = 2 x 7 x 311,933. Now, t here's a pat t ern t o t he num ber 311,933: if you m ult iply t he first t hree digit s by 3, you get t he last t hree digit s. A lit t le t hought ( and a nodding acquaint ance wit h a few ot her int egers) t ells us t hat t his m eans: 311933 = 311 x 1003

Here I got lucky: bot h of t hose num bers were already friends ( so our num ber 311,933 is a friend of t hose friends) . 311 is prim e, and 1,003 is 17 x 59, also bot h prim e. As a m at hem at ician, prim e num berst hose num bers wit h no fact ors ot her t han 1 and t hem selvesare int erest ing and oft en " friendly," and for various reasons1 17 is a very old friend, so I already knew t he fact orizat ion of 1,003. The com plet e fact orizat ion is: 2 x 7 x 17 x 59 x 311

For m e, all of t hose num bers are friends, and t he fact orizat ion is nice, wit h only one of each prim e fact or. That was enough for m e t o rem em ber t he phone num ber. That inform at ion m ight not help you rem em ber t he num ber. The key is t o m ake friends wit h num bers in your own way. Everyone will have different ways of doing t his. For inst ance, m at hem at icians love t o t ell t he st ory of Srinivasa Ram anuj an, a great m at hem at ician act ive in t he early 20t h cent ury. His friend and colleague, G. H. Hardy, visit ing him in t he hospit al, was m aking sm all t alk. Hardy m ent ioned t hat t he cab t hat t ook him t o t he hospit al was num ber 1729t o Hardy's disappoint m ent , because it was such a boring num ber. Ram anuj an disagreed: 1,729 was quit e an int erest ing num ber, being t he sm allest num ber t hat can be writ t en as a sum of t wo posit ive cubes in t wo different ways.2 Ram anuj an was quit e correct : 10 3 + 9 3 = 1,000 + 729 = 1,729, and 123 + 1 3 = 1,728 + 1 = 1,729. I t 's st raight forward, if a lit t le t edious, t o check t hat no sm aller int eger has t his propert y. I f I t old you t he propert y t hat Ram anuj an m ent ioned, you could figure out t he num ber 1,729 wit h a lot of t edious, rout ine com put at ion, but t o go in t he ot her direct ion is rat her rem arkable. Even m ost professional m at hem at icians would have t rouble doing t hat , except for t he fact t hat t his st ory is so popular. J. E. Lit t lewood, anot her colleague and frequent collaborat or of Hardy and Ram anuj an, put it t his way: every posit ive int eger was one of Ram anuj an's personal friends. A single face in t he crowd is recognizable if you know t he person. So it was wit h num bers for Ram anuj an. Of course, even if you can't recognize every face in a crowd, recognizing som e faces can st ill be helpful!

End Notes

1.

1 . Lefèvre, Vincent . 1998. " 17 ( Sevent een) and Yellow Pigs." ht t p: / / www.vinc17.org/ yp17/ index.en.ht m l . 2 . Mat hPages.com . " The Dullness of 1729." ht t p: / / www.m at hpages.com / hom e/ km at h028.ht m . Moses Klein and Mark Purt ill

Hack 37. Test for Divisibility

I t 's oft e n u se fu l t o k n ow w h e t h e r on e n u m be r is e ve n ly divisible by a n ot h e r n u m be r . H e r e a r e som e t r ick s t h a t go be yon d k n ow in g w h e t h e r a n u m be r is odd or e ve n , or divisible by 1 0 . Before decim als such as 3.5 were invent ed, people had t o use num bers wit h fract ional part s inst ead, such as 3 1 / 2 . I n m any division problem s, t hey had t o reduce fract ions wit h large num bersfor exam ple, 243 / 405t o t heir lowest t erm sin t his case, 3 / 5 . Knowing rules t o det erm ine divisibilit y by t he int egers from 1 t hrough 12, or from 1 t hrough 15, was very useful in t hat precalculat or t im e. 1 I f you want t o st rengt hen your m ent al m at h powers, knowing t he sam e rules can be useful t o you t oday. I n part icular, t hese rules are helpful wit h m at h t ricks t hat involve fact oring num bers, such as sim plified m ent al m ult iplicat ion. Som et im es, knowing t hat a num ber is evenly divisible by anot her num ber goes at least halfway t oward knowing what t he answer is.

In Action The following list gives t est s for divisibilit y by all int egers from 1 t o 15. I n t his cont ext , divisible m eansevenly divisible t hat is, divisible wit h a rem ainder of 0.

1 . Every int eger is divisible by 1. 2 . I f t he num ber's last digit is even ( 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8) , t he num ber is divisible by 2. Exam ples: 22, 136, 54, 778. 3 . I f t he num ber's digit sum is 0, 3, or 6 ( or 9, which is t he sam e as 0 for t his purpose) , t he num ber is divisible by 3. ( See " Calculat e Ment al Checksum s" [ Hack # 38] for how t o calculat e digit sum s.) Exam ple: 138 ( 1 + 3 + 8 = 12; 1 + 2 = 3) . 4 . I f t he last t wo digit s of t he num ber, t aken as a t wo- digit num ber, are divisible by 4, so is t he num ber. Exam ple: 216 ( 16 is divisible by 4) . 5 . I f t he last digit of a num ber is 0 or 5, t he num ber is divisible by 5. Exam ple: 147,325 ( t he last digit is 5) . 6 . I f a num ber is divisible by bot h 2 and 3, t he num ber is also divisible by 6. ( See t he t est s for 2 and 3.) Exam ple: 138 is divisible by 2 because it s last digit is 8. I t is also divisible by 3 because 1 + 3 + 8 = 12 and 1 + 2 = 3. Therefore, it 's also divisible by 6. 7 . See t he " Divisibilit y by 7" sidebar. 8 . I f t he last t hree digit s of t he num ber, t aken as a t hree- digit num ber, are divisible by 8, so is t he num ber. Exam ple: 2,889,888 ( t he last t hree digit s, 888, are divisible by 8) . 9 . I f t he num ber's digit sum is 0 ( or 9, which is t he sam e as 0 for t his purpose) , t he num ber is divisible by 9. ( See " Calculat e Ment al Checksum s" [ Hack # 38] for how t o calculat e digit sum s.) Exam ple: 41,805 ( 4 + 1 + 8 + 0 + 5 = 18; 1 + 8 = 9) . 10.

9.

1 0 . I f t he last digit of a num ber is 0, t he num ber is divisible by 10. Exam ple: 99,310 ( t he last digit is 0) . 1 1 . Cast ing out elevens[ Hack # 38] is t he easiest way t o t est for divisibilit y by 11 in m ost cases: if t he num ber m odulo 11 is 0, t he num ber is divisible by 11. 1 2 . I f a num ber is divisible by bot h 3 and 4, t he num ber is also divisible by 12. ( See t he t est s for 3 and 4.) Exam ple: 624 is divisible by 3 because 6 + 2 + 4 = 12 and 1 + 2 = 3. I t is also divisible by 4 because t he last t wo digit s ( 24) are divisible by 4. I t is t herefore divisible by 12. 1 3 . I f 9 t im es t he last digit of t he num ber, subt ract ed from t he num ber wit h it s last digit delet ed, is divisible by 13, so is t he num ber. 2 Exam ple: 351 is divisible by 13 because 35 9 x 1 = 26. Since 26 is divisible by 13, so is 351. 1 4 . I f a num ber is divisible by bot h 2 and 7, t he num ber is also divisible by 14. ( See t he t est s for 2 and 7.) Exam ple: 65,282,490 is divisible by 2 because it ends in 0. I t is also divisible by 7 because it is 7 less t han 65,282,497, which we know is divisible by 7 from t he exam ple in t he " Divisibilit y by 7" sidebar. Since it is divisible by bot h 2 and 7, it is divisible by 14. 1 5 . I f a num ber is divisible by bot h 3 and 5, t he num ber is also divisible by 15. ( See t he t est s for 3 and 5.) Exam ple: 3,285 is divisible by 3 because 3 + 2 + 8 + 5 = 18 and 1 + 8 = 9. I t is also divisible by 5 because it ends in 5. Therefore, it is divisible by 15.

Divisibility by 7 The following procedure is one of t he sim plest available for t est ing divisibilit y by 7: Take t he num ber you want t o t est , such as 65,282,497 . Split t he num ber int o groups of t hree digit s, st art ing at t he right . I f t he num ber is writ t en wit h com m as, t he split s will be easy t o see. Don't worry if t he left m ost group has less t han t hree digit s. I n t his case, t he groups are 497 , 282 , and 65 . Alt ernat ely, add and subt ract t hese groups, t reat ed as t hree- digit num bers. To cont inue t he exam ple, + 497 282 + 65 = 280 . The out put of t his procedure will have t he sam e divisibilit y by 7 t hat t he original num ber does. I t 's easy t o see t hat 280 / 7 = 40 , so 280 is divisible by 7, and it follows t hat 65,282,497 is, t oo. The sam e procedure will work for figuring divisibilit y by 11 and 13: sim ply t est t he out put of t his procedure for divisibilit y by 11 or 13, respect ively, rat her t han 7.

In Real Life Here's an exam ple of t he kind of sit uat ion where knowing t est s for divisibilit y will com e in handy in real life. You're at a dinner for 11 people. The rest aurant is closing, and everyone agrees t o split t he bill evenly t o save t im e, but no one has a pocket calculat or or PDA handy. The bill is $419.15, including grat uit y. You round t his t o $419, and cast out elevens. The result is 1, which m eans t hat by subt ract ing 1 from 419, you'll reach a num ber evenly divisible by 11,

which is 418. Quick m ent al division shows you t hat everyone owes $38 ( 418 / 11 = 38) , and t hat if random people around t he t able cont ribut e som e pocket change t o m ake up t he difference of $1.15, you can pack up and get out of t he rest aurant quickly.

End Notes

1 . Gardner, Mart in. 1991. " Test s of Divisibilit y." The Unexpect ed Hanging and Ot her Mat hem at ical Diversions . The Universit y of Chicago Press. An excellent art icle on divisibilit y, and a prim ary source for t his hack. Gives t he rules for 1 t hrough 12, several addit ional t est s for divisibilit y by 7, m agic t ricks involving divisibilit y, and m ore, in t he wonderful Gardner st yle. 2 . Wikipedia art icle. " Divisor." ht t p: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Divisor. Gives t he rules for 1315, defines som e t erm inology, out lines som e basic principles, and specifies a som ewhat elaborat e rule for det erm ining divisibilit y of any int eger, in any base, by any sm aller int eger.

Hack 38. Calculate Mental Checksums

Com pu t e r s u se ch e ck su m s t o e n su r e t h a t da t a w a s n ot cor r u pt e d in t r a n sm ission . N ow you r br a in ca n u se a ch e ck su m for you r m e n t a l m a t h , w it h a fe w e a sy t e ch n iqu e s. I t 's im port ant t o have som e way t o check your m ent al m at h t hat doesn't t ake as long as solving t he problem did originally, and ideally is m uch short er. I t 's easy t o check your m at h for t he four basic operat ions of arit hm et ic ( addit ion, subt ract ion, m ult iplicat ion, and division) by calculat ing digit sum s for t he num bers involved. A digit sum is a special kind of checksum or dat a int egrit y check. Checksum s are used all over t he world of com put ing, from credit cards t o I SBNs on books, t o downloads you m ake wit h your web browser. Now your brain can use t hem , t oo. Finding t he digit sum of a num ber is easy. Just add all t he digit s of t he num ber t oget her. I f t he result is great er t han 9, add t he digit s t oget her again. Cont inue t o do so unt il you have a onedigit result . I f t he result is 9, reduce it t o 0. The result is t he digit sum of t he original num ber. 1 For exam ple, t he digit sum of 381 is 3: 3 + 8 + 1 = 12 1 + 2 = 3

Sim ilarly, t he digit sum of 495 is 0: 4 + 9 + 5 = 18 1 + 8 = 9 (same as 0)

A num ber's digit sum is act ually t hat num ber m odulo 9 in ot her words, t he rem ainder when t hat num ber is divided by 9. See " Calculat e Any Weekday" [ Hack # 43] for a refresher on m odulo arit hm et ic. This t echnique is also known as cast ing out nines . Cast ing out nines and a sim ilar t echnique known as cast ing out elevens ( discussed in t he following sect ion) are all you need t o check your arit hm et ic calculat ions rapidly and t o a high degree of accuracy.

In Action This sect ion shows how t o calculat e checksum s for t he four basic operat ions: addit ion, subt ract ion, m ult iplicat ion, and division. Only int egers are used in t he exam ples, but t he t echniques will work j ust as well for real num bers as long as t hey have t he sam e num ber of decim al places. For exam ple, if you are m ult iplying 13.52 by 14.6, t hink of t he lat t er num ber as 14.60.

Addition To check your answer aft er addit ion:

1 . Find t he digit sum s for t he num bers you are adding. 2 . Add all t he digit sum s t oget her. 3 . Find t he digit sum of t he new num ber, and t he digit sum of t he answer num ber. 4 . Com pare t hese t wo digit sum s. I f t he digit sum s m at ch, t he answer should be correct . Here is an exam ple of checking addit ion successfully: 95 + 42 + 22 159

9 4 2 1

+ + + +

5 2 2 5

= = = +

14; 1 + 4 = 5 6 4 ... 5 + 6 + 4 = 15; 1 + 5 = 6 9 = 15; 1 + 5 = 6 : OK

Here is anot her exam ple of checking addit ion: 49 + 37 76

4 + 9 = 13; 1 + 3 = 4 3 + 7 = 10; 1 + 0 = 1 ... 4 + 1 = 5 7 + 6 = 13; 1 + 3 = 4 : WRONG (the answer should be 86)

The fact t hat t he digit sum of t he num bers being added does not m at ch t he digit sum of t he result t ells you t hat t he result is incorrect .

Digit sum s are even easier t o calculat e if you t reat t he 9s as 0s right away. Thus, inst ead of 4 + 9 = 13 in t he exam ple, j ust com put e 4 + 0 = 4 and obt ain your digit sum in one st ep.

Multiplication To check your answer during m ult iplicat ion:

1 . Find t he digit sum s for t he num bers you are m ult iplying. 2 . Mult iply t hem . 3 . Find t he digit sum of t he new num ber, and t he digit sum of t he answer num ber. 4 . Com pare t hese t wo digit sum s. I f t he digit sum s m at ch, t he answer should be correct . Here is an exam ple of a correct m ult iplicat ion: 33 x 27 891

3 + 3 = 6 2 + 7 = 9 = 0 ... 6 x 0 = 0 8 + 9 + 1 = 18; 1 + 8 = 9 = 0 : OK

Here is anot her exam ple of checking m ult iplicat ion: 76 x 14 1164

7 + 6 = 13; 1 + 3 = 4 1 + 4 = 5 ... 4 x 5 = 20; 2 + 0 = 2 1 + 1 + 6 + 4 = 12; 1 + 2 = 3 : WRONG (the answer should be 1064)

The fact t hat t he digit sum of t he product of t he digit sum s of t he num bers being m ult iplied does not m at ch t he digit sum of t he result t ells you t hat t he result is incorrect .

Subtraction Subt ract ion is t he inverse of addit ion. Checking a subt ract ion problem works t he sam e way as checking an addit ion problem : sim ply t urn t he subt ract ion problem int o an addit ion problem first , as in t he following exam ple: 58 - 26 32

26 2 + 6 = 8 + 32 3 + 2 = 5 ... 8 + 5 = 13; 1 + 3 = 4 58 5 + 8 = 13; 1 + 3 = 4 : OK

Division Just as subt ract ion is t he inverse of addit ion, so is division t he inverse of m ult iplicat ion. Thus, checking a division problem works t he sam e way as checking a m ult iplicat ion problem : first t urn t he division problem int o a m ult iplicat ion problem , as in t he following exam ple: 1081 / 23 = 46 23 2 x 46 4 1081 1 (the answer

+ 3 = 5 + 6 = 10; 1 + 0 = 1 ... 5 x 1 = 5 + 0 + 8 + 1 = 10; 1 + 0 = 1 : WRONG should be 47, not 46)

The fact t hat t he digit sum of t he product of t he digit sum s of t he num bers being m ult iplied does not m at ch t he digit sum of t he result t ells you t hat t he division result of 46 is incorrect .

False positives Som et im escast ing out nines will not find an error. For exam ple, som et im es errors in t wo digit s will cancel out , as in t he following exam ple: 272 + 365 547

2 + 7 + 2 = 11; 1 + 1 = 2 3 + 6 + 5 = 14; 1 + 4 = 5 ... 2 + 5 = 7 5 + 4 + 7 = 16; 1 + 6 = 7 : OK?

The correct answer is not 547, but 637 ( 6 + 3 + 7 = 16; 1 + 6 = 7) . Cast ing out nines will also not find errors of place ( when t he decim al point is m isplaced, or t he result is ot herwise off by a power of 10) . Est im at ing t he order of m agnit ude [ Hack # 41] ( roughly, finding t he num ber of digit s t o t he left of t he decim al point ) will help cat ch som e errors of place, but cast ing out elevens is even bet t er.

Casting out elevens Cast ing out elevens ( t hat is, calculat ing num bers m odulo 11 ) is slight ly m ore accurat e t han cast ing out nines. I t will also cat ch errors t hat cast ing out nines will not , including errors of place, so it is useful as a cross- check. To cast out elevens from an int eger, sim ply add all of t he digit s in t he odd places of t he num ber

( for exam ple, t he ones and hundreds digit s, which are in places 1 and 3, count ing from t he right ) , t hen subt ract all of t he digit s in t he even places ( for exam ple, t he t ens and t housands digit s, in places 2 and 4) . For exam ple, cast ing out elevens from 5,924 gives t he result 4 + 9 2 5 = 6. I f your result is great er t han 11, cast out elevens from t hat num ber, and cont inue doing so unt il you have a num ber t hat 's less t han 11. I f t he result is less t han 0, add 11 t o it unt il you have a num ber t hat is at least 0 and less t han 11. To cast out elevens from a sum , t ot al t he result of cast ing out elevens for each num ber you're adding, and t hen cast out elevens from t hat . The following exam ple is a cross- check of t he sum from t he previous sect ion: 272 + 365 547

2 + 2 - 7 = -3; -3 + 11 = 8 5 + 3 - 6 = 2 ... 8 + 2 = 10 7 + 5 - 4 = 8 : WRONG (the answer should be 637)

How It Works A rigorous m at hem at ical proof t hat cast ing out nines by sum m ing t he digit s of a num ber will give you t hat num ber's rem ainder when divided by 9 is beyond t he scope of t his book, but it 's fairly int uit ive. First , consider t hat 0mod9 is 0, 1mod9 is 1, 2mod9 is 2, 3mod9 is 3, and so on. 9mod9 is 0, 10 mod9 is 1, 11mod9 is 2, and t he cycle cont inues. Next , consider t hat 20mod9 is 2, 30mod9 is 3, and so on; check and see. You will also find t hat 200mod9 is 2, 2,000mod9 is 2, 20,000 mod9 is 2, and so on. I n fact , any int eger m ult iplied by any power of 10 and t hen calculat ed m odulo 9 has t he sam e result as t he original int eger m odulo 9. Since (a+b+c)mod9 is t he sam e as (amod9)+(bmod9)+(cmod9), and since ( for exam ple) t he num ber 523 can be writ t en as 500+20+3, sim ply adding t he individual digit s of 523 (5+2 +3) will serve t he sam e purpose as calculat ing t he sum of 500 m od 9, 20 m od 9, and 3 m od 9, t o wit , finding 523 m odulo 9. 2 Figuring out why cast ing out elevens works is left as an exercise for t he m at hem at ically m inded m ind- perform ance hacker.

In Real Life Ment al checksum s are m ost useful when you com bine t hem wit h ot her m at h hacks [ Hack # 75] . Since checksum s using bot h 9 and 11 are easy t o find, checking your work won't add m uch t im e t o your m ent al calculat ions unless you m ade a m ist akein which case, bet t er lat e t han wrong.

End Notes

1 . Julius, Edward H. 1992. Rapid Mat h Tricks and Tips . John Wiley & Sons, I nc. 2 . Menninger, Karl, and E. J. F. Prim rose ( t rans) . 1961. Calculat or's Cunning: The Art of Quick Reckoning . Basic Books, I nc., Publishers.

Hack 39. Turn Your Hands into an Abacus

You m igh t h a ve h e a r d st or ie s of h ow r a pid a n d a ccu r a t e ca lcu la t ion s w it h a n a ba cu s ca n be , bu t did you k n ow t h a t t h e a ba cu s m igh t h a ve be e n ba se d on a n a n cie n t t e ch n iqu e u sin g on ly t h e h u m a n h a n d, w h ich su r vive s t oda y a s t h e Kor e a n a r t of Ch ise n bop? Chisenbop is an ancient Korean t echnique for calculat ions wit h t he hum an hand. The classic t ext on Chisenbop in English is The Com plet e Book of Fingerm at h . 1 Unfort unat ely, it is expensive, aim ed t oward children, and t akes hundreds of pages t o explain principles t hat an educat ed adult can learn in a few m inut es. One im port ant t hing t hat t he book can offer you, however, is page aft er page of drills. Chisenbop should becom e a m ot or skill, not som et hing you have t o t hink about . Fingerm at h also uses m any full, det ailed drawings of hands in act ion, which is anot her reason t he book is so long. Fort unat ely, t he Wikipedia present s a not at ion t hat can radically com press Chisenbop diagram s on t he page, as shown in Table 4- 2.2

I added a couple of sym bols t o t he not at ion m yself for t his book ( ^ and v, which are described in Table 4- 2) .

Ta ble Ch ise n bop n ot a t ion Notation -

@

.

o

^

v

Meaning A t hum b in t he air A t hum b wit h it s t ip pressed t o t he t able A finger in t he air A finger wit h it s t ip pressed t o t he t able Lift t hat finger Press t hat finger down

You can com bine t he finger not at ion across t wo hands, as shown in t he exam ples in Table 4- 3.

Ta ble Ex a m ple s of Ch ise n bop n ot a t ion Notation ....-

-....

oooo@

@oooo

....@

@....

oooo-

-oooo

....-

-o...

...v-

^^^^^

Meaning Bot h hands free All t hum bs and fingers down Thum bs down only Fingers down only Right index finger down only Press your left index finger, and lift all t he fingers and t he t hum b on your right hand

This rem ainder of t his hack describes t he basic operat ions of Chisenbop.

Counting Here is how t o count t o 100 or m ore on your fingers. Keeping all your ot her fingers off t he t able, you press your right index finger t o t he t able. This represent s t he num ber 1:

Notation -o...

Meaning 1

Keeping your right index finger on t he t able, you press your right m iddle finger on t he t able. This represent s t he num ber 2:

Notation -oo..

Meaning 2

The next t wo fingers down represent 3 and 4, respect ively:

Notation -ooo.

Meaning 3

-oooo

4

To represent 5, clear your ot her four fingers on your right hand ( lift t hem off t he t able) and sim ult aneously press your right t hum b t o t he t able. Your t hum b represent s 5:

Notation v^^^^

@....

Meaning Clear fingers, press t hum b 5

For 6, keeping your right t hum b on t he t able, press your right index finger down on t he t able ( 5 + 1 = 6) :

Notation @o...

Meaning 6

You can get as high as 9 on your right hand by pressing t he next t hree fingers on your right hand in succession so t hat all t he fingers are pressed:

Notation @oo..

@ooo.

@oooo

Meaning 7 8 9

To count from 10 up t hrough 99, you will need t o st art using your left hand as well. Clear all t he fingers on your right hand and sim ult aneously press t he index finger of your left hand. This is 10. I t 's analogous t o how you count 1 on your right hand by pressing your right index finger.

Notation ...v-

^^^^^

...o-

-....

Meaning Clear right hand, press left index finger 10

By adding t he fingers of your right hand from 1 t hrough 9, you can get as high as 19:

Notation ...o-

-o...

...o-

-oo..

...o-

-ooo.

...o-

-oooo

...o-

@....

...o-

@o...

...o-

@oo..

...o-

@ooo.

...o-

@oooo

Meaning 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Of course, t o count t o 20, you m ake anot her exchange. Clear your right hand and press t he m iddle finger of your left hand:

Notation ..vo-

^^^^^

..oo-

-....

Meaning Clear right hand, press left m iddle finger 20

This is analogous t o how you count 2 on your right hand because 20 = 2 x 10. Count ing by t ens, t he ot her num bers up t hrough 90 follow logically:

Notation .ooo-

-....

oooo-

-....

....@

-....

...o@

-....

..oo@

-....

.ooo@

-....

oooo@

-....

Meaning 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

And here's a full Chisenbop 99:

Notation oooo@

@oooo

Meaning 99

I f you want t o count past 99, you need t o rem em ber a num ber in your head. That num ber is how m any hundreds you need t o add t o your hand abacus at t he end of your calculat ion. Fort unat ely, all t hat involves is t acking t he hundreds num ber ont o t he front of t he num ber shown by your hands. So, if your hands show t his:

Notation ....@

-oo..

Meaning 52

and your hundreds num ber is 3, t he num ber you have count ed t o is 352, which you can show like t his:

Notation ....@

-oo..

Meaning ( 3) 52

Therefore, t o break past 99, clear your hands and say t o yourself " one hundred." Bot h hands

will now show zero, t o which you will add t he hundred in your head by prepending one, and t he Hubble horizon is t he lim it !

Notation ....-

-....

....-

-o...

....-

-oo..

....-

-ooo.

....-

-oooo

....-

@....

Meaning ( 1) 00 ( 1) 01 ( 1) 02 ( 1) 03 ( 1) 04 ( 1) 05

Addition Addit ion is sim ply count ing by larger chunks t han 1. For exam ple, t o add 15 + 23, place your hands in t he 15 posit ion:

Notation ...o- @....

Meaning 15

Now, press t wo m ore fingers represent ing 10 each on t he left hand. This m eans you're adding 20:

Notation .ooo-

@....

Meaning 35

Alm ost t here. Now, press t hree m ore fingers on your right hand for t he 3 in 23:

Notation .ooo-

@ooo.

Meaning 38

So, 15 + 23 = 38. I t m ight have been easier t o do it t his way:

Notation ..oo-

-ooo.

.voo-

vooo.

.ooo-

@ooo.

Meaning 23 ( press 15) 38

Subtraction Sim ply put , if addit ion is count ing forward by chunks, subt ract ion is count ing backward by chunks. I nst ead of pressing your inner fingers down and m oving out , you are lift ing your out er fingers and m oving in. I t 's quit e sim ple; it j ust t akes pract ice. Here's how t o figure 38 23 = 15:

Notation .ooo-

@ooo.

.^^o-

@^^^.

...o-

@....

Meaning 38 ( raise 23) 15

Multiplication Mult iplicat ion is j ust repeat ed addit ion. For exam ple, 3 x 15 = 45 m eans 15 + 15 + 15 = 45:

Notation ...o- @....

.ooo- -....

oooo- @....

Meaning 15 30 45

I t 's useful t o drill in adding by arbit rary chunks, st art ing wit h count ing by t wos, m oving up as high as count ing by nines, and t hen m oving int o count ing by double digit s. You want your

Chisenbop t o becom e an unconscious m ot or skill ; ot herwise, you m ight need t o keep int erm ediat e result s in your head. For exam ple, when m ult iplying by 15, you m ight need t o repeat edly add 10 and t hen rem em ber t o add 5. Not only is t his not t he Way of Chisenbop, but it is also error- prone. Not e t hat when you m ult iply, you always need t o rem em ber a second num ber in your head, in addit ion t o t he hundreds t hat is, how m any t im es you've added t he num ber by which you're m ult iplying. ( Don't read t he result off your fingers unt il you're done.) So, in t he previous exam ple, when you first place your fingers on t he t able in t he 15 posit ion, you say, " One! " When you add a second 15, you say, " Two! " And when you add t he final 15, you say, " Three! " Now read t he result off your fingers: prest o, 45!

Division I f m ult iplicat ion is repeat ed addit ion, division is repeat ed subt ract ion. You can divide by repeat edly subt ract ing t he divisor unt il you can't subt ract it anym ore. The num ber of t im es you could subt ract t he divisor is t he result , and t he num ber left over on your fingers is t he rem ainder. Thus, 15 can be subt ract ed from 45 t hree t im es, leaving all fingers clear ( a rem ainder of zero) , showing t hat 45 / 15 = 3, rem ainder 0. Likewise, 15 can be subt ract ed from 46 t hree t im es, leaving your index finger pressed, showing t hat 45 / 15 = 3, rem ainder 1. I n pract ice, it 's probably easier t o work in t he opposit e direct ion. For exam ple, you can divide a num ber by 7 by count ing sevens unt il you exceed t he num ber you are dividing. The num ber of sevens in t he num ber you are dividing is one less t han t he num ber at which you finished. For exam ple, t o divide 81 by 7, count 7 ( 1) , 14 ( 2) , 21 ( 3) , 28 ( 4) , 35 ( 5) , 42 ( 6) , 49 ( 7) , 56 ( 8) , 63 ( 9) , 70 ( 10) , 77 ( 11) , 84 ( 12) oops! That 's 12 sevens, which is t oo m any, so t here are 11 sevens in 81, wit h a rem ainder of 4.

End Notes

1 . Liebert hal, Edwin M. 1982. The Com plet e Book of Fingerm at h . A & W Visual Library. 2 . Wikipedia. 2005. " Chisenbop." ht t p: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Chisenbop.

See Also Harris, Andy. " Chisenbop Tut orial." ht t p: / / www.cs.iupui.edu/ ~ aharris/ chis/ chis.ht m l ( t his page from Purdue Universit y cont ains an int eract ive, anim at ed Chisenbop t ut orial and several lessons present ed via st ream ing m edia) .

Hack 40. Count to a Million on Your Fingers

You ca n u se bin a r y a r it h m e t ic t o cou n t t o m or e t h a n a m illion on you r fin ge r s. You probably already know t hat you can use Chisenbop [ Hack # 39] t o count t o 100 or m ore and do sim ple arit hm et ic on your fingers. I f you swit ch from t he decim al num eral syst em t o binary, however, you can use your fingers t o count t o about 2 20 , which is 1,048,576m ore t han a m illion! 1

The Binary Numeral System First , let 's review t he binary num eral syst em . ( I f you don't need a review, you can skip t o t he next sect ion.) The num ber syst em we use norm ally is called t he decim al num eral syst em on powers of 10. For inst ance:

because it is based

4309 = (4 x 1000) + (3 x 100) + (0 x 10) + (9 x 1)

Not e t hat in t he decim al syst em t here are 10 digit s: 0 t o 9. Each posit ion in a decim al num ber corresponds t o a power of 10; for inst ance, 3 is in t he hundreds posit ion in t he decim al num ber 4,309. The binary num eral syst em is based on powers of 2, so t here are only t wo digit s, 0 and 1. These are referred t o as bit s , which is short for binary digit . Thus, in binary: 10011 = (1 x 16) + (0 x 8) + (0 x 4) + (1 x 2) + (1 x 1) = 19

I n t his hack, I 'll highlight binary num bers in bold, so you can t ell t hem apart from ordinary decim al num bers. Wit hout som e convent ion, it would be im possible t o t ell whet her a num ber like 10011, wit h only 1s and 0s, is binary or decim al.

Not ice t hat because only 1 and 0 are used, t here's no real m ult iplicat ion here: we j ust add up t he posit ions wit h 1s in t hem . I n t he case of 10011, t hat 's 16 + 2 + 1 = 19.

In Action Now we can explain how t o count on your fingers in binary. The basic idea is t o have a finger designat e each posit ion. Let 's st art wit h one hand. For exam ple, suppose t hat on t he right hand, t he t hum b is t he 1 posit ion, t he index finger is t he 2 posit ion, t he m iddle finger 4, t he ring finger 8, and t he pinky 16. Each finger can be down ( represent ing 0) or up ( represent ing 1) .

St art wit h all fingers in t he down posit ion. Thus, each posit ion has a 0, and t his represent s t he num ber zero ( 00000 = 0) . You can represent any 5- bit num ber wit h one hand. For inst ance, t o represent 10011 ( which is 19 in decim al) using t he syst em out lined in t he previous sect ion, place your fingers as in Table 4- 4 and Figure 4- 2.

Ta ble Fin ge r s in t h e ( de cim a l 1 9 ) posit ion Finger

Value

Gesture

Bit

Pinky

16

Up

1

Ring

8

Down

0

Middle

4

Down

0

I ndex

2

Up

1

Thum b

1

Up

1

Figu r e 4 - 2 . Fin ge r s in t h e 1 0 0 1 1 ( de cim a l 1 9 ) posit ion

The rule for adding 1 is sim ple: each t im e you increm ent t he num ber, look for t he sm allest posit ion finger t hat is down. Raise it , and lower all fingers in even sm aller posit ions. For exam ple, st art ing wit h 19 as in t he previous exam ple, we would raise t he m iddle finger ( t he 4 posit ion) and lower t he index finger and t hum b ( t he 2 and 1 posit ions, which are t hose sm aller t han t he 4 posit ion) . Keep t he pinky and ring fingers in t he sam e posit ion, as shown in Table 4- 5 and Figure 4- 3. This represent s t he num ber 10100 ( 16+4=20) .

Ta ble Fin ge r s in t h e ( de cim a l 2 0 ) posit ion Finger

Value

Gesture

Bit

Pinky

16

Up

1

Ring

8

Down

0

Middle

4

Up

1

I ndex

2

Down

0

Thum b

1

Down

0

Figu r e 4 - 3 . Fin ge r s in t h e 1 0 1 0 0 ( de cim a l 2 0 ) posit ion

I ncrem ent ing again, we would j ust raise t he t hum b ( since it 's t he sm allest - posit ion finger t hat 's down) . Since t here are no sm aller posit ions t han t he t hum b, no fingers are lowered. The num ber represent ed is 10101 ( 16+4+1=21) . Wit h only one hand, we can represent num bers up t o 11111 ( 31) . To get up t o 1,000, we proceed t o t he ot her hand: t he t hum b on t he left hand represent s t he 32 posit ion, t he index finger represent s 64, t he m iddle finger 128, t he ring finger 256, and t he pinky 512. Wit h t his, we can represent num bers up t o 1111111111 ( 1,023) . For inst ance, 1,000 is represent ed as 1111101000 because 512+256+128+64+32+8=1,000. ( See Table 4- 6 and Figure 4- 4.)

Ta ble Fin ge r s in t h e 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 ( de cim a l 1 ,0 0 0 ) posit ion Left hand

Right hand

Finger

Value Gest ure Bit

Finger

Value Gest ure Bit

Pinky

512

Up

1

Pinky

16

Down

0

Ring

256

Up

1

Ring

8

Up

1

Middle

128

Up

1

Middle

4

Down

0

I ndex

64

Up

1

I ndex

2

Down

0

Thum b

32

Up

1

Thum b

1

Down

0

Figu r e 4 - 4 . Fin ge r s in t h e 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 ( de cim a l 1 ,0 0 0 ) posit ion

An alt ernat e way of figuring t his out is t o com put e t he left hand separat ely, m ult iply it by 32, and add t he right hand. For exam ple, on your left hand: 11111 = 31; 31 x 32 = 992. Then, com put e on your right hand: 01000 = 8. Finally, 992 + 8 = 1,000.

That get s us past 1,000, but we're out of fingers. So why did we say you can count t o a m illion t his way? The sam e fingers can sim ult aneously represent a new, independent set of bit s, which will have values 1,024, 2,048, and so on, up t o 524,288. For t hese higher- valued bit s, a finger held st raight is off ( 0) , and a curled finger is on ( 1) . Now t hat you've added curled fingers t o your binary repert oire, t he rule for increm ent ing m ust be ext ended. The previous rule of raising t he sm allest - posit ion lowered finger and lowering all t he fingers in sm aller posit ions st ill applies. Now, however, if and only if all of your fingers are raised ( whet her curled or st raight ) , and you want t o add 1, lower all your fingers, curl t he sm allest - posit ion st raight finger, and st raight en any lower- posit ion curled fingers.

Let 's see how we'd represent 1,000,000 wit h t his schem e. 1,000,000 = 11110100001001000000, because 1,000,000 = 2 19 + 2 18 + 2 17 + 2 16 + 2 14 + 2 9 + 2 6 = 524,288 + 262,144 + 131,072 + 65,536 + 16,384 + 512 + 64. Split t ing t his int o groups of five ( for t he five fingers) , we m ust posit ion our fingers as shown in Table 4- 7.

Ta ble Fin ge r s in t h e 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 ( de cim a l 1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 ) posit ion , by h a n d Bit

Gesture

11110

Left hand curled/ st raight

10000

Right hand curled/ st raight

10010

Left hand up/ down

00000

Right hand up/ down

Finger by finger, 1,000,000 ( 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 ) looks like Tables 4- 8 and 4- 9 and Figure 4- 5.

Ta ble Le ft h a n d fin ge r s in t h e 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 ( de cim a l 1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 ) posit ion , fin ge r by fin ge r Finger

Value

Gesture

Bit

Value

Gesture

Bit

Pinky

524,288

Curled

1

512

Up

1

Ring

262,144

Curled

1

256

Down

0

Middle

131,072

Curled

1

128

Down

0

I ndex

65,536

Curled

1

64

Up

1

Thum b

32,768

St raight

0

32

Down

0

Ta ble Righ t h a n d fin ge r s in t h e 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 ( de cim a l 1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 ) posit ion , fin ge r by fin ge r Finger

Value

Gesture

Bit

Value

Gesture

Bit

Pinky

16,384

Curled

1

16

Down

0

Ring

8,192

St raight

0

8

Down

0

Middle

4,096

St raight

0

4

Down

0

I ndex

2,048

St raight

0

2

Down

0

Thum b

1,024

St raight

0

1

Down

0

Figu r e 4 - 5 . Fin ge r s in t h e 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 ( de cim a l 1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 ) posit ion

In Real Life I nst ead of holding one num ber on bot h hands, you can st ore one num ber on each hand. This m ight be useful in keeping score in a t wo- player gam e, for inst ance. Addit ional bit s are available elsewhere on your body: for inst ance, your wrist s. Once you get fam iliar wit h binary num bers, you can experim ent m ore wit h addit ion and even t ry subt ract ion ( t hese m ight m ake being able t o represent num bers up t hrough 1,000,000 m ore useful) .

How It Works I ncrem ent ing is j ust adding 1, and binary arit hm et ic works t he sam e as decim al arit hm et ic ( except it 's easier because t here are only t wo bit s) . For inst ance, t he com put at ion we did as t he first exam ple ( 19 + 1 = 20, in decim al) works like t his:

1 1

10011 + 1 10100

Since t he lowest posit ion is 1 , adding 1 gives 2 , which is 1 0 in binary. So, we put down 0 and carry t he 1 . ( This corresponds t o lowering t he t hum b.) Adding t he carry t o t he 1 in t he 2 posit ion again gives 1 0 , so we again have 0 wit h a carried 1 . ( This corresponds t o lowering t he index finger.) I n t he 4 posit ion, we have a 0 , and 0 + 1 = 1 . ( This corresponds t o raising t he m iddle finger.) The ot her digit s rem ain t he sam e, j ust as t he corresponding fingers do. The next increm ent ( 20 + 1 = 21) is sim ple, because t here are no carries:

10100 + 1 10101

This m at ches what we did wit h t he fingers: we j ust raised t he t hum b. The rule for fingers ( find t he sm allest - posit ion finger t hat 's down, raise it , and lower all sm allerposit ion fingers) corresponds t o finding t he right m ost 0 , changing it t o a 1 , and replacing any 1 s t o t he right wit h 0 s. That 's exact ly what t he carries do, as you can see in t he first addit ion.

End Notes

1 . Ment at Wiki. " Physio Arit hm et ics." ht t p: / / www.ludism .org/ m ent at / PhysioArit hm et ics. Mark Purt ill

Hack 41. Estimate Orders of Magnitude

By u sin g r ou gh or de r - of- m a gn it u de e st im a t e s, you ca n ch e ck ca lcu la t ion s a n d e st im a t e w h e t h e r t a sk s a r e e ve n pla u sible be for e spe n din g t im e t o pla n t h e m m or e a ccur a t e ly. An order- of- m agnit ude est im at e is an est im at e t o t he nearest power of 10. For inst ance, an order- of- m agnit ude est im at e of 400 m eans t he t rue value is closer t o 400 t han 40 or 4,000. The est im at es we're discussing in t his hack are called rough order- of- m agnit ude ( ROM) est im at es because we're not com plet ely sure we're wit hin an order of m agnit ude. Ot her t erm s for t his kind of est im at e are ballpark est im at es ( as in, " Are we even in t he ballpark?" ) and educat ed or scient ific wild- ass guesses . As all of t hese nam es suggest , t he idea is t o det erm ine roughly how large a num ber is, or whet her a t ask is t rivial, possible, or absurd.

When you're est im at ing t asks, m ake sure everyone underst ands t hat ROM est im at es are j ust t hat . They should not be writ t en int o cont ract s or used as t arget s when act ually doing work. That needs m ore careful est im at ion and proj ect t racking. ROM est im at es are j ust t o know whet her t o bot her perform ing a m ore form al est im at e.

In Action First , let 's do a purely num eric hack: est im at e how m any seconds are in a year. There are 60 seconds in a m inut e and 60 m inut es in an hour; m ult iplying t hem is easy: 3,600 seconds in an hour. Let 's round t hat t o 4,000. Twent y- five percent m ight seem like a big round- up, but we are concerned here wit h orders of m agnit ude; as long as it 's not 2,500% , we should be OK. Now, t here are 24 hours in a day. We rounded t he seconds in an hour up, so let 's round t his down t o 20. Mult iplying 20 by 4,000, we get 80,000 seconds in a day, which we can round up t o 100,000. There are 365 days in a year ( plus a bit ) . Let 's round t hat t o 400. Our final est im at e ( 400 days t im es 100,000 seconds) is 40,000,000 seconds in a year, and since we rounded up t hree t im es and down once, it 's probably high rat her t han low.

The act ual answer, using 365.2422 days per year, is 31,556,926 seconds per year, so we are well wit hin an order of m agnit ude ( and we were indeed high, not low) .

Now, let 's do a sim ilar problem est im at ing a t ask. I n an episode of The Sim psons I j ust saw in syndicat ion, Bart is in France as an exchange st udent for t hree m ont hs, but he ends up picking grapes at a run- down chat eau. Supposedly, he picks a m illion grapes in t hat t im e ( t his is an est im at e by one of t he Frenchm en exploit ing Bart ) .

First , let 's see if 1,000,000 grapes seem s plausible. Each bunch of grapes has som e grapes on it m ore t han 10, cert ainly. Let 's say 100. Each vine will have several bunches; let 's say 10. So, we've got 1,000 grapes per vine, which m eans 1,000,000 grapes require 1,000 vines. I f anyt hing, t hat seem s low for t he vineyard pict ured, so no problem s here. Could Bart even t heoret ically pick all t hose grapes in less t han t hree m ont hs? Let 's say Bart picks one grape per second, which seem s plausible ( he cert ainly doesn't m anage 10 in a second, but he can do m ore t han one every 10 seconds) . At t his pace, he'd m anage 3,600 in an hour. Let 's round t hat down t o allow t im e t o m ove bet ween bushes, em pt y t he cont ainer, and so on, but t o com pensat e, we'll have him work 20 hours a day. So, Bart m anages 6,000 ( 20 x 3,000) grapes a day. I f we round t hat t o 5,000 t o get a nice fact or of 10 [ Hack # 36] , we see it will t ake 200 days ( 1,000,000 / 5,000, which is t he sam e as 1,000 / 5) t o harvest 1,000,000 grapes. This is som ewhat m ore t han t hree m ont hs ( which is about 3 x 30 = 90 days) , and Bart did ot her t hings as well. So, t his would seem a bit suspect if it weren't int ended as hum orous exaggerat ionbut only a bit suspect , since t here were a lot of guesses in t here. I f t his were im port ant , it would be wort h doing a m ore careful analysis of t hings, such as Bart 's grapepicking speed.

How It Works The basic idea is t o est im at e anyt hing you don't know and round off num bers t o m ake t he arit hm et ic easy. As you est im at e and round, if you keep t rack of whet her you're est im at ing high ( rounding up) or est im at ing low ( rounding down) , you get a feeling as t o whet her your est im at e is m ore likely t o be high or low. Rounding up one t im e and down t he next will t end t o cancel out ( t hough of course t his depends on how m uch you're rounding) . That 's j ust because using a bigger num ber in one place will cancel out using a sm aller num ber in anot her. For inst ance, when com put ing t he seconds in a day, we rounded 3,600 up t o 4,000 and 24 down t o 20, and m ult iplied t hem t o get 80,000. The act ual answer is 86,400 ( 3,600 x 24) , and we're quit e close. Not ice t hat if we'd rounded bot h num bers upsay, t o 4,000 x 30we'd get 120,000, which of course is higher, but also furt her away from 86,400 t han 80,000 is. Likewise, rounding bot h downsay, t o 3,000 x 20gives us 60,000; again, furt her away t han 80,000. Som et im es, you want t o m ost ly round up ( if it 's work you're going t o have t o do) or m ost ly round down ( if you're est im at ing feasibilit y) . You m ight want t o do bot h and use t he t wo num bers as upper and lower bounds. For inst ance, in t he exam ple of t he num ber of seconds in a year, we'd know t hat t he num ber of seconds in a day is bet ween 60,000 and 120,000.

In Real Life ROM est im at es can help you find m ist akes in everyday life. They can help you in your j ob, and t hey m ight even help you get a j ob if you don't have one.

Checking calculations Mist akes on calculat ors can easily give answers t hat are wildly wrong. For inst ance, suppose we were com put ing t he num ber of seconds in a year, and we t yped t his: 60 * 60 + 24 * 365

t o get t his:

12360

Since our earlier est im at e when we t ried t o calculat e t he num ber of seconds in a year was 40,000,000, we know som et hing went wrong.

Work estimates At m y work, we oft en use ROM est im at es t o figure out how long a cust om er request will t ake. We est im at e t asks by week and add t hem up t o get t he t ot al t im e. We can t hen com pare t hat t o t he cust om er's schedule and budget . Suppose, for inst ance, t hat som eone asks Ron t o writ e anot her book of m ind perform ance hacks, but t hey want it in t wo m ont hs. Can he do it ? The book will com prise about 10 chapt ers wit h about 10 hacks in each chapt er, for a t ot al of 100 hacks ( which m ight be an overest im at e, but it 's a nice, round num ber t o shoot for) . Som e hacks are easier t han ot hers are, but we m ight say t hat , on average, each t akes t wo hours t o research, t wo hours t o writ e a first draft , an hour for polishing, and an hour for t echnical review. That 's six hours for each hack, for a t ot al of 600 hours. At 40 hours per week, we already have 15 weeks, well m ore t han t wo m ont hs. So, we can already t ell t hat Ron will need som e help, and we haven't count ed t he t im e t o decide which hacks t o use. The t ask of deciding which hacks t o writ e should also be figured in and is t he kind of t hing we t end t o like t o be generous in est im at ing, because it 's hard t o quant ify. I t 's m uch harder t o say, as we did wit h t he writ ing, t hat it will t ake a definit e am ount of t im e per hack t o t hink t hem up, and t hat t im e will probably have t o be spread out m ore. On t he ot her hand, we have som e hacks in t his book t hat m ight help.

Job interview Many soft ware com panies like t o ask m ind- expanding quest ions t o prospect ive hires t o t est t heir abilit y t o t hink big and creat ively. One fam ous exam ple is, " How would you m ove Mount Fuj i?" Let 's est im at e t he num ber of t ruckloads of dirt t hat would generat e. First , how t all is Fuj isan? I f you know, you can round t hat off, but I don't . I t 's a very t all m ount ain, so it 's probably around 10,000 feet . Again, 1,000 is definit ely t oo sm all and 100,000 is t oo big. But 20,000 would be equally plausible for t his kind of est im at e, or even 30,000, t hough t hat would m ake Mount Fuj i t aller t han Mount Everest . I f you'd rat her work in t he m et ric syst em , 5,000 m et ers or 10,000 m et ers would be a good est im at e, which of course doesn't m at ch t he est im at es in feet .

According t o Wikipedia, Mount Fuj i is 3,776 m et ers ( 12,388 feet ) t all. So our 10,000- foot est im at e isn't t oo bad.

Anyway, let 's st ick wit h 10,000 feet for now. Mount Fuj i appears t o be roughly a cone, wit h t he base diam et er about t wice t he height . ( I f you look at a pict ure of t he m ount ain, you'll see t he base is act ually quit e broad.) So, if we knew t he form ula for t he volum e of a cone, we'd be all set . First , let 's suppose we don't ; all we rem em ber is t he volum e of a cube, which is t he side cubed. I f we visualize a cube as high as t he m ount ain, it looks roughly t he sam e. For a ROM est im at e, t hat 's probably good enough, and t he cube's volum e would be 1,000,000,000,000 cubic feet ( 10,000 3 = 10 12 ) .

I f you do rem em ber a bit m ore geom et ry, you'll recall t hat t he volum e of a cone is ( area of base) x height / 3, and t he area of t he base is p x r 2 . Since we est im at ed t he diam et er of t he base as t wice t he height , t he radius ( r) of t he base is t he sam e as t he height . Put t ing t his all t oget her, we get p x height 2 x height / 3. And, since p is about 3, we end up wit h 1,000,000,000,000 cubic feet ( 10,000 3 = 10 12 ) again. OK, how m uch can a t ruck haul away? Probably a volum e of 10 x 10 x 10 is not unreasonable ( t rucks aren't 10 feet wide, but t hey could be longer and t hat should m ake up for t he widt h) . So, one t ruckload is 1,000 cubic feet . We would need 1,000,000,000,000 / 1,000 = 1,000,000,000 ( one U.S. billion) t ruckloads, which is a lot . I n t his case, of course, t here are m any ot her problem s wit h m oving Fuj isan; for inst ance, t he Japanese people would probably obj ect ! Mark Purt ill

Hack 42. Estimate Square Roots

Est im a t e squ a r e r oot s a n d e ve n h igh e r - or de r r oot s by u sin g sim ple pr oce sse s. I t 's oft en useful t o com put e t he square root of a num ber, especially when you want t o visualize areas or com put e diagonal dist ances. There are a few m et hods for com put ing square root s on paper, som e of which are not widely known. I f all you have is your brain, however, it 's st ill possible t o com e up wit h a quick est im at e t hat 's reasonably accurat e.

In Action To est im at e t he square root of a num ber, st art by pairing up t he digit s of t he num ber, beginning wit h t he decim al point and m oving away. So, for inst ance, t o com put e t he square root of 500,000, we would pair up t he digit s like t his: 50 00 00

Each pair of digit s will, in fact , represent a digit in t he square root . The left m ost pair of digit s ( or single digit , if t here are an odd num ber of digit s in your original num ber) is used t o com put e t he left m ost ( m ost significant ) digit of t he result . You find t he result digit by det erm ining t he highest square t hat will fit int o t he pair wit hout going over. The biggest perfect square t hat fit s int o 50 is 49, which has a square root of 7. So, we know our square root will have t he form 7ddt hat is, a 7 followed by t wo digit s, or " seven hundred and som et hing." Furt her, since 50 is very close t o 49, we can surm ise t hat t he square root will be in t he low 700s. Had it been close t o t he next square ( 64, wit h a square root of 8) , we would know t hat t he square root would be closer t o 800. Unfort unat ely, com put ing t he exact value of t he lat er digit s requires pencil and paper, but our est im at e is in t he ballpark. What about num bers sm aller t han 1? Basically, t he sam e m et hod applies. You st ill pair up digit s going away from t he decim al point , and t he m ost significant digit will st ill be t he square root of t he biggest square t hat fit s int o t he left m ost pair of digit s. So, t o com put e t he square root of 0.0038234, you would pair up t he digit s like so: 00 . 00 38 23 40

Each pair of digit s again represent s a single digit in t he answer, and t he decim al place st ays where it is. The biggest square t hat fit s in 38 is 36, wit h a root of 6. So, your square root will be 0.06.... Since 38 is close t o 36, we can also surm ise t hat our approxim at ion is already pret t y close t o t he answer, so t he next digit will be sm all.

Very large and very small numbers Num bers in science and engineering are oft en expressed in scient ific not at ion, which is a convenient way t o express ast ronom ically large or sm all num bers. Wit h scient ific not at ion, num bers are expressed in t he form : a x 10b

where a is usually in t he range 1