The Person Action Object (PAO) system is a method for memorizing abstract information like numbers, dates, or playing cards by mapping them to a series of images. Then by memorizing the images (which can be aided by placing them in the loci of a memory palace), you’ve memorized the corresponding number, card, etc. Because our brains are better suited to remember images, particularly those with an element of novelty, than numbers, the information is easier to remember. Its a powerful system for memorizing large numbers (or other abstract information) quickly and committing them to long-term memory.
paomem makes it easy to build, learn, practice, and use a PAO system.
The first step is picking your person-action-object trios. The app comes with a default system; however, the ease of learning and using a PAO system depends on how vividly you can imagine the images it produces, so it allows you to pick trios that are easy for you to visualize.
Then before you can get started memorizing massive numbers, you have to memorize the pairing of the person-action-object trios with their digits. paomem provides flashcards to help with this. You can choose what pieces of the person-action-object trio to show, and whether to recall the digit for a trio or the trio for a digit. When memorizing numbers, you’ll need to be able to go from digit to image for memorization, and from image to digit for recall.
Once you can go from digit to image and back, you can start memorizing numbers. paomem will generate random numbers and their corresponding images. After you’ve memorized the image, you can attempt to recall the number, choosing from a list of people, actions, or objects for each digit.
The app can also store numbers you’re trying to commit to memory and generate their corresponding images to help you memorize them.
paomem supports 1 and 2 digit PAO systems, as well as PAO systems for memorizing playing cards.