THE ART OF MEMORY · LESSON 9 OF 30 · PART II: NUMBERS

Person, Action, Object

A film director with a cast of a hundred and a million possible scenes. Six digits become one picture.

Memory hook: on a film set, a knight kisses a goat while holding a trumpet: person, action and object in one scene.

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In this lesson: you will learn how PAO packs six digits into one scene, build your own list of a hundred people with their actions and objects, and encode and decode six-digit numbers.
Where we left off
In the Dominic System, how do you hold four digits?
The person of the first pair doing the action of the second pair.
What letter is 7 in the Dominic System? And 0?
7 is G; 0 is O.
Why are people stronger pictures than plain words?
A person has a face, a voice, a way of moving and something they do, so there is more to see and hold.

The film set

Imagine you are the assistant director on a film set, and the director has a strange rule. Every scene must contain exactly three things: a person, something that person does, and something they do it with. A woman paints a wall with a feather. A knight kisses a goat with a trumpet. A soldier cooks a pie in a bathtub.

The director shouts a number at the start of each scene, and your job is to remember all the scenes in order. The first number is 341526. Without thinking, the cast takes its places.

What three things must every scene contain?
A person, an action, and an object.
Talk about it. Invent a scene with a person, an action and an object that has nothing to do with each other. Describe it.

The reason the film works is that a scene has just three ingredients, but there are so many possible combinations. If there are a hundred people on the cast list, a hundred actions and a hundred objects, then the director can make a million different scenes, and no two are alike.

In this story every scene corresponds to six digits. The first two digits choose the person, the next two choose the action, and the last two choose the object. 34 is Charles Darwin. 15 is a certain action, 26 is a certain object. And so the scene for 341526 is Darwin, doing the action that belongs to 15, with the object that belongs to 26.

How many different scenes can the cast of a hundred people, a hundred actions and a hundred objects make?
A million: 100 × 100 × 100.
Talk about it. Why would a million possible scenes be useful to a memory athlete?

That is the idea of the PAO system: Person, Action, Object. It grew out of the Dominic System of the last lesson, which used person and action only, and it is used by many memory champions in competitions. One scene holds six digits, so a twelve-digit number needs just two pictures.

You will need to build the cast list yourself: a hundred people, each with one action and one object. It takes some work. But once it is built, you have a piece of equipment you can use all your life.

How is PAO related to the Dominic System?
Dominic uses a person and an action; PAO adds a third element, the object, so each picture holds six digits.
Talk about it. How long do you think it would take to build a list of a hundred people, actions and objects? What would help?

Words worth knowing

Say what you think each one means, then open it.

a thing you can see or touch. The object is a guitar.
a mixture of things put together. A million combinations.
the people in a film or play.
to put pieces together. Assemble the scene from three pieces.
using little time or effort for the result. PAO is efficient: six digits in one picture.
made to suit one person. Your own list is personalised.

PAO is a standard technique in memory sport. Our own explanation.

Three entries for every pair

Every two-digit pair, 00 to 99, has three entries: a person, an action and an object. You learn them once. Then any six digits become one scene.

  1. Split the number into pairs of digits. 341526 → 34 | 15 | 26.
  2. Take the PERSON of the first pair. 34 → Charles Darwin.
  3. Take the ACTION of the second pair. 15 → the action of Albert Einstein: writing on a blackboard.
  4. Take the OBJECT of the third pair. 26 → the object of Bruce Springsteen: a guitar.
  5. Put them in one scene. Darwin is writing on a blackboard, with a guitar for a piece of chalk.
A full PAO scene
341526
34Person: Charles Darwin.
15Action: writing on a blackboard (Einstein's action).
26Object: a guitar (Springsteen's object).
The picture: Charles Darwin is writing on a blackboard with a guitar instead of a piece of chalk, and the strings sing as they scratch.

A model list to start from

Use these to begin, then replace them with people and things that are vivid for you.

PairPersonActionObject
10Al Oerterthrowingdiscus
13Al Caponecounting moneybriefcase
15Albert Einsteinwriting on a blackboardchalk
16Arnold Schwarzeneggerliftingbarbell
17Al Goregiving a lectureglobe
18Alfred Hitchcockfilmingbird
23Bill Clintonplayingsaxophone
24Bob Dylanwriting songsharmonica
26Bruce Springsteensingingguitar
27Bill Gatestypingcomputer
34Charles Darwinsailingfinch
66Steven Spielbergdirectingclapperboard

Building your own list

  • Person: use the Dominic initials (digits to letters). Choose people who are easy to see: film stars, sports people, family, friends.
  • Action: choose the thing they are best known for. Make it big and physical.
  • Object: choose something you can see them holding. Try not to use the same object twice.
  • Keep entries different. If two people use a guitar, one of them will leak into the other.
  • Start with a few. Build ten pairs a day and test yourself.
P from the first pair.
A from the second.
O from the third.
six digits, one scene.

Decoding works the other way. You see Darwin writing on a blackboard with a guitar: Darwin is 34, the action is Einstein's (15), the object is Springsteen's (26). So 341526.

Odd lengths. If the number does not divide by six, finish with a smaller scene: two digits = a person, four digits = person + action.

Say it aloud. Say aloud the PAO scene for 101323 using the model list, and explain which pair gave each part.

Now you build

Have a go before you open any answer. A rough attempt teaches you more than a perfect model you only read.

PAO in words

P stands for person, A for action and O for .
One PAO scene holds digits.
With a hundred people, a hundred actions and a hundred objects you can make one different scenes.

Assemble 241813

Use the model list. 24 gives the person, 18 gives the action, 13 gives the object. Write the scene.
Person: Bob Dylan (24). Action of 18: Hitchcock's action, filming. Object of 13: Al Capone's briefcase. Scene: Bob Dylan is filming a shower scene with a briefcase, and every time he presses the camera a harmonica note comes out.

Assemble 162734

16 for the person, 27 for the action, 34 for the object. Write the scene.
Person: Arnold Schwarzenegger (16). Action of 27: typing (Bill Gates). Object of 34: a finch. Arnold is typing furiously on a keyboard with a tiny finch, which pecks the keys and sings.

Decode a scene

A scene: Al Oerter is lecturing with a saxophone. Which six digits does it hold? (Use the model list.)
Al Oerter = 10. Lecturing is Al Gore's action = 17. A saxophone is Bill Clinton's object = 23. So the number is 101723.

Make your own entry

Pick a pair that is not in the model list (for example 40, 41 or 42). Work out the initials, find a person, an action and an object.
There is no single answer. Check that the initials are right for the two digits, that the person is vivid and that the action and object are different from the ones above.
How do you assemble 101323?

Tell the scene

Say aloud the scene for 101323, then the scene for 341526, and say which digits each part stands for.
1:00

Drill

Flash cards

Say the answer first, then tap the card.

tap to turn over

Quick quiz

In PAO, what does the second pair of digits give you?
Why is PAO more efficient than the Dominic System?
What is the best way to build your PAO list?
Why should you avoid using the same object for two people?

The memory challenge

Memory challenge: ten objects

These are the objects of the pairs 10, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 26 and 27 in the model list. Learn them in order and say the pair as you place each one in your palace.

One object at each place of your palace, doing something to the place.

0:00

The list has gone. Type what you remember, one item per line.

Look back

These reach back to earlier rooms. Answer in your head or out loud, then check.

Lesson 8 · People With Numbers. What are the Dominic letters for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5?
A, B, C, D, E.
Lesson 8 · People With Numbers. Who set the record for memorising 54 decks of cards in 2002?
Dominic O'Brien.
Lesson 7 · The Major System. What does the Major System use to stand for digits?
Consonant sounds, with free vowels.
Lesson 6 · Numbers Become Pictures. Which number system gives each digit a picture by its shape?
The shape system: 1 candle, 2 swan, 3 heart...

What I can do now

A thought to keep

Which ten people would you start your PAO list with, and what would each of them be doing?

Saved on this device as you type.

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