How I Memorized the First 314 Digits of Pi
And transformed my childhood home in the process.
If you had told me ten years ago that I could memorize the first 314 digits of pi, I would have thought it was literally impossible. It’s not that my memory is bad, but it’s never been particularly good either.
When I was in Little Shop of Horrors in high school, I struggled for months to learn all of my lines. And, although I’ve occasionally been able to learn songs and poems by heart, I always end up forgetting them. To this day, there isn’t a single song that I can sing from start to finish without looking up the lyrics.
So, how could I possibly memorize 314 seemingly random digits in a row? It turned out to be far easier than I ever expected.
How to Memorize Large Numbers
Memorizing large numbers like pi requires just two techniques. The first is the major system, which converts numbers to words. In the system, each digit from 0 to 9 is assigned a unique set of consonant sounds:
0 … s, soft c, z
1 … t, d, dh
2 … n
3 … m
4 … r
5 … l
6 … ch, j, soft g, sh
7 … k, hard c, hard g
8 … g, ph, v
9 … p, b
