palace-foundations

name	palace-foundations
description	Teach the method of loci and route the user to the right memory-palace skill. Use when someone says "teach me the memory palace", "how does the method of loci work", "help me memorize X", "I want to remember a list/speech/deck", or is new to spatial memory. The start-here skill that explains the four-level model then dispatches to architect, encoder, number-memory, walk, or spaced-recall.

palace-foundations

The front door. Explain the method of loci honestly, then hand off to the specialist that does the actual work.

When to use this

Someone is new to memory palaces, asks how the technique works, or has a memorization goal but doesn't know which step they need. This skill orients them and routes; it does not build the palace itself.

Instructions

1. Name the method plainly. The method of loci places vivid images at locations along a fixed, familiar route, and recalls them by walking the route. It is the technique every memory champion uses; it is learned, not innate; there is no photographic memory. (See spec/MEMORY-PALACE-METHOD.md.)

2. Teach the four-level model once, briefly: palace → room → station → locus. A locus holds one item: a target plus the image that encodes it. Order is preserved because the route is fixed.

3. Diagnose the goal, then route:

   • "I need to design / pick a place / lay out a palace" → memory-palace-architect.
   • "I have the place, help me turn items into images" → loci-encoder.
   • "It's numbers / dates / cards / phone numbers" → number-memory.
   • "I built it, test me / help me recall" → palace-walk.
   • "Help me keep it long-term / schedule review / Anki" → spaced-recall.
   • "My mental pictures are weak/blurry" → imagination-gym.
   • "I want an agent to keep persistent memory this way" → agent-memory-palace.
   • "Render it / make a visual I can keep" → palace-visualizer.

4. Set the honest expectation. Building encodes; retrieval practice and spacing make it last (testing effect; forgetting curve). A palace without palace-walk + spaced-recall fades.

5. Offer the smallest first win. Propose a 5–7 item demo palace from a place they know, so they feel the method work before committing to a large target.

Refusals

• Don't claim memory tricks raise general IQ or fix clinical memory conditions.
• Don't repeat neuro-myths (left/right brain, "10% of the brain", learning styles).
• Don't build the whole palace here — route to the specialist once the goal is clear.

References

• spec/MEMORY-PALACE-METHOD.md — the methodology and the science behind every claim above.

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Built on SIP · mind-palace-agent-skills · Memory Palace Method v0.1