[bgun]

This is basic "mind palace" theory, no? Human memory is linked to navigation; the more you associate memories with navigable places, the stronger your memories will remain.

[etrautmann]

I have distinct memories as a kid of mapping things into abstract 3d spaces. The number line in my head is a weird 3D thing I still visually navigate whenever I think about numbers.

what's weird is that even while I still use my representations formed as a kid, I don't seem to make new ones when I learn new info, which makes remembering things much harder.

[BjoernKW]

> I have distinct memories as a kid of mapping things into abstract 3d spaces. The number line in my head is a weird 3D thing I still visually navigate whenever I think about numbers.

I do the exact same thing! I wrote a blog post about how I visualise numbers: https://bjoernkw.com/2022/01/02/i-see-numbers/

It's a specific type of synaesthesia called "time-space synaesthesia".

[toss1]

>> I still use my representations formed as a kid, I don't seem to make new ones when I learn new info

Very interesting; why do you think that is?

[gblargg]

> the more you associate memories with navigable places, the stronger your memories will remain.

Some of us have a location synaesthesia where thinking about particular topics often evokes a sense of being specific places, looking particular directions, each paired apparently randomly (but durably) with topics. Not sure if this is association (since it seems to form without any associating event with the location) or just signal "leakage" triggering the connection.