I was trying to remember the sequence of numbers 143.4. In turning the number over in my head and resolving to remember it for the next 10 minutes, I was finding that I wanted to remember “it’s 140, but the number 3 also appears and only 4s and 3s are used”. This felt like this metadata “tag” that I could remember as a discrete chunk more reliably than I’d remember the sequence of digits themselves.
This strikes me as odd, because the sequence of digits feels like fewer bits of information to keep track of than the metadata tag that records the same information. I would assume that fewer bits is more reliably memorable - but that must be a false assumption for the way my own brain works with numbers (in this case it’s numbers. I’m not sure in what other domains these heuristics apply).
If this is true (that I can more reliably remember metadata than the raw source), I wonder what mental prosthetics I can use to improve my performance once I fully explore and accept this fact and don’t try to force myself into other standard approaches?
related: Forgetfulness anxiety when recording devices aren’t present