True, but there are a couple of distinct differences. Having to remember 38 completely arbitrary things like Michael Jordan or a llama in a specific order is a very different scenario to remembering "I hid my seed phrase in this location". You are far more likely to misremember one of 38 things, than you are to misremember a single thing. Further, simply trying to memorize a list is a very poor way of committing things to long term memory, whereas physically going to a location and performing a task (such as hiding your seed phrase there) is something which is much more easily remembered.

Also, it is far easier to say to your spouse or other family member "My seed phrase is hidden in location x" than it is to say "I need you to commit to memory this list of objects". If you have no single person you can trust with knowledge of your back ups, then create a multi-sig and split it between multiple people. All are preferable to relying on your memory.