In school, our teacher would say something like, "memorize the times table by next Monday". HOW we set out to do that was never really explained. It was usually accomplished by route/repetition. My Mom finally got me a "sing along" album that I played over and over again until it was all remembered. - hopefully I wasn't also being subliminally recruited for who knows what. (Sadly, all these efforts were before the advent of Sesame Street ... so the songs weren't as hip) I know there is a cool niche of "educational singers" out there helping to make things memorable. (I remember the "sneaky" [Saturday morning cartoon time!] educational Schoolhouse Rock
episodes being a lot of fun) Anyway ... we were just never taught HOW to memorize things except through drilling. Nothing wrong with drilling per se. Just put in some hard work and you'll have those times tables memorized by Monday. And so, learning things became equated with good old fashioned hard work (unless you really liked the subject). Okay, I'll admit there were some people "in the know" who used some mnemonic devices to remember things ..like ... Colors of the rainbow: BOY RIG V (Blue,Orange,Yellow,etc), Notes on Treble Cleff Stave: Every Good Boy Does Fine or HOMES: The names of The Great Lakes (Huron,Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior). Here's one site for school age children: KIDS SCHOOL HELP MNEMONICS. I have it on good report that medical students employ some special mnemonics as well while learning anatomy and physiology. Here's a free site with medical mnemonics: MEDICALMNEMONICS. By the way ... if your doctor or nurse hesitates and starts reciting some memory device or nursery rhyme (in your presence) to help remember where something is located in your body before performing a procedure ... yeah, its probably time to ask for someone else or take the exit ramp and seek help elsewhere. You may also want to RUN if you hear the expressions like "oops", "oh no, not again", etc. (pardon my silliness)
episodes being a lot of fun) Anyway ... we were just never taught HOW to memorize things except through drilling. Nothing wrong with drilling per se. Just put in some hard work and you'll have those times tables memorized by Monday. And so, learning things became equated with good old fashioned hard work (unless you really liked the subject). Okay, I'll admit there were some people "in the know" who used some mnemonic devices to remember things ..like ... Colors of the rainbow: BOY RIG V (Blue,Orange,Yellow,etc), Notes on Treble Cleff Stave: Every Good Boy Does Fine or HOMES: The names of The Great Lakes (Huron,Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior). Here's one site for school age children: KIDS SCHOOL HELP MNEMONICS. I have it on good report that medical students employ some special mnemonics as well while learning anatomy and physiology. Here's a free site with medical mnemonics: MEDICALMNEMONICS. By the way ... if your doctor or nurse hesitates and starts reciting some memory device or nursery rhyme (in your presence) to help remember where something is located in your body before performing a procedure ... yeah, its probably time to ask for someone else or take the exit ramp and seek help elsewhere. You may also want to RUN if you hear the expressions like "oops", "oh no, not again", etc. (pardon my silliness) Every once and a while, television shows like The Mike Douglas Show, Johnny Carson, etc. would feature a "mentalist" or memory expert who would do incredible mental stunts. The ones I remember involved the expert meeting each person in the studio audience (hundreds) before the show. At the end of the show all of the audience members were asked to stand. The expert would go up to each person and attempt to recall his/her name. (I have see this done with just the first name as well as with first and last name ) If the expert got it right, the person would sit down. It was awesome to see the person get everyone's name right. - and no one left stranding. The performer never indicated that skill was something anyone could do; I just assumed he was a genius, a savant ... some genetically derived human computer. I remember thinking, "Wow! I wish I could do that in school". (I confess, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
was a personal favorite of mine...)
Oh well, back to the salt mines...
was a personal favorite of mine...) Oh well, back to the salt mines...
No doubt, amongst magicians, some of this mental magic was published and taught. - albeit secretly. It was not until 1977 when my friend Alan from Terry Parker High School, loaned me Good Memory Successful Student by Harry Lorayne
that I became aware of a whole new world of memorization techniques. (He has co-authored some books with basketball player and memory expert, Jerry Lucas ) On and off over the years I have read books - old and new on memory techniques. Some of the memory tricks employed by Lorayne are not new; however, he has a great gift of passing this information along and applying it to several subjects - mathematics, chemistry, foreign languages, etc. Some techniques covered include remembering numbers by rhyme (1 rhymes with bun, two rhymes with shoe, etc), shape (1 looks like a candle, 2 looks like a swan, etc.) or by a phonetically based system. I'm so glad Alan loaned me that book!
Some people have a great gift for remembering long strings of numbers; those who employ a good memory system can do the same. Another expert - memory champion Dominic O'Brien can memorize the sequence of 54 packs of shuffled playing cards. In his audio CD and in his excellent books on memory he guides the user through the same techniques that he uses. He has a great way of explaining things and walks the reader through (pun intended) techniques like the journey method. He helps the reader develop a tailored list of numbers 00 through 99 - which are transformed into memorable characters - real or fictional (eg, Orphan Annie, James Bond, etc).
For a great book that covers everything in today's subject line (without having to wait for part II!) - and MUCH MORE, by all means check out Ron Hale-Evans book,
Mind Performance Hacks
. He covers so much in a book this size and does a great job of introducing the reader to a whole panoply of information on memory, rapid math, creativity, decision making, etc. This book is a spring board to a whole new world for many readers - amazing!
that I became aware of a whole new world of memorization techniques. (He has co-authored some books with basketball player and memory expert, Jerry Lucas ) On and off over the years I have read books - old and new on memory techniques. Some of the memory tricks employed by Lorayne are not new; however, he has a great gift of passing this information along and applying it to several subjects - mathematics, chemistry, foreign languages, etc. Some techniques covered include remembering numbers by rhyme (1 rhymes with bun, two rhymes with shoe, etc), shape (1 looks like a candle, 2 looks like a swan, etc.) or by a phonetically based system. I'm so glad Alan loaned me that book! Some people have a great gift for remembering long strings of numbers; those who employ a good memory system can do the same. Another expert - memory champion Dominic O'Brien can memorize the sequence of 54 packs of shuffled playing cards. In his audio CD and in his excellent books on memory
he guides the user through the same techniques that he uses. He has a great way of explaining things and walks the reader through (pun intended) techniques like the journey method. He helps the reader develop a tailored list of numbers 00 through 99 - which are transformed into memorable characters - real or fictional (eg, Orphan Annie, James Bond, etc). For a great book that covers everything in today's subject line (without having to wait for part II!) - and MUCH MORE, by all means check out Ron Hale-Evans book,
Mind Performance Hacks. He covers so much in a book this size and does a great job of introducing the reader to a whole panoply of information on memory, rapid math, creativity, decision making, etc. This book is a spring board to a whole new world for many readers - amazing!I make no claims to being a memory expert. Numbers have always been a challenge to me. The beauty of these various systems is that they help you create images of numbers or concepts that may ordinarily be abstract / intangible. Having a system saves time and effort - "a place for everything and everything in its place".
Woody I found Part 1
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