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Memory and mind tricks

Would you believe some people can’t understand why others have to take notes?

That’s because they have learnt very early in their life to use efficient memory techniques.

Why would you want to remember everything?
Well, you know, it has always a bad effect when you forget an appointment or the name of the girl you were talking to. You can always call her “Baby”, but that will wear out. Switching to “Honey” won’t make things better though.

Big principles.
-Multiply the sensory channels. This way you’ll have more chances remembering.
-Find associations between what you already know and what you want to remember. Sometimes, the weirder, the better.
-Make stories. Your grocery list can be a battle between HUGE CARROTS throwing PEAS at CRYING TOMATOES, spilling juice everywhere and pierced by every PEA bullet. You can see the TOMATO juice on the CARROTs faces.
-Group things in an intelligent way. YODKAERB is meaningless. KEYBOARD is easy to picture, therefore to remember.

Applying those should be a snap, if you do this on a regular basis. The trick is to shift those items from short-term memory to long-term memory.

The Peg system.
1-gun Visualize the first item being fired from a gun
2-zoo Visualize an association between the second thing and a zoo
3-tree Visualize the third item growing from a tree
4-door Visualize the 4th item associated with a door
5-hive Visualize the fifth item associated with a hive or with bees
6-bricks Visualize the sixth item associated with bricks
7-heaven Visualize the seventh item associated with heaven
8-plate Visualize the 8th item on a plate as if it is food
9-wine Visualize a glass containing the 9th item
10-hen Visualize the 10th item associated with a chicken.

The peg system has many variations including body parts, colors so that you can remember up to 4 digits number.

The Loci method.
Imagine a path you often take, and drop the items along the way. You’ll be able to remember them while taking that path again.

Face-Name trick.
When you see someone, and you’d like to remember the name, try to find specificities about the name. If that name recalls an object, imagine that person playing with it. I fit recalls an old friend, imagine them holding hands.

There are no bad techniques. The only requirements should be that it works for you.

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