An attempt at mnemonics

I've began trying to use mnemonics to remember things.  Phone numbers and important things related to work.  These are definitive items and they have a use.  I thought to myself if I'm going to remmeber something I better make it something I may need to use.  Something important.  So I used imagery and a link like system.  One image associated with the other.  How difficult it can be in ensuring the linking associations actually work.  It takes effort to make the image in my head.  I grasp onto any kind of cue related to the items I need to remember.  Sometimes there is no direct mapping with a concrete image so I then break the word down, usually into syllables and use two separate images for a two syllabled word.  When using this mnemonic method I realised as well more than anything else I was creating a cue.  A little like looking at old photo's from a holiday and their bringing back into consciousness the experience.  I can sit and practice remembering these items without any notes or books.  It's just a matter of sitting still and then going through what it was I had thought about.  Surprisingly it's working.  But it is slow and I don't have a massive amount of motivation to spend an hour a day doing this.  Which is something mnemonists actually do. 

But the secret is, practice, practice and more practice. 

Motivation to remember

Memory and our use of it is one of the things which makes humans different from any other animal.  We can learn, retain and use it over and over again, adapting to different situations.  Using what has been learnt before.  What is held in memory.  However,  memory also fails, this we call forgetting.  Personally, I sometimes think my memory is like a sieve, everything just goes in then out.  Years of studying psychology didn't really help me either.  The reason being what I learnt I failed to use to improve my own memory.  So now, with most of my life over I am only just beginning to realise I can use what is up top, hidden inside.  I have read stories of how the old orators of Rome use to recall speeches and recite them word for word, lasting hours long.  They were not super humans.  We are still the basic genetic material now as we were 2000 years ago.  They say knowledge is a great leveller, but perhaps it's not just the knowledge it's also remembering it.  If only I could retain things better I have always thought, and I can.  I know it now, it's just a matter of putting in the effort, having a go, practicing.  The concepts are there, they are so clear, plain simple and not secrets hidden away.  A good memory is a matter of one thing, personal motivation. 

Things can then be done by ordinary people which onlook think are feats, the reality is anyone can do them.  Just a little application is needed.

Five core concepts
Organization
Visualisation
Attention
Association
Meaningfulness

Bibliography
Kenneth L. Higbee's(2001), Your Memory, how it works & how to improve it. Da Capo Press, Lifelong Books..

How I remember all the EEA states

Although not absolutely necessary, while on a train for several hours I taught myself how to remember the European Economic Area (EEA) states in alphabetical order.  Using a story and imagery.

I can see a white horse running with a trailer attached to it, when I say "horse" I'm dropping the letter 'h' and pronouncing it as "orse" instead.  The trailer represents the second syllable of this country.  Austria.  On the back of the trailer there is a very large Belgium chocolate. Belgium.  The horse is running and in close pursuit is a 12 foot tall Cyclops. Cyprus.  As he is running arm stretched out about to grab the chocolate he trips on a big golden coin sticking out of the ground, the coin has the word "Mark" on it.  The cyclops has dented the coin.  Denmark.  He keeps on running and there is another coin he again trips, but can not keep his footing and falls over diving into a sea.  Bobbing up and down he then wraps his arms around a fin cutting the water to stop from drowning. Finland.  The fish he clings to takes him to shore.  There in front of him are a load of cowboys on horses, they stand under a big arch which has the word "Ranch" on it, and they say "bonjour" to the Cyclops. France.  They lasso the Cyclops and drag him towards an equally tall but some what suspicious man I once knew called "Jeremy."  Germany.  Jeremy asks the Cyclops if he would like some ice cream.  Iceland.  The Cyclops says yes, he begins to lick his ice cream and spits it out saying "this taste just like Italian Cappuccino, and I hate that."  Italy.  In response Jeremy begins to change into a big black ugly leach and attempts to such the blood out of the Cyclops.  Lichtenstein.  The Cyclops pulls out of a pocket a bar of soap this is the luxury Luxor soap and rubs it against his skin.  Luxembourg.  The leach can not stand the soap and as it tastes a little beings to shrink as he is being counter poisoned.  In reply the leach then fires off a cannon at the Cyclops and out of the cannon come chocolate Maltezers.  Malta.  The Cyclops says "no way, I'm not going to eat them."  Norway.  "But if you got some Port, I'll give that a try."  So the leach then hands the Cyclops a glass of Port.  Portugal.  In a moment or two the Cyclops is in pain as he clutches his stomach, saying "that wasn't port that was Spain."  Spain.  The leach offers in response some swede soup because this is an antidote to poisoning.  Sweden.  The Cyclops drinks it and says "I got something to show you" and he pulls out a switch blade.  Switzerland.

What do you think?  Leave a comment.