Welcome to SuperMemory!
What you will find on these web pages are the best tools for committing information to long term memory. All you need is some imagination and the rest is easy, powerful and fun.
If you feel you are not very imaginative, that’s okay. With a bit of practice you will develop your natural gifts. It may mean trying various bits of craziness until you hit the right formula.
Seriously, if you believe your imagination is underdeveloped, all that means is that your brain will easily be impressed by WHATEVER you conjure up. So relax and get ready to learn some fun ways to remember stuff.
The Five Keys to Memory:
There are five keys to memory. The first is Repetition. The more we repeat something, the more likely we are to remember it. Do you remember five times five? How about seven times seven? Of course you do. You cannot even keep the answers out of your head. Four times four? These facts are so deeply ingrained by repetition that you will always remember them. But how about seventeen times seventeen? Probably nothing comes to mind. This is because there was not enough repetition in that case. We see then that multiple exposures to information leads to permanent recall. The same thing is true when we read. The more times we see the message, the more likely we are to recall it.
The next key to memory is Emotion. We tend to remember that which we have reacted to with high levels of emotion. Take a minute and recall your most vivid memories. You will find that there is some emotional reaction when you recall them. The emotion serves to seal in the memory. You will use this to your advantage by getting emotionally excited about specific things you wish to learn. Even if you are acting your brain cannot tell the difference. Your body will react as if the emotions are “real.” Aristotle knew this. When he came to a critically important fact he wished a student to remember he would slap them across their face! You can believe they would remember. Rest assured there are more reasonable methods of eliciting emotions. Today, of course, Aristotle would be facing a law suit so fast you could be sure he would remember that day!
MENTAL SHOUTING– See yourself standing on a table, shouting LOUDLY the item to recall.
The third key to memory is Imagination. Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” If you want to really remember things, you have to engage your brain with your imagination. Words are simply sounds. These sounds only have meaning because we all agree to their meaning. The word “boat” could just as easily mean “fence” if we wished. The things that transcend words are Pictures. When we use pictures we use our imaginations. No matter what you call a baby, we all know what one looks like and most of us react the same way upon seeing one. The image is universally recognized. When we see a cute baby we react emotionally first, then the words come to us. You can enhance memory by exaggerating something or by making it very silly. For example, if you need to recall a catfish, vividly see one swimming around the room with you. Now make it six feet long. Now make it say “meow” very loudly as it swims through the air. Physically grab its tail and hold on as it struggles to free itself. Act this out right now. Have it turn its head and hiss at you! Now you will remember “catfish.” Say out loud, “Wow, can this fish struggle!!”
The fourth key to memory is Motion. We just demonstrated it. Our eyes and brain are hardwired to respond to motion. We are not simply “visual” beings. We are beings who notice things that move. Make objects move to recall them better. More of your brain comes into play when you create action.
The fifth key is Association. Associate the new item with something you already know. Make a creative link between what you previously knew and the new knowledge.
EXAMPLE: Let’s say that you know something about the planet Venus. You know that it is covered by clouds. Now you are going to learn what they are made of. They are 96% carbon dioxide and 4% nitrogen. Let’s “associate” that with “clouds.” Let’s start with the clouds, then see ourselves driving our “car” on the clouds, while we’re eating a “bun.” That makes “car bun” or carbon. We open the door and start to “die”! “Car bun die” should be enough to know it’s carbon dioxide. If we borrow a tool from the Number Memory Program, we know that “96” is represented by PIG. To recall that number, we would imagine a PIG sitting next to us in the car.
For “nitrogen” we could drive around the planet Venus to where it’s NIGHT, and then we have to ROW with oars. “Night row” should be enough to recall nitrogen. If we wanted to recall the 4%, 4 is represented by FIRE. The oars could catch fire.
To make this association permanent, REPEAT it using the Spaced Repetition formula.
To sum up, if you experience Movement, Associate with what you want to recall, Repeat the process in some Imaginative way with Emotion, you will have no choice but to remember them! Use “M.A.R.I.E.”
MOVEMENT and
ASSOCIATION
REPEATED,
IMAGINED with
EMOTION
To sum up, your memory is triggered by Emotions, Movement and Imagination, connected to Associations if they exist. Memories are made permanent through repetition (or VERY strong emotion). Now hear this: the more Emotions, Movement and Imagination you use, the less Repetition you need! Especially Emotion! Emotion really seals in a memory. Look at your earliest life memories. They almost always have strong emotion attached to them. This is not coincidence. This is how your brain works. Use it. And most of all, have FUN when you use it.
