WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:07.040 How to remember words, et cetera. In a preceding chapter we gave a 2 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:12.560 number of instances of persons who had highly developed their memory of words, sentences, 3 00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:18.719 et cetera. History is full of instances of this kind. The moderns 4 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:24.160 fall far behind the ancients in this respect, probably because there does not exist 5 00:00:24.199 --> 00:00:30.000 the present necessity for the feats of memory which were once accepted as commonplace and 6 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:36.560 not out of the ordinary. Among ancient people, when printing was unknown and 7 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:41.880 manuscripts scarce and valuable, it was the common custom of the people to learn 8 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:48.280 by heart the various sacred teachings of their respective religions. The sacred books of 9 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:52.600 the Hindus were transmitted in this way, and it was a common thing among 10 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:57.479 the Hebrews to be able to recite the books of Moses and the Prophets entirely 11 00:00:57.520 --> 00:01:03.399 from memory. Even to the day, the faithful Mohammedans are taught to commit 12 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:10.239 the entire Koran to memory, and investigation reveals always that there has been used 13 00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:15.560 the identical process of committing these sacred books to memory and recalling them at will, 14 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:22.120 the natural method instead of an artificial one. And therefore we shall devote 15 00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:26.719 this chapter solely to this method, whereby poems or prose may be committed to 16 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:34.920 memory and recalled readily. This natural method of memorizing words, sentences, or 17 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:40.359 verses is no royal road. It is a system which must be mastered by 18 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:46.319 steady work and faithful review. One must start at the beginning and work his 19 00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:51.599 way up. But the result of such work will astonish anyone not familiar with 20 00:01:51.640 --> 00:01:57.239 it. It is the very same method that the Hindus, Hebrews, Mohammedans, 21 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:01.519 Norsemen, and the rest of the races memorized their thousands of verses and 22 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:07.719 hundreds of chapters of the sacred books of their people. It is the method 23 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:13.800 of the successful actor and the popular elocutionist not to mention those speakers who carefully 24 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:22.000 commit to memory their impromptu addresses and extemporaneous speeches. This natural system of memorizing 25 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:25.039 is based upon the principle which has already been alluded to in this book, 26 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:31.280 and by which every child learns its alphabet and its multiplication table, as well 27 00:02:31.319 --> 00:02:37.000 as the little piece that it recites for the entertainment of its fond parents and 28 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:42.800 the board friends of the family. That principle consists of the learning of one 29 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:47.680 line at a time and reviewing that line, then learning a second line and 30 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:53.680 reviewing that, and then reviewing the two lines together, and so on, 31 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:59.840 each edition being reviewed in connection with those that went before. The child that 32 00:03:00.120 --> 00:03:05.199 learns the sound of A, then it learns B, then it associates the 33 00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:10.039 sound of a B in its first review, the C is added, and 34 00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:15.639 the review runs A, B, C, and so on until Z is 35 00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:21.800 reached and the child is able to review the entire list from A to Z 36 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:29.400 inclusive. The multiplication table begins with its twice one is two, then twice 37 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:34.080 two is four, and so on, a little at a time until the 38 00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:39.719 twos are finished and the threes begun. This process is kept up by constant 39 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:46.439 addition and constant review until twelve twelves finishes up the list and the child is 40 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:52.960 able to repeat the tables from first to last from memory. But there is 41 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:57.159 more to it in the case of the child than merely learning to repeat the 42 00:03:57.240 --> 00:04:01.960 alphabet or the multiplication table. There is also the strengthening of the memory as 43 00:04:01.960 --> 00:04:08.599 a result of its exercise and use. Memory, like every faculty of the 44 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:15.319 mind or every muscle of the body, improves and develops by intelligent and reasonable 45 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:21.279 use and exercise. Not only does this exercise and use develop the memory along 46 00:04:21.319 --> 00:04:28.079 the particular line of the faculty used, but also along every line and faculty. 47 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:33.879 This is so because the exercise develops the power of concentration and the use 48 00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:40.959 of the voluntary attention. We suggest that the student who wishes to acquire a 49 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:46.399 good memory for words, sentences, et cetera, begin at once selecting some 50 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:51.480 favorite poem for the purpose of the demonstration. Then let him memorize one verse 51 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:58.199 of not only four to six lines to begin with. Let him learn this 52 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:01.920 verse perfectly, line by line, until he is able to repeat it without 53 00:05:01.959 --> 00:05:06.600 a mistake. Let him be sure to be letter perfect in that verse, 54 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:14.040 so perfect that he will see even the capital letters and the punctuation marks when 55 00:05:14.040 --> 00:05:18.480 he recites it. Then let him stop for the day. The next day, 56 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:24.120 let him repeat the verse learned the day before, and then let him 57 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:29.759 memorize a second verse in the same way and just as perfectly. Then let 58 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:34.199 him review the first and second verses together. This addition of the second verse 59 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:41.360 to the first verse serves to weld the two together by association, and each 60 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:45.920 review of them together serves to add a little bit to the weld until they 61 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:50.639 become joined in the mind as our A, B. C. The third 62 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:55.240 day, let him learn a third verse in the same way, and then 63 00:05:55.360 --> 00:06:00.639 review the three. Continue this for say a month, adding a new verse 64 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:05.879 each day and adding to it the verses preceding it, but constantly review them 65 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:12.439 from beginning to end. He cannot review them too often. He will be 66 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:15.399 able to have them flow along like the letters of the alphabet, from A 67 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:21.319 to Z. If he reviews properly and often enough. Then if he can 68 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:27.319 spare the time, let him begin the second month by learning two verses each 69 00:06:27.399 --> 00:06:33.399 day and adding to those that precede them with constant and faithful reviews. He 70 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:39.519 will find that he can memorize two verses in the second month as easily as 71 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:44.319 he did the one verse in the first month. His memory has been trained 72 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:48.839 to this extent, and so he may proceed from month to month adding an 73 00:06:48.839 --> 00:06:54.439 extra verse to his daily task until he is unable to spare the time for 74 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:58.959 all the work, or until he feels satisfied with what he is accomplished. 75 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:04.519 Let him use moderation and not try to become a phenomenon. Let him avoid 76 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:12.279 overstraining. After he has memorized the entire poem. Let him start with a 77 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:15.759 new one, but not forget to revive the old one at frequent intervals. 78 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:21.920 If he finds it impossible to add the necessary number of new verses by reasons 79 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:27.360 of other occupation, et cetera, let him not fail to keep up his 80 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:32.439 review work. The exercise and review is more important than mere addition of so 81 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:40.319 many new verses. Let him vary the verses or poems with prose selections. 82 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:45.680 He will find the verses of the Bible very well adapted for such exercise, 83 00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:51.240 as they lend themselves easily to registration in the memory. Shakespeare may be used 84 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:57.959 to advantage in this work. The Rubayat of Omar Khayam or The Lady of 85 00:07:57.959 --> 00:08:03.639 the Lake by Scott, or the Song Celestial or Light of Asia, both 86 00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:07.079 by Edwin Arnold, will be found to be well adapted to this system of 87 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:13.560 memorizing, the verses of each being apt to stick in the memory, and 88 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:20.399 each poem being sufficiently long to satisfy the requirements of even the most ambitious student. 89 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:26.160 To look at the complete poem any of those mentioned, it would seem 90 00:08:26.199 --> 00:08:31.000 almost impossible that one would ever be able to memorize and recite it from beginning 91 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:35.799 to end letter perfect. But on the principle of the continual dripping of water 92 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:43.440 wearing away the stone or the snowball increasing at each roll. This practice of 93 00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:48.320 a little being associated to what he already has will soon allow him to accumulate 94 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:56.759 a wonderfully large store of memorized verses, poems, recitations, etc. It 95 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:01.840 is an actual demonstration of the catchy words the popular song, which informs one 96 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:07.039 that every little bit added to what you've got makes just a little bit more. 97 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:13.759 After he has acquired quite a large assortment of memorized selections, he will 98 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:18.320 find it impossible to review them all at one time, but he should be 99 00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:24.399 sure to review them all at intervals, no matter how many days may elapse 100 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:31.240 between each review. The student who has familiarized himself with the principles upon which 101 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:35.679 memory depends, as given in the preceding chapters, will at once see that 102 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:43.759 the three principles of attention, association, and repetition are employed in the natural 103 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:50.240 method. Herein, recommended attention must be given in order to memorize each verse. 104 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:54.799 In the first place, association is employed in the relationship created between the 105 00:09:54.840 --> 00:10:01.519 old verses and the new ones, and Repetition is employed by the frequent reviewing, 106 00:10:01.080 --> 00:10:05.639 which serves to deepen the memory impression each time the poem is repeated. 107 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:13.559 Moreover, the principle of interest is invoked in the gradual progress made and the 108 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:18.919 accomplishment of what at first seemed to be an impossible task. The game element 109 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:24.720 is thus supplied, which serves as an incentive. These combined principles render this 110 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:30.200 method an ideal one, and it is not to be wondered that the race 111 00:10:30.279 --> 00:10:33.080 has so recognized it from the earliest times.