WEBVTT

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General instructions. In this chapter,
we shall call your attention to certain of

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the general principles already mentioned in the
preceding chapters, for the purpose of further

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impressing them upon your mind, and
in order that you may be able to

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think of and to consider them.
Independent of the details of the special phases

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of memory. This chapter may be
considered in the nature of a general review

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of certain fundamental principles mentioned in the
body of the work. Point one,

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give to the things that you wish
to memorize as great a degree of concentrated

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attention as possible. We have explained
the reason for this advice in many places

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in the book. The degree of
concentrated attention bestowed upon the object under consideration

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determines the strength, clearness, and
depth of the impression received and stored away

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in the subconsciousness. The care chatter
of these stored away impressions determines the degree

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of ease in remembrance and recollection.
Point two. In considering an object to

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be memorized, endeavor to obtain the
impressions through as many faculties and senses as

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possible. The reason for this advice
should be apparent to you if you have

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carefully read the preceding chapters. An
impression received through both sound and sight is

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doubly as strong as one received through
but one of these channels. You may

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remember a name or word either by
having seen it in writing or print,

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or else by reason of having heard
it. But if you have both seen

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and heard it, you have a
double impression and possessed two possible ways of

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reviving the impression. You are able
to remember an orange by reason of having

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seen it, smelt it, felt
it, and tasted it, and having

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heard its aim pronounced. Endeavor to
know a thing from as many sense impressions

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as possible, Use the eye to
assist ear impressions, and the ear to

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assist in eye impressions. See the
thing from as many angles as possible.

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Point three. Sense impressions may be
strengthened by exercising the particular faculty through which

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the weak impressions are received. You
will find that either your eye memory is

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better than your ear memory, or
vice versa. The remedy lies in exercising

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the weaker faculty so as to bring
it up to the standard of the stronger.

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The chapters of eye and ear training
will help you along these lines.

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The same rule applies to the several
phases of memory. Develop the weak ones,

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and the strong ones will take care
of themselves. The only way to

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develop a sense or faculty is to
intelligently train, exercise and use it.

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Use exercise and practice will work miracles
in this direction. Point four. Make

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your first impression strong and firm enough
to serve as a basis for subsequent ones.

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Get into the habit of fixing a
clear, strong impression of a thing

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to be considered from the first.
Otherwise you are trying to build up a

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large structure upon a poor foundation.
Each time you revive an impression, you

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deepen it. But if you have
only a dim impression to begin with,

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the deepened impressions will not include details
omitted in the first one. It is

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like taking a good, sharp negative
of a picture that you intend to enlarge

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afterward. The details lacking in the
small picture will not appear in the enlargement,

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but those that do appear in the
small one will be enlarged with the

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picture. Point five. Revive your
impressions frequently and thus deepen them. You

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will know more of a picture by
seeing it a few minutes every day for

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a week than you would by spending
several hours before it at one time.

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So it is with the memory.
By recalling an impression a number of times,

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you fix it indelibly in your mind
in such a way that it may

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be readily found when needed. Such
impressions are like favorite tools, which you

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need every little while. They are
not apt to be mislaid, as are

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those which are but seldom used.
Use your imagination in going over a thing

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that you wish to remember. If
you are studying a thing, you will

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find that this going over in your
imagination will help you materially in disclosing the

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things that you have not remembered about
it. By thus recognizing your weak points

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of memory, you may be able
to pick up the missing details when you

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study the object itself the next time. Point six. Use your memory and

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place confidence in it. One of
the important things in the cultivation of the

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memory is the actual use of it. Begin to trust it a little,

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and then more, and then still
more, and it will rise to the

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occasion the man who has to tie
a string around his finger in order to

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remember certain things soon begins to cease
to use his memory, and in the

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end forgets to remember the string or
what it is for There are many details,

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of course, with which it is
folly to charge the memory, but

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one should never allow his memory to
fall into disuse. If you are in

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an occupation in which the work is
done by mechanical help, then you should

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exercise the memory by learning verses or
other things in order to keep it in

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active practice. Do not allow your
memory to atrophy. Point seven. Establish

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as many associations for an impression as
possible. If you have studied the preceding

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chapters, you will recognize the value
of this point. Associations memories, method

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of indexing and cross indexing. Each
association renders it easier to remember or recollect

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the thing. Each association gives you
another string to your mental bow. Endeavor

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to associate a new bit of knowledge
with something already known by and familiar to

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you. In this way, to
avoid the danger of having the thing isolated

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and alone in your mind without a
label or index, number and name.

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Connect your object or thought to be
remembered with other objects or thoughts by the

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association of contiguity in space and time, and by relationship of kind, resemblance,

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or oppositeness. Sometimes the latter is
very useful, as in the case

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of the man who said that Smith
reminds me so much of Brown, he's

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so different. You will often be
able to remember a thing by remembering something

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else that happened at the same place
or about the same time. These things

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give you the loose ends of recollection, whereby you may unwind the ball of

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memory. In the same way,
one is often able to recollect names by

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slowly running over the alphabet with a
pencil until the site of the capital first

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letter of the name brings the memory
of those following it. This, however,

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only when the name has previously been
memorized by sight. In the same

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way, the first few notes of
a musical selection will enable you to remember

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the whole air, or the first
words of a sentence the entire speech or

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selection following it. In trying to
remember a thing which has escaped you,

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you will find it helpful to think
of something associated with that thing, even

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remotely. A little practice will enable
you to recollect the thing along the lines

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of the faintest association or clue.
Some men are adept memory detectives following this

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plan. The loose end in memory
is all the expert requires. Any associations

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furnish these loose ends. An interesting
and important fact to remember in this connection

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is that if you have some one
thing that tends to escape your memory,

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you may counteract the trouble by noting
the associated things that have previously served to

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bring it into mind with you.
The associated thing, once noted, may

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thereafter be used as a loose end
with which to unwind the elusive fact or

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impression. This idea of association is
quite fascinating when you begin to employ it

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in your memory exercises and work,
and you will find many little methods of

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using it. But always use natural
association and avoid the temptation of endeavoring to

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tie your memory up with the red
tape of the artificial systems. Point eight.

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Group your impressions. This is but
a form of association, but is

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very important. If you can arrange
your bits of knowledge and fact into logical

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groups, you will always be master
of your subject. By associating your knowledge

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with other knowledge along the same general
lines, both by resemblances and by opposites,

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you will be able to find what
you need, just when you need

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it. Napoleon Bonaparte had a mind
trained along these lines. He said that

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his memory was like a large case
of small drawers and pigeon holes in which

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he filed his information according to its
kind. In order to do this,

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he used the methods mentioned in this
book of comparing the new thing with the

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old ones, and then deciding into
which group it naturally fitted. This is

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largely a matter of practice and knack, but it may be acquired by a

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little thought and care aided by practice, and it will repay one well for

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the trouble in acquiring it. The
following table will be found useful in classifying

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objects ideas, facts, etc.
So as to correlate and to sociate them

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with other facts of a like kind. The table is to be used in

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the line of questions addressed to oneself
regarding the thing under consideration. It somewhat

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resembles the table of questions given in
chapter seventeen of this book, but has

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the advantage of brevity. Memorize this
table and use it. You will be

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delighted at the results. After you
have caught the knack of applying it query

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table, ask yourself the following questions
regarding the thing under consideration. It will

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draw out many bits of information and
associated knowledge in your mind. One what,

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two, whence? Three? Where? Four? When five? How?

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Six? Why? Seven whither.
While the above seven queries are given

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you as a means of acquiring clear
impressions and associations, they will also serve

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as a magic key to knowledge if
you use them intelligently. If you can

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answer these questions regarding anything, you
will know a great deal about that particular

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thing. And after you have answered
them fully, there will be but little

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unexpressed knowledge regarding that thing left in
your memory. Try them on one thing.

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You cannot understand them otherwise unless you
have a very good imagination