1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: Memory systems. The subject of memory development is not a 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:10,400 new one by any means. For two thousand years at least, 3 00:00:10,759 --> 00:00:14,640 there has been much thought devoted to the subject, many 4 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:20,359 books written thereupon, and many methods or systems invented, the 5 00:00:20,399 --> 00:00:24,359 purpose of which has been the artificial training of the memory. 6 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:29,320 Instead of endeavoring to develop the memory by scientific training 7 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:35,159 and rational practice and exercise along natural lines, there seems 8 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:37,920 to have always been an idea that one could improve 9 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,640 on nature's methods, and that a plan might be devised. 10 00:00:41,679 --> 00:00:44,759 By the use of some trick, the memory might be 11 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:48,679 taught to give up her hidden treasures. The law of 12 00:00:48,759 --> 00:00:52,719 association has been used in the majority of these systems, 13 00:00:52,759 --> 00:00:58,119 often to a ridiculous degree. Fanciful systems have been built up, 14 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,240 all artificial in their LIFs, character and nature, the use 15 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:06,159 of which to any great extent is calculated to result 16 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:10,200 in a decrease of the natural powers of remembrance and recollection. 17 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:13,400 Just as in the case of natural aids to the 18 00:01:13,439 --> 00:01:17,280 physical system, there is always found a decrease in the 19 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:22,799 natural powers. Nature prefers to do her own work unaided. 20 00:01:23,799 --> 00:01:28,799 She may be trained, led, directed, and harnessed, but she 21 00:01:28,879 --> 00:01:33,200 insists upon doing the work herself, or dropping the task. 22 00:01:34,599 --> 00:01:38,799 The principle of association is an important one and forms 23 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,840 a part of natural memory training and should be so used. 24 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,640 But when pressed into service in many of the artificial systems, 25 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,840 the result is the erection of a complex and unnatural 26 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:55,560 mental mechanism, which is no more an improvement upon the 27 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:59,400 natural methods than a wooden leg is an improvement upon 28 00:01:59,439 --> 00:02:03,519 the original limb. There are many points in some of 29 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:07,640 these systems which may be employed to advantage in natural 30 00:02:07,719 --> 00:02:12,199 memory training by divorcing them from their fantastic rules and 31 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:16,879 complex arrangement. We ask you to run over the list 32 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:20,479 of the principal systems with us that you may discard 33 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,719 the useless material by recognizing it as such, and cull 34 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:29,039 the valuable for your own use. The ancient Greeks were 35 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:34,520 fond of memory systems. Simonides, the Greek poet who lived 36 00:02:34,599 --> 00:02:38,560 about five hundred BC, was one of the early authorities, 37 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,120 and his work has influenced nearly all of the many 38 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:46,680 memory systems that have sprung up since that time. There 39 00:02:46,719 --> 00:02:50,240 is a romantic story connected with the foundation of his system. 40 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,680 It is related that the poet was present at a 41 00:02:53,759 --> 00:02:56,759 large banquet attended by some of the principal men of 42 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:00,479 the place. He was called out by a message from 43 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:04,960 home and left before the close of the meal. Shortly 44 00:03:05,039 --> 00:03:08,319 after he left, the ceiling of the banquet hall fell 45 00:03:08,439 --> 00:03:11,960 upon the guests, killing all present in the room and 46 00:03:12,159 --> 00:03:16,520 mutilating their bodies so terribly that their friends were unable 47 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:21,680 to recognize them. Somonodes, having a well developed memory for 48 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:25,919 places and position, was able to recall the exact order 49 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,599 in which each guest had been seated, and therefore was 50 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:33,759 able to aid in the identification of the remains. This 51 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:37,919 occurrence impressed him so forcibly that he devised a system 52 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:42,000 of memory based upon the idea of position, which attained 53 00:03:42,039 --> 00:03:45,639 great popularity in Greece, and the leading writers of the 54 00:03:45,759 --> 00:03:50,719 day highly recommended it. The system of Somonodes was based 55 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,599 upon the idea of position. It was known as the 56 00:03:54,719 --> 00:03:59,120 topical system. His students were taught to picture in the 57 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:03,159 mind a law large building divided into sections and then 58 00:04:03,319 --> 00:04:07,800 into rooms, halls, et cetera. The thing to be remembered 59 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:12,400 was visualized as occupying some certain space or place in 60 00:04:12,479 --> 00:04:17,720 that building, the grouping being made according to association and resemblance. 61 00:04:18,879 --> 00:04:22,399 When one wished to recall the things to consciousness. All 62 00:04:22,439 --> 00:04:26,240 that was necessary was to visualize the mental building, and 63 00:04:26,439 --> 00:04:30,240 then take an imaginary trip from room to room, calling 64 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:34,399 off the various things as they had been placed. The 65 00:04:34,439 --> 00:04:38,720 Greeks thought very highly of this plan, and many variations 66 00:04:38,759 --> 00:04:43,360 of it were employed. Cicero said, by those who would 67 00:04:43,399 --> 00:04:47,759 improve the memory, certain places must be fixed upon and 68 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:50,800 of those things which they desired to keep in memory. 69 00:04:51,439 --> 00:04:55,360 Symbols must be conceived in the mind and ranged as 70 00:04:55,399 --> 00:04:59,759 it were in those places. Thus the order of places 71 00:05:00,199 --> 00:05:03,399 preserve the order of things, and the symbols of the 72 00:05:03,439 --> 00:05:07,079 things would denote the things themselves, so that we should 73 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,839 use the places as wax and tablets, and the symbols 74 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:17,120 as letters. Quintillion advises students to fix in their minds 75 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:22,759 places of the greatest possible extent, diversified by considerable variety, 76 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:27,800 such as a large house, for example, divided into many apartments. 77 00:05:28,879 --> 00:05:32,800 Whatever is remarkable in it is carefully impressed on the mind, 78 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:35,920 so that the thought may run over every part of 79 00:05:35,959 --> 00:05:41,199 it without hesitation or delay. Places we must have either 80 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:45,519 fancied or selected, and images or symbols which we may 81 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,839 invent at pleasure. These symbols are marks, by which we 82 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:53,279 may distinguish the particulars which we have to get by heart. 83 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,959 Many modern systems have been erected upon the foundation of seminidies, 84 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,720 and in some of which cases students have been charged 85 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:07,879 high prices for the secret. The following outline given by 86 00:06:08,079 --> 00:06:11,800 K gives the secret of many a high priced system 87 00:06:11,879 --> 00:06:16,439 of this class. Select a number of rooms, and divide 88 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:21,240 the walls and floor of each in imagination into nine 89 00:06:21,319 --> 00:06:25,720 equal parts or squares, three in a row. On the 90 00:06:25,759 --> 00:06:29,920 front wall that opposite the entrance of the first room 91 00:06:30,439 --> 00:06:34,319 are the units. On the right hand wall, the tens, 92 00:06:35,199 --> 00:06:39,120 on the left hand the twenties, on the fourth wall 93 00:06:39,199 --> 00:06:46,040 the thirties, and on the floor the forties. Numbers ten, twenty, thirty, 94 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,279 and forty each find a place on the roof above 95 00:06:49,319 --> 00:06:54,079 their respective walls, while fifty occupies the center of the room. 96 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:59,720 One room will thus furnish fifty places and ten rooms 97 00:06:59,759 --> 00:07:04,160 as many as five hundred. Having fixed these clearly in 98 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,199 the mind, so as to be able readily and at 99 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:11,000 once to tell exactly the position of each place or number, 100 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:14,680 it is then necessary to associate with each of them 101 00:07:15,079 --> 00:07:20,120 some familiar object or symbol, so that the object being suggested, 102 00:07:20,199 --> 00:07:24,160 its place may be instantly remembered, or when the place 103 00:07:24,319 --> 00:07:28,399 be before the mind, its object may immediately spring up. 104 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:33,000 When this has been done thoroughly, the objects can be 105 00:07:33,079 --> 00:07:36,199 run over in any order, from beginning to end, or 106 00:07:36,399 --> 00:07:40,000 from end to beginning, or the place of any particular 107 00:07:40,079 --> 00:07:44,079 one can at once be given. All that is further 108 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:48,519 necessary is to associate the ideas we wish to remember 109 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:52,279 with the objects in the various places, by which means 110 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:55,759 they are easily remembered and can be gone over in 111 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:01,240 any order. In this way one may learn to repeat 112 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:05,959 several hundred disconnected words or ideas in any order after 113 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:10,879 hearing them only once. We do not consider it necessary 114 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:13,839 to argue in detail the fact that this system is 115 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:19,160 artificial and cumbersome to a great degree. While the idea 116 00:08:19,279 --> 00:08:22,920 of position may be employed to some advantage in grouping 117 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:28,240 together in the memory several associated facts, ideas, or words, 118 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:32,159 still the idea of employing a process such as the 119 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:37,399 above in the ordinary affairs of life is ridiculous, and 120 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:40,519 any system based upon it has a value only as 121 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:46,159 a curiosity or a mental acrobatic feat. Akin to the 122 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:51,080 above is the idea underlying many other systems and secret methods. 123 00:08:51,919 --> 00:08:55,600 The idea of contiguity, in which words are strung together 124 00:08:55,720 --> 00:09:03,799 by fanciful connecting links, describes this underlying idea or principle 125 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:08,919 as follows. The recollection of them is assisted by associating 126 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:12,879 some idea of relation between the two, and as we 127 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:17,799 find by experience that whatever is ludicrous is calculated to 128 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:21,759 make a strong impression on the mind. The more ridiculous 129 00:09:21,879 --> 00:09:26,759 the association is, the better. The systems founded upon this 130 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,600 idea may be employed to repeat a long string of 131 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:36,799 disconnected words and similar things, but have but little practical value, 132 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:41,759 notwithstanding the high prices charged for them. They serve merely 133 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:47,519 as curiosities or methods of performing tricks to amuse one's friends. 134 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,919 Doctor Cathay, a German teacher about the middle of the 135 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:58,200 nineteenth century, founded this last school of memory training, his 136 00:09:58,399 --> 00:10:01,960 ideas serving as the found for many teachers of high 137 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:07,240 priced systems or secret methods since that time. The above 138 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:11,440 description of finegel gives the key to the principle employed. 139 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:16,320 The working of the principle is accomplished by the employment 140 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:21,759 of intermediates or correlatives as they are called. For instance, 141 00:10:21,919 --> 00:10:29,399 the word chimney and leaf would be connected as follows, chimney, smoke, wood, 142 00:10:29,919 --> 00:10:35,519 tree leaf. Then there are systems or methods based on 143 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:39,360 the old principle of the figure alphabet, in which one 144 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:43,240 is taught to remember dates by associating them with letters 145 00:10:43,399 --> 00:10:47,279 or words. For instance, one of the teachers of this 146 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:51,000 class of systems wished his pupils to remember the year 147 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:57,879 fourteen eighty by the word b I, G R A T. 148 00:10:59,039 --> 00:11:05,559 The capitals representing the figures in the date comment is unnecessary. 149 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:09,639 The student will find that nearly all the systems or 150 00:11:09,759 --> 00:11:13,440 secret methods that are being offered for sale and courses, 151 00:11:13,879 --> 00:11:19,399 often at a very high price, are merely variations, improvements, upon, 152 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:24,519 or combinations of the three forms of artificial methods named above. 153 00:11:26,399 --> 00:11:30,399 New changes are constantly being worked on these old plans, 154 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:36,000 new tunes played on the same old instruments, new chimes 155 00:11:36,039 --> 00:11:40,159 sounded from the same old bells, and the result is 156 00:11:40,279 --> 00:11:46,600 ever the same in these cases disappointment and disgust. There 157 00:11:46,639 --> 00:11:50,360 are a few natural systems on the market, nearly all 158 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:54,279 of which contain information and instructions that make them worth 159 00:11:54,279 --> 00:11:57,879 the price at which they are sold. As for the others, 160 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:02,879 will judge for yourself after purchasing them, if you so desire. 161 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:10,279 Regarding these artificial and fanciful systems, Kay says, all such 162 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,799 systems for the improvement of the memory belong to what 163 00:12:13,879 --> 00:12:17,159 we have considered the first or lowest form of it. 164 00:12:18,039 --> 00:12:20,840 They are, for the most part based on light or 165 00:12:20,879 --> 00:12:26,080 foolish associations, which have little foundation in nature, and are 166 00:12:26,159 --> 00:12:30,399 hents of little practical utility, and they do not tend 167 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:35,480 to improve or strengthen the memory as a whole. Bacon 168 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:40,480 says that these systems are barren and useless, adding for 169 00:12:40,639 --> 00:12:44,559 immediately to repeat a multitude of names or words once 170 00:12:44,639 --> 00:12:50,360 repeated before, I esteem no more than rope dancing, antique postures, 171 00:12:50,519 --> 00:12:54,559 and feats of activity. And indeed they are nearly the 172 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:59,000 same things, the one being the abuse of the bodily, 173 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:02,759 as the other of the mental powers. And though they 174 00:13:02,799 --> 00:13:08,600 may cause admiration, they cannot be highly esteemed. And as 175 00:13:08,639 --> 00:13:13,200 another authority has said, the systems of mnemonics as taught 176 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:17,840 are no better than crutches, useful to those who cannot walk, 177 00:13:18,399 --> 00:13:21,840 but impediments and hindrances to those who have the use 178 00:13:21,879 --> 00:13:25,720 of their limbs, and who only require to exercise them 179 00:13:25,759 --> 00:13:28,240 properly in order to have the full use of them. 180 00:13:29,919 --> 00:13:32,600 In this work there shall be no attempt to teach 181 00:13:32,639 --> 00:13:35,840 any of these trick systems that the student may perform 182 00:13:35,919 --> 00:13:40,639 for the amusement of his friends. Instead, there is only 183 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:45,080 the desire to aid in developing the power to receive impressions, 184 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:49,879 to register them upon the memory, and readily to reproduce 185 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:55,759 them at will, naturally and easily. The lines of natural 186 00:13:55,879 --> 00:14:01,200 mental action will be followed throughout of this work is 187 00:14:01,279 --> 00:14:04,559 not to teach how one may perform feats of memory, 188 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:09,519 but instead to instruct in the intelligent and practical use 189 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:13,120 of the memory in the affairs of everyday life and work.