Association of Ideas - Introduction

How many times have you been in the following situation - you are introduced
to  someone at work or a social function but,  when you later try to  recall
his  or  her  name,  your mind seems to go completely blank ?   This  common
occurrence is usually described, incorrectly, as 'forgetting'.

When  someone says 'I forgot...',  the chances are that they didn't  forget,
really  -  they just didn't remember in the first place.   Think about  that
idea  for  a  moment - if you initially REMEMBER something ,   how  can  you
subsequently FORGET it ?

That  leads  us on to an important fundamental of memory training -  INITIAL
AWARENESS.  If you are Initially Aware of something, you will not forget it.
All  the  Memory  Master systems which you are about to learn work  on  this
principle - they concentrate the mind on whatever you are trying to remember
for long enough to force Initial Awareness.

This  may  sound  like hard work at first,  but in fact  the  Memory  Master
systems  are childishly simple.   Once you have taken the time and effort to
learn  them,   you will be able to remember any new item of information  you
want to, easily and quickly.#

The  Ancient Greeks developed basic memory systems called MNEMONICS,  a name
derived from their Goddess of Memory,  Mnemosene.   In the ancient world,  a
trained  memory was an immense asset,  particularly in public life.    There
were  no  convenient  devices  for taking notes,  and  early  Greek  orators
delivered  long  speeches  with  great accuracy  because  they  learned  the
speeches using Mnemonic systems.

The  Greeks discovered that human memory is largely an ASSOCIATIVE process -
that  it  works  by  linking things together.   For  example,   think  of  a
pineapple.  The instant your brain registers the word 'pineapple', it recals
the shape, colour, taste, texture and smell of that fruit.  All these things
are ASSOCIATED in your memory with the word 'pineapple'.

Any thought,  action,  word,  statement,  or whatever,  can trigger another,
ASSOCIATED memory.   When you recall what you had for lunch yesterday,  that
may remind you of something someone said during lunch,  which may recall the
memory of some background music which was playing, which may evoke something
which occurred ten years ago, and this can go on and on.  These associations
do not have to be logical - they can be completely random or absurd.#

The principle of association forms the basis of all the memory systems which
you will be taught by Memory Master.  The principle is that YOU CAN REMEMBER
ANY  NEW  INFORMATION IF YOU ASSOCIATE IT TO SOMETHING YOU ALREADY  KNOW  OR
REMEMBER.

You  have actually used this principle of association all your life,  though
probably  subconsciously.   Do you recall the five lines of the treble  clef
music  staff,   E,G,B,D,F ?  If you were ever taught to think of the  phrase
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour,  then you DO remember them.   You remembered
some new (abstract) information,  the letters E,G,B,D,F by associating it to
something  you already knew or understood - the simple phrase Every Good Boy
Deserves Favour.

Do you remember the shape of Austria, Canada, Belgium, or Germany ? Probably
not.   What about Italy though?   If you remember the shape of Italy,  it is
because you've been told at some time that Italy is shaped like a boot.  You
made an association with something already known,  the shape of a boot,  and
Italy's shape couldn't be forgotten once you had made the association.#

American  students are told to think of HOMES on Great Lake to help remember
the five great lakes Huron,  Ontario,  Michigan, Erie, and Superior.   Music
students think of the word STAB to remind themselves of the four voices in a
quartet - Soprano, Tenor, Alto, Bass.

Each of these examples of association is limited to the extent that it works
only  for one specific thing.   The Memory Master systems,  however,  can be
applied to absolutely anything you wish to remember.   When you have learned
how  to associate CONSCIOUSLY anything you want to remember to something you
already know,  then you will have a trained memory.   It really is as simple
as that.


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