Category : Science and Education
Archive   : MEMMASTR.ZIP
Filename : ASSINT.TXT

^ Association of Ideas - Introduction \

How often do you hear the two words 'I forgot ...' used in conversation ?
Probably several times every day, at the very least. But when someone says
'I forgot...', the chances are that they didn't really |forget\ - they just
didn't |remember\ in the first place. Just think about that idea for a
moment - if you initially $remember\ something , how can you subsequently
$forget\ it ?

An important principle of all memory training systems is the idea of
%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 just long enough to |force\ Initial Awareness.

This may sound like hard work at first, but in fact all 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. If you follow the course thoroughly, and work
through all the exercises, you will soon discover that your memory is far
more powerful than you ever imagined !#

The Ancient Greeks developed basic memory systems called 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
recalls 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 (and abstract) information, the letters E,G,B,D,F, by associating
them to something you already knew, or at least 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.#

There are many other common uses of the Principle of 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.

All these examples of association are limited to the extent that they work
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.


%Press Page Down to proceed to Tutorial 1\~