Topic 1: 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?
The Principle of Initial Awareness
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!
Historical Origins
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.
How Memory Really Works
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.
Examples of Association in Everyday Life
Music Notation
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".
Geography
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.
More Examples
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.
The Power of Conscious Association
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.