Thursday 16 June 2011

Like no other

To every problematic situation we encounter in life there will always be a hidden solution. Being able to crawl out of this well is not always a matter of perseverance. It instead hinges on happening to know the right information timely. 

Know everything
Being able to recall the right fact at the right time is a great feeling. For example recalling the office location of a doctor by remembering the name and room number from a passing glance at a doorway. It stems from our brains by some chance evaluating a passing glance as something important to remember and making the right connection. We should avoid games of chance. Instead every glance is assumed to be of value someday. Simply memorizing a list of facts is ineffective, each must be understand first. Thus when storing information we have to place it in a network of interconnected details. The easiest way to do this is to connect objects with their setting. We can connect the image of the door with a hospital or clinic. When the time comes to recall this information we work our way backwards starting from all the images in our mind related to hospitals. All this talk of images may have implied a need for photographic memory.



Learn by images
Photographic memory isn't entirely a birthright. Like any task involving memory it can be trained. The biggest hurdle is practicing how to remember by images. One approach is to imagine our mind taking photographs of the object of interest. Mental images work the same way as any other form of memory, they all revolve around an object of focus. To make it easier, avoid memorizing every detail of your surroundings and only focus on the the most important clauses.

This approach to memorization is applicable in many scenarios from taking tests to managing disasters. A good approach to start preparing yourself is to apply these mottoes outside your comfort zone. We can change our day to day setting or try to learn something outside our field of profession. Our goal is to not just be good at something but to be experts at everything.

14 comments:

  1. yup everything needs practice

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  2. That's really interesting, I never thought about it that way.

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  3. there are times I see an object and think of a movie or a place, same thing with smell
    it can help unwind the jumble in my mind

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  4. Interesting, I wish I had more of a photographic memory.

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  5. "Simply memorizing a list of facts is ineffective, each must be understand first. Thus when storing information we have to place it in a network of interconnected details." THIS. I can't remember how many people I've met that insist on memorizing for the sake of it, instead of internalizing that information. Sometimes pisses me off.

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  6. Yeah, memorizing something just for the sake of it is rather pointless. If you can't understand it, how can you expect to use it?

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  7. Totally! Some guy wrote that too, his name is Ramón Campayo haha he has awards and all :D

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  8. Holy shit Ramon Campayo is amazing, i wish i started studying as hard as him earlier when i was in elementary school

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  9. this is really great man. keep this blog up to date and i will follow it daily!

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  10. I agree. Some scientists even say there's no such thing as photographic memory!

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  11. very interesting post. i'm not sure whether i believe in "photographic memory," but i think there's a lot of validity to what you said about training your memory.
    +followed

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  12. Nice post. Memory is an interesting topic. It is a good point to note that one should avoid memorizing everything. You can only store so much in the short term.

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