Memorizing stuff faster.

[sparkogre]

DONT MOVE THIS INTO ACADEMICS OR I'LL MAKE WELCH'S OUT OF YOU

Seriously, though, please don't move this. Nobody ever goes to those forums down there.

I didn't want to say 'improve your memory,' because I still forget doctor's appointments and shit, but I can definitely memorize facts and stuff faster.


Now, this is all just thoughts from my mind, but it seems to be working for me, so I thought I'd let other people give it a try.

But before you do, I want you to keep the word 'PLACEBO,' at the back of your mind.


I started trying to do mental math in my head a few weeks ago. I wasn't doing arithmetic, I was doing mental algebra. Well, actually, I was doing u-substitutions and integration by parts, but that's besides the point.

If you've taken calc, then you know what I'm talking about. If not, then you can just do mental algebra. That's perfectly fine.

Open your math book, or find some algebra problems online. NOT WORD PROBLEMS, just the equations. And try to solve them in your head.

Now, this works way better with integration by parts because there's so much more to keep track of, but whatever.

If you haven't gotten to calc yet, do quadratic equation problems in your head. Just pick out some random quadratic equations, and apply the equation to them. In your head.


This might help, or it might not. I'm curious. I've found that (at the risk of sounding new-agey) that it has made my memory more visual.

[wetrytoohard]

I'm pretty sure you got owned. Interesting however.

[RMO]

and thanx to the internet im posting extra techniques, not developed by me
How to memorize stuff FAST

By sirchaint

This article will teach you how to quickly memorize information, be it for a grocery list, for an upcoming exam or just out of personal interest. In general it's easier to memorize information that's less technical and therefore evokes more pictures in one's mind. Memorizing technical or mathematical information perfectly makes it necessary to build an extensive mental foundation and is not the focus of this article.
The Journey Method

The method I found leading to the quickest results for the beginner is the Journey Method, originating in ancient rome.

In the Journey method information is linked with a well-know succession of places (a "journey") by connecting images in your mind. Recall is based on mentally taking the journey and automatically remembering the needed information through the associations made before.
Generating a basic journey

The easiest journeys are those you have taking many times in your live and can remember easily without much strain. An example would be your daily journey to work, or a mental tour of your home or that of a friend.

Let's say you decide to take your home as a base. Here you would start e.g. with the porch, continue inside to the hallway and following up with the living room etc. Make the journey easy to remember, so that you are always able to not only recall each element but to recall all of them in the same order every time.


After generating your journey you will be able to easily remember lists with number of items equal to the number of places in your journey. This number can be easily multiplied with another method but for now let's get into the actual memorization.

In the beginning it's advisable to write out the journey's steps with the information beside it, so you can test yourself e.g.

1. Porch - eggs
2. Hall - bananas
3. Living room - medicine

etc.

Visualize the first place and put the first object inside, resizing it so it fits onto your mental screen. It doesn't matter whether you open your eyes or not, but for practical purposes it's advised to strive for open eyes at some point.

For some people it's easier to remember outrageous images (thousand of eggs occupying their porch) for others it doesn't matter.

What's important though is making the images big, vivid, detailed and colorful.

Fix each image for a couple of seconds while ignoring outside thoughts.

Recall

Ok, so now this is where the real fun begins.

Put away your paper with the information and take the mental journey. Each stop will instantly bring the embedded information back into your mind. The better the quality of your association (big, vivid, detailed and colorful) the faster.

Don't worry if you don't get it perfectly the first time, just return to your paper and re-associate those you missed. After a while you will be able to perfectly recall 100%.

Go over the list again after an hour and during the next day, to fix the information.

Make up mnemonics,
Try and make associations for that thing, for e.g. a certain cell type has big squiggly lines

I also struggled with memorization at the beginning. A good friend of mine bought a book for me written by the World Memory champion, and it tells you a few techniques to memorize things

e.g. Make up pathways, e.g. walking through different rooms in your house. Then associate that pathway with a sequence of events, for e.g. the structures a certain nerve runs through (this really helped for anatomy)

The book also associated words with images, for e.g. if a new foreign word was esterhatt, he would picture a lady named Esther wearing a hat.

I really tried these techniques, for e.g. Laron's disease, I imagined someone I knew named Aron and what they would look like with that disease. And it works. I also imagined what a person with Cushing's disease would look like, as I read through the notes. On test day, you can recall that image.

I felt images were key. If you can learn a new word and associate it with a picture it really sticks.

and none of this is written by me

[phoenix]

Must be placebo, cos it doesn't work for me. lol... but then again nothing does. I've tried Fish Oil omega 3 and Brahmi. Nothing works