Mind map miffs man
Sep. 15th, 2004 09:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
robinbloke"Ah I remember when I was <age> it seems like only yesterday."
"But that was ages ago."
"I have a really, really bad memory."
And lo, this was my Thing for the day™ my utterly terrible memory.
Particularly irksome this morning as I had several fantastical dreams of extremely weird nature that I would have liked to retained here - or somewhere at least - so I could further work out the twisted meanderings of my brain in it's unguarded state of delusion.
Obviously, this isn't happening. My memory has been, of late, reduced to post it notes. I have trained myself to ensure that if I want something memorised I write it down and stick it somewhere (wall, door, pocket) and then hope I remember or check it's there when I need to. Training my memory by rote.
But can you improve my memory, I fully admit that mine is absolutely terrible and I would like to assist it in retaining something useful other than the critical result for 100 on the plasma table for Rolemaster1 but how?
Electroshock therapy?
Brain press-ups? (Up and down, uppppp and down)
Feeding it random bits of information and then trying to surprise it by querying mydatabase brain at random times?
Mnemonics?
1 Foe is reduced to a gelatinous pulp, fetch a spatula.
"But that was ages ago."
"I have a really, really bad memory."
And lo, this was my Thing for the day™ my utterly terrible memory.
Particularly irksome this morning as I had several fantastical dreams of extremely weird nature that I would have liked to retained here - or somewhere at least - so I could further work out the twisted meanderings of my brain in it's unguarded state of delusion.
Obviously, this isn't happening. My memory has been, of late, reduced to post it notes. I have trained myself to ensure that if I want something memorised I write it down and stick it somewhere (wall, door, pocket) and then hope I remember or check it's there when I need to. Training my memory by rote.
But can you improve my memory, I fully admit that mine is absolutely terrible and I would like to assist it in retaining something useful other than the critical result for 100 on the plasma table for Rolemaster1 but how?
Electroshock therapy?
Brain press-ups? (Up and down, uppppp and down)
Feeding it random bits of information and then trying to surprise it by querying my
Mnemonics?
1 Foe is reduced to a gelatinous pulp, fetch a spatula.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 09:24 am (UTC)Create a mental room (thats one in your head, not neccessarily one where the walls are padded, unless you want that.) An imaginary space filled with whatever you want; decor, funiture, sculptures.. anything at all. The important thing is that you can close your eyes and know everything that is in there. In your head you can walk around it, pick things up, examine objects if you want.
The idea is that this space becomes like a physical space, so that when you go back to the room, everything is how you left it. If you pick up a book from a shelf and throw it into the middle of the floor, it will still be there when you get back.
Once you have this room, you can remember things by putting them in there, in preferably (and this is my favourite bit) surreal, visual ways. For example, if you have to remember to pick up eggs and cheese from the supermarket, you might put a 6 foot high marble sculpture of a man bowing to an egg in your mental room, and have melted cheese pouring all over it. Then, when you know you're supposed to remember something, checking your mental room will give you the visual trigger for the memory.
Things like facts or Birthdays are a bit more complex, but as long as there is a memorable visual trigger, your room should act like a holding cell for ideas or an easily accessible visual notebook.
Alternatively, behold the internet:
http://www.thememorypage.net/
no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 09:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 09:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 09:53 am (UTC)It better not be sugar effecting mine, or I'm doomed!
no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 10:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 10:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 10:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 10:28 am (UTC)But being able to hold onto dreams and remember things without having to write them down would be good, I've dabbled with Mnemonics but I'm not too good with them.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 10:33 am (UTC)The best way I've found is to make the things you have to remember into a story, which are far easier to remember than a list.
I find I remember dreams better if I run through them consciously before I sit up or do anything. Otherwise within five seconds of sitting vertically they're all gone. It's like the memory is a bowl of water in the back of my head.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 10:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 12:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 12:44 pm (UTC)Here's a thought...
Date: 2004-09-15 02:44 pm (UTC)My memory is bad.
Do you think that our memories may be being leached from us by a certain person we have in common? Perhaps
I'll forget that I said this by this evening!
Re: Here's a thought...
Date: 2004-09-15 02:47 pm (UTC)My memory has been cruddy for aaaaages now.
I think.
Re: Here's a thought...
Date: 2004-09-15 02:53 pm (UTC)Re: Here's a thought...
Date: 2004-09-15 02:54 pm (UTC)Re: Here's a thought...
Date: 2004-09-15 02:56 pm (UTC)Re: Here's a thought...
Date: 2004-09-15 03:00 pm (UTC)Re: Here's a thought...
Date: 2004-09-15 03:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-15 03:32 pm (UTC)...So that was what Dali was up to eh?