MEMORY, HOW TO DEVELOP, TRAIN AND USE IT/PART 4
CHAPTER IV.
MEMORY SYSTEMS.
The
subject of Memory Development is not a new one by any means. For two thousand
years, at least, there has been much thought devoted to the subject; many books
written thereupon; and many methods or "systems" invented, the
purpose of which has been the artificial training of the memory. Instead of
endeavoring to develop the memory by scientific training and rational practice
and exercise along natural lines, there seems to have always been an idea that
one could improve on Nature's methods, and that a plan might be devised by the
use of some "trick" the memory might be taught to give up her hidden
treasures. The law of Association has been used in the majority of these
systems, often to a ridiculous degree. Fanciful systems have been built up, all
artificial in their character and nature, the use of which to any great extent
is calculated to result in a decrease of the natural powers of remembrance
and recollection, just as in the case of natural "aids" to the
physical system there is always found a decrease in the natural powers. Nature
prefers to do her own work, unaided. She may be trained, led, directed and
harnessed, but she insists upon doing the work herself, or dropping the task.
The principle of Association is an important one, and forms a part of natural
memory training, and should be so used. But when pressed into service in many
of the artificial systems, the result is the erection of a complex and
unnatural mental mechanism which is no more an improvement upon the natural
methods, than a wooden leg is an improvement upon the original limb. There are
many points in some of these "systems" which may be employed to
advantage in natural memory training, by divorcing them from their fantastic
rules and complex arrangement. We ask you to run over the list of the principal
"systems" with us, that you may discard the useless material by
recognizing it as such; and cull the valuable for your own use.
The
ancient Greeks were fond of memory systems. Simonides, the Greek poet who lived
about 500 B.C. was one of the early authorities, and his work has influenced
nearly all of the many memory systems that have sprung up since that time.
There is a romantic story connected with the foundation of his system. It is
related that the poet was present at a large banquet attended by some of the
principal men of the place. He was called out by a message from home, and left
before the close of the meal. Shortly after he left, the ceiling of the banquet
hall fell upon the guests, killing all present in the room, and mutilating
their bodies so terribly that their friends were unable to recognize them.
Simonides, having a well-developed memory for places and position, was able to
recall the exact order in which each guest had been seated, and therefore was
able to aid in the identification of the remains. This occurrence impressed him
so forcibly that he devised a system of memory based upon the idea of position,
which attained great popularity in Greece, and the leading writers of the
day highly recommended it.
The
system of Simonides was based upon the idea of position—it was known as
"the topical system." His students were taught to picture in the mind
a large building divided into sections, and then into rooms, halls, etc. The
thing to be remembered was "visualized" as occupying some certain
space or place in that building, the grouping being made according to
association and resemblance. When one wished to recall the things to
consciousness, all that was necessary was to visualize the mental building and
then take an imaginary trip from room to room, calling off the various things
as they had been placed. The Greeks thought very highly of this plan, and many
variations of it were employed. Cicero said: "By those who would improve
the memory, certain places must be fixed upon, and of those things which they
desire to keep in memory symbols must be conceived in the mind and ranged, as
it were, in those places; thus, the order of places would preserve the order of
things, and the symbols of the things would denote the things themselves;
so that we should use the places as waxen tablets and the symbols as
letters." Quintillian advises students to "fix in their minds places
of the greatest possible extent, diversified by considerable variety, such as a
large house, for example, divided into many apartments. Whatever is remarkable
in it is carefully impressed on the mind, so that the thought may run over
every part of it without hesitation or delay.... Places we must have, either
fancied or selected, and images or symbols which we may invent at pleasure.
These symbols are marks by which we may distinguish the particulars which we
have to get by heart."
Many
modern systems have been erected upon the foundation of Simonides and in some
of which cases students have been charged high prices "for the
secret." The following outline given by Kay gives the "secret"
of many a high priced system of this class: "Select a number of rooms, and
divide the walls and floor of each, in imagination, into nine equal parts or
squares, three in a row. On the front wall—that opposite the entrance—of
the first room, are the units; on the right-hand wall the tens; on the left
hand the twenties; on the fourth wall the thirties; and on the floor the
forties. Numbers 10, 20, 30 and 40, each find a place on the roof above their
respective walls, while 50 occupies the centre of the room. One room will thus
furnish 50 places, and ten rooms as many as 500. Having fixed these clearly in
the mind, so as to be able readily and at once to tell exactly the position of
each place or number, it is then necessary to associate with each of them some
familiar object (or symbol) so that the object being suggested its place may be
instantly remembered, or when the place be before the mind its object may
immediately spring up. When this has been done thoroughly, the objects can be
run over in any order from beginning to end, or from end to beginning, or the
place of any particular one can at once be given. All that is further necessary
is to associate the ideas we wish to remember with the objects in the various
places, by which means they are easily remembered, and can be gone over in
any order. In this way one may learn to repeat several hundred disconnected
words or ideas in any order after hearing them only once." We do not
consider it necessary to argue in detail the fact that this system is
artificial and cumbersome to a great degree. While the idea of "position"
may be employed to some advantage in grouping together in the memory several
associated facts, ideas, or words, still the idea of employing a process such
as the above in the ordinary affairs of life is ridiculous, and any system
based upon it has a value only as a curiosity, or a mental acrobatic feat.
Akin
to the above is the idea underlying many other "systems," and
"secret methods"—the idea of Contiguity, in which words are strung
together by fanciful connecting links. Feinagle describes this underlying idea,
or principle, as follows: "The recollection of them is assisted by
associating some idea of relation between the two; and as we find by experience
that whatever is ludicrous is calculated to make a strong impression on the
mind, the more ridiculous the association is the better." The systems
founded upon this idea may be employed to repeat a long string of disconnected
words, and similar things, but have but little practical value, notwithstanding
the high prices charged for them. They serve merely as curiosities, or methods
of performing "tricks" to amuse one's friends. Dr. Kothe, a German
teacher, about the middle of the nineteenth century founded this last school of
memory training, his ideas serving as the foundation for many teachers of high-priced
"systems" or "secret methods" since that time. The above
description of Feinagle gives the key to the principle employed. The working of
the principle is accomplished by the employment of "intermediates" or
"correlatives" as they are called; for instance, the words
"chimney" and "leaf" would be connected as follows: "Chimney—smoke—wood—tree—Leaf."
Then
there are systems or methods based on the old principle of the "Figure
Alphabet," in which one is taught to remember dates by associating them
with letters or words. For instance, one of the teachers of this class of
systems, wished his pupils to remember the year 1480 by the word "BiG
RaT," the capitals representing the figures in the date. Comment is
unnecessary!
The
student will find that nearly all the "systems" or "secret
methods" that are being offered for sale in "courses," often at
a very high price, are merely variations, improvements upon, or combinations of
the three forms of artificial methods named above. New changes are constantly
being worked on these old plans; new tunes played on the same old instruments;
new chimes sounded from the same old bells. And the result is ever the same, in
these cases—disappointment and disgust. There are a few natural systems on the
market, nearly all of which contain information and instruction that makes them
worth the price at which they are sold. As for the others—well, judge for
yourself after purchasing them, if you so desire.
Regarding
these artificial and fanciful systems, Kay says: "All such systems for the
improvement of the memory belong to what we have considered the first or
lowest form of it. They are for the most part based on light or foolish
associations which have little foundation in nature, and are hence of little
practical utility; and they do not tend to improve or strengthen the memory as
a whole." Bacon says that these systems are "barren and
useless," adding: "For immediately to repeat a multitude of names or
words once repeated before, I esteem no more than rope-dancing, antic postures,
and feats of activity; and, indeed, they are nearly the same things, the one
being the abuse of the bodily as the other of the mental powers; and though
they may cause admiration, they cannot be highly esteemed." And as another
authority has said: "The systems of mnemonics as taught, are no better
than crutches, useful to those who cannot walk, but impediments and hindrances
to those who have the use of their limbs, and who only require to exercise them
properly in order to have the full use of them."
In
this work, there shall be no attempt to teach any of these "trick
systems" that the student may perform for the amusement of his
friends. Instead, there is only the desire to aid in developing the power to
receive impressions, to register them upon the memory, and readily to reproduce
them at will, naturally and easily. The lines of natural mental action will be
followed throughout. The idea of this work is not to teach how one may perform
"feats" of memory; but, instead, to instruct in the intelligent and
practical use of the memory in the affairs of every-day life and work.
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