Unleash the hidden power of your mind through Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas's simple, fail-safe memory system, and you can become more effective, more imaginative, and more powerful, at work, at school, in sports and play. Discover how easy it is to: file phone numbers, data, figures, and appointments right in your head; learn foreign words and phrases with ease; read with speed--and greater understanding; shine in the classroom--and shorten study hours; dominate social situations, and more.
The Memory Book Harry lorayne and jerry lucas BALLANTINE BOOKS • NEW YORK Mantesh Copyright© 1974 by Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas All rights reserved. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 73-90705 SBN 345-24527-X-195 This edition published by arrangement with Stein and Day Publishers First Printing: June, 1975 Printed in the United States of America BALLANTINE BOOKS A Division of Random House, Inc. 201 East 50th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022 Simultaneously published by Ballantine Books, Ltd., Toronto, Canada Mantesh My wife Reneé and my son Robert HARRY LORAYNE FOR My son Jeff and my daughter Julie JERRY LUCAS [...]... and enjoying at the same time I wish I were in your place, right now HARRY LoRAYNE xvi I SOME HISTORY OF THE ART Memory systems date back to antiquity In the ancient world, a trained memory was of vital importance There were no handy note-taking devices, and it was memory techniques and systems that enabled bards and storytellers to remember their stories, poems, and songs Early Greek and Roman orators... that the more he remembers, the better grades he'll get from the teacher who likes to put down "memorization." We believe that there are three basic learning skills: 1) the search for information, 2) remembering the information, and 3) applying the information The search is up to the educators and the sources of knowledge, the application is up to you We'll take care of step 2 Let's begin with association... try to bring the systems to the fore uguin, but without success In a book titled Memory, William Stokes, a philosopher and memory teacher of the 1800's, summarizes the degree of public interest in the art of trained memory: It is true notwithstanding that records of the past und the achievements, triumphs, and trophies of the present, the "educated," the intelligent masses -the world -know not and. .. phrase "in the first place." Although Simonides (circa 500 B.c.) is known as the father of the art of trained memory, scraps of parch-1 ment dating back a thousand years or so before Simonides state that memory techniques were an essential part of the orator's equipment Cicero wrote that the memories of the lawyers and orators of his time were aided by systems and training and in De oratore he described... takes The next item is associated to airplane, and so on to the end of the Link When you're ready to call off the list of items, simply look at your friend You'll "see" the airplane on his head, and that association will lead you through the rest of the list; 18 THE UNK AgaiB, we suggest that you try a few test Links before continuing Show off for your friends, or make your own list and show oft to yourself... limited The systems of trained memory yQu'll learn in this book are applicable to anything They are limited only to the extent that your willingness to use them is limited The point is this: If you know how to consciously associate anything you want to remember to something you already know, you'll have a trained memory It's as simple as that And you can learn to associate anything you like~uickly and. naturally... in the foyer, and so on When the orator wanted to remember his speech, thought for thought, he actually took a mental tour through his own home Thinking of the front door reminded him of the first thought of his speech The second "place," the foyer, reminded him of the next thought; and so on to the end of the speech It is from this "place" or "loci" I THE MEMORY BOOK I memory technique that we get the. .. even if his systems don't work, they must work! That sounds silly, but it's true Just trying to apply the systems must improve your memory, whether or not they really work The fact that they do work, and work beautifully, will improve your memory to an unbelievable degree The next item on the list is envelope We'll assume that you already know, or remember, tree The new thing to remember is envelope... the word here before you bad the chance to think of it You didn't "forget" it at all If you're convinced that you did, then you didn't really remember it in the first place-go back to that item and strengthen your association That is, be sure the picture is ridiculous, and, more important, be sure to really see it in your mind If you take paper and pencil and try it now, on your own, you'll see that... 2 IN THE FIRST PLACE: ASSOCI'ATION Hl: Can't you picture those ancient orators, wandering around the streets of a city looking for other buildings to use as "places"? Jl: And the search made them more knowledgeable, not just better able to remember what they needed to Eventually, they realized that any information that was already sequential could be used as loci or things to associate with other things . in- formation, and 3) applying the information. The search is up to the educators and the sources of knowledge, the application is up to you. We'll take. that the memories of the lawyers and orators of his time were aided by systems and training and in De oratore he described how he himself applied memory