Word Games. Dazzle Your Friends With This Mind Game



Posted: Wednesday, September 29, 2010

by Joe Mac Millan

When I first saw a person do this I simply could not rest until I learned all about it. How is it done? Is this guy a genius?

We all know how tough it is to remember a few items such as a grocery list. Anymore than four items and I could not remember anything. Perhaps it is the distraction of every day life or the astounding array of items facing us when we enter the stores. Whatever is the cause of it, my mind would go blank.

Many years ago I attended a positive speaking course at our local college. The professor called upon a tall gentleman who was a union leader to come to the front of the class. Obviously he knew a side of the gent more than we did. The professor gave him a list of twenty five grocery items written on a card. He had made out the list just prior to the evening class. He asked the gent to memorize the list and gave him ten minutes to do so.

Eight minutes later the gent returned from the nearby closed office, passed the card over and not only repeated the list but could recall instantly the individual items and where they stood on the list. The professor asked him to teach us the secret of his brain power.

He explained. First you create a number list of photos you must memorize. Not the items, only the number list. Once the number list is permanently enshrined in the brain you use it to recall any item on the new list.

So you must learn how to count by photos. Start with the number one. Run rhymes with one. Imagine a huge white horse running down main street. The street is covered with powerful glue and the horse is sticking with all four hooves. That will be the scene you must remember.

Take number two. Rhymes with zoo. Imagine a huge pink elephant sitting on tiny stool. The bigger the elephant and the smaller the stool the better.

Now you have the first two photos. The minute you hear one you will think of the photo in your mind. The same with two. Now the rest of the numbers will come from your imagination and if done with great concentration you can easily do a very long list. I have done this for years. For instance the scene that comes to me when I hear twenty two is plenty zoo. For that number I have a photo in mind of not one pink elephant but thousands all sitting on those little stools. The item on that shopping list I wanted to remember is sticking out of the elephants trunk. The first item on my shopping list is riding that beautiful horse that is sticking to the street. The most ridiculous you make the image, the easier it will be to remember.

I have written a longer list under the title, Creative Memory. Use Your Imagination to Remember A Shopping List
Joe and Irma MacMillan have spent many years backpacking, skiing, and simply enjoying life in the mountains of British Columbia. Their website Whistler Outdoors is full of tips on snowboarding, camping, kayaking, rafting, camp cooking and fishing. They met on a blind date in 1957 and are still married. Take a look at their story here About us

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