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Memory Techniques - your favorite?

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GrimoireA3 View Drop Down
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    Posted: April/14/2016 at 6:10pm
As a long time memory enthusiast since my 'Learning & Memory' course as a PSYCH major in college; plus a big fan of Francis Yates, I like the 'Roman Room' method, cued recall, mnemonic devices, acronyms, and rhymes. What's your favorite memory technique?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote coach Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/14/2016 at 7:33pm
Mind Maps
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote scout Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/15/2016 at 8:14am
I recently sat in the east for the first time.  It was for a FC degree.  I mainly used lots of repetition.  Broke the material into bite sized chunks and recited them to myself as I drove hither and yon.  I like mi d maps or semantic webbing, but that doesn't seem to work well for this type of memorization. (For me)
I did create an acronym to help me with a certain part which was vexing me. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GrimoireA3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/15/2016 at 8:58am
Originally posted by scout scout wrote:

I recently sat in the east for the first time.  It was for a FC degree.  I mainly used lots of repetition.  Broke the material into bite sized chunks and recited them to myself as I drove hither and yon.  I like mi d maps or semantic webbing, but that doesn't seem to work well for this type of memorization. (For me)
I did create an acronym to help me with a certain part which was vexing me. 




Yes. It's been my experience in college and other places (Navy Dive School) to use what works for you. You get the same results regardless of what memory methodology that suits your abilities. Rote memorization has never worked for me.

In college (PSYCH '84) what I learned in my 'Learning & Memory' course I utilized in Chemistry, since we had to memorize the periodic table. If it wasn't for rhymes, mnemonics, and mental imagery I would have failed on rote memorization alone.

Try this site if you haven't come across it yet:

http://phoenixmasonry.org/MASONIC_MEMORY_TECHNIQUES%5b1%5d.pdf
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GrimoireA3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/15/2016 at 8:59am
Originally posted by coach coach wrote:

Mind Maps


Have you published any literature on this memory method? Thanx.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote WBScott Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/17/2016 at 9:04pm
So a man comes up to me in New York City carrying a violin case and asks, "Do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?"

To which I replied........










"Practice!"
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sec'yBob Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/17/2016 at 9:36pm
Nowadays, a man with a violin case is probably carrying a AK-47..................am I a pessimist.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Adept? Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/17/2016 at 10:55pm
Originally posted by Sec'yBob Sec'yBob wrote:

Nowadays, a man with a violin case is probably carrying a AK-47..................am I a pessimist.

no, more of a realist I think.




Edited by Adept? - April/17/2016 at 10:56pm
"It is humanity that creates god, and men think that god has made them in his image, because they make him in theirs."
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote coach Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/18/2016 at 5:20am
Originally posted by Sec'yBob Sec'yBob wrote:

Nowadays, a man with a violin case is probably carrying a AK-47..................am I a pessimist.


I don't know. How well do you play the passim?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GrimoireA3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/18/2016 at 6:00am
Originally posted by WBScott WBScott wrote:

"Practice!


But practice what? Acrostics? Method of Loci? Cued recall?

WBScott, do you have a favorite memory technique which you practice, practice, practice?? Thanx!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GrimoireA3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/18/2016 at 6:06am
Originally posted by Adept? Adept? wrote:

no, more of a realist I think


The optimist sees the glass as half full.

The pessimist sees the glass as half empty.

The realist says there's plenty of room for vodka!

And the initiate can't remember because he couldn't remember.

So wots yor fa-vor-ite memory method Adept? ?

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote coach Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/18/2016 at 6:21am
Originally posted by GrimoireA3 GrimoireA3 wrote:

Originally posted by Adept? Adept? wrote:

no, more of a realist I think


The optimist sees the glass as half full.

The pessimist sees the glass as half empty.

The realist says there's plenty of room for vodka!

And the initiate can't remember because he couldn't remember.

So wots yor fa-vor-ite memory method Adept? ?


If memory serves me, an opportunist drinks what's there.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BroScubaSteve Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/18/2016 at 7:37am
Originally posted by Sec'yBob Sec'yBob wrote:

Nowadays, a man with a violin case is probably carrying a AK-47..................am I a pessimist.
heh, I'd still prefer the tommy gun.

Edited: I did rote memorization.

However, I do have a question about mind maps. Do you create a map in your mind or do you use familiar routes such as commutes to work, etc.?

Another question I have is, if you use your lodge as a map and travel to another lodge to help out with a degree, do you find yourself stuttering because your queues are not there? Yes, I realize the "furniture" of a lodge is the same, but the overall visual is not.


Edited by BroScubaSteve - April/18/2016 at 7:40am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GrimoireA3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/19/2016 at 8:26am
Originally posted by coach coach wrote:

   If memory serves me, an opportunist drinks what's there.


Yeah, but Adept2 said 'realist'. So I ad lib it.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GrimoireA3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/19/2016 at 8:30am
Originally posted by BroScubaSteve BroScubaSteve wrote:

Another question I have is, if you use your lodge as a map and travel to another lodge to help out with a degree, do you find yourself stuttering because your queues are not there? Yes, I realize the "furniture" of a lodge is the same, but the overall visual is not.


A good book that addresses your question is: The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci by Jonathan D. Spence.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GrimoireA3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/19/2016 at 8:35am
Some good titles addressing memory training:

Giordano Bruno by Ingrid D. Rowland

The Book of Memory by Mary Curruthers (inferior to Francis Yates)

The Memory Book by Francis Yates

Porphyry of Tyros

Ramon Lull

The Memory Book by Harry Lorayne

'Masonic Mnemonics: Memory Aids for Masonic Rituals by David Royal

'Ritual in Mind: A Memory System for Learning Masonic Ritual' by Graham Chisnell

I forget the rest
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WBScott Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/20/2016 at 9:58pm
Originally posted by GrimoireA3 GrimoireA3 wrote:

Originally posted by WBScott WBScott wrote:

"Practice!


But practice what? Acrostics? Method of Loci? Cued recall?

WBScott, do you have a favorite memory technique which you practice, practice, practice?? Thanx!

I don't overthink the process or have a name for the technique I use. I repeat the same thing over and over again in small pieces. When I get one piece right, I move on to the next and when I get enough small pieces together, I practice them as a whole. There are also some acronyms for certain parts of the ritual, but I really can not discuss what parts of the ritual with a "civilian". I hope you understand.

Also keep in mind that I have been a Mason for 15 years and have belonged to several lodges. Although not very long by some people's standards, but long enough to have heard certain pieces of ritual hundreds of times (or maybe it just seems like that many!). 

I am also lucky enough to have one of the foremost ritualists in  the state as a member of my primary lodge. I practice with him on a regular basis.

Putting all these things together, I am a certified ritual instructor for all the parts of all the officers for opening and closing a lodge. In addition to this, I also serve in other roles in the conferral of the degrees.

Helpful?




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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GrimoireA3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/21/2016 at 6:01am
Originally posted by WBScott WBScott wrote:


Originally posted by GrimoireA3 GrimoireA3 wrote:

Originally posted by WBScott WBScott wrote:

"Practice!


But practice what? Acrostics? Method of Loci? Cued recall?

WBScott, do you have a favorite memory technique which you practice, practice, practice?? Thanx!


I don't overthink the process or have a name for the technique I use. I repeat the same thing over and over again in small pieces. When I get one piece right, I move on to the next and when I get enough small pieces together, I practice them as a whole.


Yes, excellent description. That method is called 'chunking' We were taught 'chunking' in my PSYCH course 'Learning & Memory' (1980). Chunking is a common memory method. Thanks.

Originally posted by WBScott WBScott wrote:

There are also some acronyms for certain parts of the ritual, but I really can not discuss what parts of the ritual with a "civilian". I hope you understand.


I both understand and respect that a Mason cannot (and should not) discuss rituals with outsiders.

Acronyms are also another common and useful memory method.


Originally posted by WBScott WBScott wrote:

Also keep in mind that I have been a Mason for 15 years and have belonged to several lodges. Although not very long by some people's standards, but long enough to have heard certain pieces of ritual hundreds of times (or maybe it just seems like that many!). 


Yes, learning vicariously (by observation) and repetition are memorizing through experience. That is termed: Building Up An 'Empirical Data Base'. A pedigological technique for learning. See Paoulo Frere'.


Originally posted by WBScott WBScott wrote:

Putting all these things together, I am a certified ritual instructor for all the parts of all the officers for opening and closing a lodge. In addition to this, I also serve in other roles in the conferral of the degrees.


Impressive.

Originally posted by WBScott WBScott wrote:

Helpful?


Extremely helpful. And thank you!
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