Can the human memory be improved?
The human memory has recently become a popular topic, and people’s interest in health and wellness is linked to this trend. Just visit the pharmaceutical section of your local grocery store and you will discover a vast array of supplements designed to enhance human memory performance. Or, you can surf online and find many websites that offer brain games to help improve human memory. The idea of improving one’s ability to remember things is very appealing. However, is it really possible to improve the memory you were born with? This article discusses what I have discovered to be the most effective way to enhance memory performance through my own research and experience.
I set out to find answers.
I am very gifted academically, but I have always had trouble remembering things for an extended period of time. Like most people, I thought that I had to repeat material over and over in order to remember it. Still, this never really worked that well for me because I would still forget more than 50% of the content that I had repeated. Eventually I accepted that I was just born with a bad memory, and that there was nothing I could do to change it.
Of course, I tried different memory supplements and online brain games developed to improve memory. However, I never felt that my memory was improving from them, at least not in the way that I had hoped. Finally, I began using my more academic side to do research on effective ways to improve the human memory.
Improving memory has to do with thinking differently.
I hit many dead ends during my research, but I eventually got lucky and came across a book written by Harry Lorayne. In short, the book changed my whole perspective on how the human memory works. Instead of repeating material over and over, Lorayne shows you techniques that force you to use both hemispheres of the brain at the same time while learning new material. There is no magic involved in this process. In fact, many of Lorayne’s techniques can be traced all the way back through history to the Romans. What matters is that the techniques really work.
Since reading Lorayne’s book, I have gone on to read similar material authored by people such as Dominic O’Brien. Over time I have begun to borrow elements from different memory systems in order to develop my own system of memorization. In other words, I take the most effective and efficient techniques that I learn and I integrate them. I become better at memorizing material each day with constant practice. For example, a few years ago I would not have been able to tell you who the U.S. president was in 1848 without looking it up. However, now I can confidently say that in 1848 James Polk was the U.S. president, and I do not have to look this information up. I have successfully used memorization techniques to store all of the U.S. presidents and their terms in my memory. Furthermore, the techniques are very useful for memorizing material where numbers are involved such as phone numbers.
You can improve your memory’s performance, too.
So, what do you have to gain from this article? If you are looking for ways to improve the performance of your memory like I was a few years ago, then you will find in my article that the most effective way to do this is to learn how to use memory techniques. If you take the time to learn and practice a few memory systems that are out there, you will begin to use your brain more efficiently, resulting in better memory performance. Trust me, the benefit of being able to remember information is well worth it.