I stumbled on a great way to take the pain out of memorising stuff for exams; memory palaces. Basically, you visualise a space in which you can 'store' stuff. Areas of study are nested within rooms, antechambers, cupboards and wotnot and whatever. So i enter by 'teleporting' into my antechamber which forms a polygon with a door in each side, each leading through to the various topics i'm studying. Every time i go in, i add some random detail to the rooms i visit and recall all previous details to cement the image. The way i've been using it is like this; I want to make an entry today for the characteristic equation of a 2 by 2 matrix, which i need to know in order to find eigenvalues. 1a) i begin by teleporting in. 1b) Detail added to antechamber: oak beams in ceiling connecting vertices to centre. 1c) the context in which this is presented by my course is iteration with matrices, so i go through the corresponding door for that topic. 2a) Detail added to 'iteration with matrices' corridor: a door leading to stuff about eigenvalues and eigenlines etc. 2b) go through new door. 3a) It's a new room so starting from scratch; situation is the black forest since 'eigen' is German. 3b) greeter added: Vetinari from discworld novels (i have a character in each room who can fetch stuff and enact scenarios that aid memory). 3c) I need to find something to remember the equation by, and the equation is k^2 - (a + d)k + ad - bc = 0 The constant term 'ad-bc' is the determinant of a 2 by 2 matrix, which i already have stored in another room dealing with matrices. So i call the greeter from that room. All i need to do now is find a way to represent the term k^2, for which i'll use the mountain of similar name, and something for the term -(a + d)k. So i have my matrix room greeter on a mountain rising out of the black forest. And then just a mnemonic for the middle term; 'A linear system Determines K', which the greeter is busy carving on a boulder. Anyway, probably seems like a lot of hassle, but it's no more time consuming than drilling stuff into memory, and it's much more fun!
It sounds fun and you have a way of remembering where you left those memories. I know things but often have no way to recall it instantly. It comes back later, when you don't need it. Frustrating, so having things filed properly is a good idea, but I don't like tidying up either!
I did too, I just don't take those tests any longer so I never have to remember anything!Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I'd just like to know where my mind went as I have gotten older I seem to have "lostit" awile back.:shrug:Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I just go by my way--I repeat and repeat and repeat until finally I get to remember it. Then I forget it the day I need it and want to whack myself over the head. Haha!
