Quote:
Originally Posted by yeti  Morning Brutha,
This is a great site. I am considering a memory course (including pmemory), and am really interested in your comments above. I have little interest in spending 100+ hours to become a card-remembering freakshow, but would love to be able to retain knowledge, particularly when trying to cross reference between books I read, and therefore be able to make connections / construct arguments which, if I were to rely on piles of notes, I could never do.
So to you (and anyone else) I have the following questions:
1) Are you saying you reckon 1% of people who have done memory courses use them in real life, or that you reckon 1% of the population use memory techniques in their lives?
2) Does this ever become unconscious? I would say that many learned skills can become unconscious at a basic level, but the oft used analogy of working out is the opposite: you have to keep struggling on if you want to stay in shape.
3) Linked to the above, how much of a real-life distration is the remembering part, (ie are you constantly staring off into the distance trying to visualise, peg, create stories while the rest of the conversation is happening)?
4) Where is it most useful? Is it just that you dont have to look for your car keys any more, or can you start to see links between information that you would otherwise have not?
Could anyone replying just let me know if they have an interest in a memory improvement company.
The cost of the course is pretty large, but the opportunity cost of 100+ hours is HUGE, so all responses much appreciated.
ps Ive just had a kid and can confidently say that the quickest and cheapest was if improving your memory instantly is to give up alcohol. I anticipate this will last about two weeks. |
I can only talk about pmemory because it is the only memory course I took but I can't imagine I would be using any of it if I just read the book. It is a skill, you learn to read and write by practicing with the right methods untill the entire sistem is reflex in your brain. So I agree that people who just read memory books can't really apply it. The comparrison between mere knowledge versus skill answers your other concerns as well: yes it becomes partially unconscious as you don't need to think about techniques, you just use them, it works just like the reading and writing skill in this regard. It is does not create reall life distractions, it depends on your level but you generally don't need to look away in order to visualize or anything, I can do it whille reading, talking to people, watching documentaries etc. Oh and it's not only for finding your keys or remembering numbers, it works for paractically any factual information, any concepts like science for example.
If you do decide for this, know that it takes some effort and dilligence but to me the results more than make up for it. If you really want to understand the principles of pm I recommend the free manuall:
http://www.pmemory.com/improve_memory-adr.php