The Decibels of Memory (Learn Faster Series Part I)
Every memory you have, has a certain strength.
The strength of that memory is measured in something called decibels.
E.g. a weak memory is about 10 decibels. A really strong, long-lasting memory is 80 decibels or more.
The higher the strength of the memory, the slower you forget it.
You’ll forget a 10 decibel memory in seconds,
The two parts of a memory
Every memory has two parts: the trigger and the response. A memory is the connection between the trigger and the response.
The strength of the connection between the trigger and the response determines the strength of the memory.
e.g. the trigger could be “What are the Great Lakes”. The response could be “Ontario, Huron, Erie, Michigan, Superior”
If you’ve never heard of the Great Lakes before, that would probably form a ~10 dbE memory. You’d naturally forget the five lakes in a few seconds.
That’s a weak connection.
Because you’d forget the list almost instantly, you’d have to repeat it in your head multiple times. “Ontario, Huron, Michigan. . . .. Ontario, Huron, Michigan . .. Ontario, Huron, Michigan, Superior, Erie! Ontario, Huron, Michigan, Superior, Erie!” etc.
And then a few minutes later, or maybe half an hour later, you’ll probably have forgotten a couple of them.
“Ontario, Huron, something, something, Erie. . . ? Aw shucks, my memory sucks.”
The key is to replace the response with an easy to remember replacement response, that in turn triggers the harder to remember response.
We should use the common acronym HOMES (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior). This way we can remember the lakes without having to quiz ourselves a dozen times.
This acronym forms a strong memory connection.
We should use HOMES as opposed to rote memorization.
This is obvious. Everyone knows this.
But what’s not obvious is that we should use mnemonics for everything else.
Especially important things.
Mnemonics are SUPER POWERFUL.
They form high-decibel memories.
I can still remember the classification of living organisms 7 years after it was last useful to me: “King Play Chess On Fine Grain Sand” -> “Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species”.
But I can’t remember things that are actually useful to me. ~9 months ago I read a book called “Power Listening: Mastering the Most Critical Business Skill of All”. I remember the author teaching 6 important things. Yet I can’t remember what those six things are, besides the fact they have to do with good listening.
It sucks that we don’t use mnemonics that often. And when we do, it’s usually for pointless stuff like naming the Great Lakes.
You will remember things that have an associated mnemonic, even if they are pointless.
You will forget things that do not have a mnemonic, even if they are useful.
If you are not using mnemonic devices, you are forgetting the majority of what you learned. You are wasting hundreds and thousands of hours of studying / going to classes.
. . . If you’re not using mnemonic devices, you are wasting your time.
I’m a student dropping out of Ohio State to teach others how to learn faster. I think everyone has the potential to learn 10x faster, and I think we can get the world there within 10 years. Join me in redesigning education.
