On Memory Systems and Gospel Stories
Or how to make a scene so memorable that it will never be forgotten
A Simple Memory System
I have always had an interest in various systems. For example, I have examined various methods for developing a more powerful memory. These memory strengthening techniques are quite varied. However, they all share a common technique. This technique is to create an image encoded with the various elements that you want to remember. The exact system of encoding varies from system to system. In one of the simplest systems described by Derren Brown in his Tricks of the Mind (2006), he employs the following images for the numbers from one to ten:
1 — Bun
2 — Shoe
3 — Tree
4 — Door
5 — Hive
6 — Sticks
7 — Heaven
8 — Gate
9 — Line
10 — Hen
These words rhyme with the corresponding numbers. This system is useful if you want to remember a series of numbered items. For instance, suppose that the fifth word on the list is a rabbit. You would then create an image incorporating a rabbit with the image for five, which is a hive.
