In this course I will'be running a proven course on how to get good marks in exams.
nurse from Middlesbrough in the northeast of England, memorised the order of a pack of playing
cards in just under three minutes. In doing so he achieved a new world memory record. So astonished
and bewildered was I by this incredible feat of brain power that I began to investigate my own
memory.
The burning question to me was whether Creighton possessed extraordinary powers of recall, or
was privy to special techniques that could be used by the rest of us to train our own brains, producing
equally stunning results.
After many years of intensive study in memory training, I am utterly convinced that most of us are
quite capable of storing in our brain not just the order of a pack of fifty-two playing cards, but
information in encyclopaedic quantities. The only thing preventing us from doing so is ignorance of
the techniques and systems that would enable us to unleash the full potential of this remarkable
resource – the brain – which for most of the time lies unused within our skulls.
The key to memory development, accelerated learning and, ultimately, the passing of exams lies in
our imagination. This book will show you how to unlock your own imagination by treating it like a
muscle, and giving it regular exercise as it takes adventurous walks through familiar locations. You
will discover how dull, unintelligible data can be converted into meaningful, memorable images by
learning the colourful language of numbers. I will show you how historical dates, chemical symbols,
foreign words and lines from literature can all be stored using three-dimensional mental filing
systems. I will demonstrate how success can be achieved in academic disciplines as diverse as maths
and media studies by simply using your memory to its maximum natural potential. By bringing the full
capability of your memory into play and combining it with the most effective reading and revising
techniques – both of which this book will show you – you will be well on the way to passing your
exams with flying colours. No matter what your level of study – GCSE, A-Level, baccalaureate, BTech
or Degree – if your course involves exams, your first steps to success lie here.
What a pity I wasn’t shown these methods when I was at school, struggling away.
Belief and confidence
The root of my problems at school lay in a common, and misguided, belief. The belief that everyone
falls into one of two camps – that a child is born either with or without the gift of learning. Born to be
scholarly or not. In short – bright or dim.
According to this belief, if you are unlucky enough to fall into the latter group, then you are
destined to struggle and ultimately fail. At school I knew my place. I accepted my category. Just
imagine what that did for my confidence!
What appeared to be a lack of concentration in class was in fact day-dreaming – one talent I did
possess was an active imagination. What a tragedy this wasn’t nurtured from an early age. For
imagination, as you will discover, is the key to developing a perfect memory.
Learning how to learn
I hope your educational experiences haven’t been as bad as mine were – I hated school. I accepted,
reluctantly, that this was the way things were, but couldn’t understand why I should be restricted to a
watered-down, grey, overcomplicated, artificial, classroom version of the universe, when outside I
could see life itself beckoning in all its three-dimensional glory.
“O’Brien! Why are you staring out of the window? Stop day-dreaming and concentrate!” So the
trick was to lock eyes on the teacher and day-dream at the same time.
“O’Brien, what have I just been talking about? … Can’t you remember anything? … Is nothing
absorbed in that head of yours?”
Precious little information was absorbed in those days because no one explained the absorption
process. Buy a washing machine and the instructions come with it. Purchase a computer and you get a
user’s guide of encyclopaedic proportions. Your brain is vastly superior to any computer and
incredibly complicated. So when we are born, where’s the instruction manual? Much like using a
computer, how could I be expected to output information if I wasn’t told how to input it in the first
place?
It is now my firm belief that what every student really needs to know before tackling any subject is
how to learn how to learn. This guide aims to reveal that process, so treat this as your own user’s
guide to the brain.
Learning How to Learn
Some years ago I watched an event that was to change my life. Creighton Carvello, a psychiatricnurse from Middlesbrough in the northeast of England, memorised the order of a pack of playing
cards in just under three minutes. In doing so he achieved a new world memory record. So astonished
and bewildered was I by this incredible feat of brain power that I began to investigate my own
memory.
The burning question to me was whether Creighton possessed extraordinary powers of recall, or
was privy to special techniques that could be used by the rest of us to train our own brains, producing
equally stunning results.
After many years of intensive study in memory training, I am utterly convinced that most of us are
quite capable of storing in our brain not just the order of a pack of fifty-two playing cards, but
information in encyclopaedic quantities. The only thing preventing us from doing so is ignorance of
the techniques and systems that would enable us to unleash the full potential of this remarkable
resource – the brain – which for most of the time lies unused within our skulls.
The key to memory development, accelerated learning and, ultimately, the passing of exams lies in
our imagination. This book will show you how to unlock your own imagination by treating it like a
muscle, and giving it regular exercise as it takes adventurous walks through familiar locations. You
will discover how dull, unintelligible data can be converted into meaningful, memorable images by
learning the colourful language of numbers. I will show you how historical dates, chemical symbols,
foreign words and lines from literature can all be stored using three-dimensional mental filing
systems. I will demonstrate how success can be achieved in academic disciplines as diverse as maths
and media studies by simply using your memory to its maximum natural potential. By bringing the full
capability of your memory into play and combining it with the most effective reading and revising
techniques – both of which this book will show you – you will be well on the way to passing your
exams with flying colours. No matter what your level of study – GCSE, A-Level, baccalaureate, BTech
or Degree – if your course involves exams, your first steps to success lie here.
What a pity I wasn’t shown these methods when I was at school, struggling away.
Belief and confidence
The root of my problems at school lay in a common, and misguided, belief. The belief that everyone
falls into one of two camps – that a child is born either with or without the gift of learning. Born to be
scholarly or not. In short – bright or dim.
According to this belief, if you are unlucky enough to fall into the latter group, then you are
destined to struggle and ultimately fail. At school I knew my place. I accepted my category. Just
imagine what that did for my confidence!
What appeared to be a lack of concentration in class was in fact day-dreaming – one talent I did
possess was an active imagination. What a tragedy this wasn’t nurtured from an early age. For
imagination, as you will discover, is the key to developing a perfect memory.
Learning how to learn
I hope your educational experiences haven’t been as bad as mine were – I hated school. I accepted,
reluctantly, that this was the way things were, but couldn’t understand why I should be restricted to a
watered-down, grey, overcomplicated, artificial, classroom version of the universe, when outside I
could see life itself beckoning in all its three-dimensional glory.
“O’Brien! Why are you staring out of the window? Stop day-dreaming and concentrate!” So the
trick was to lock eyes on the teacher and day-dream at the same time.
“O’Brien, what have I just been talking about? … Can’t you remember anything? … Is nothing
absorbed in that head of yours?”
Precious little information was absorbed in those days because no one explained the absorption
process. Buy a washing machine and the instructions come with it. Purchase a computer and you get a
user’s guide of encyclopaedic proportions. Your brain is vastly superior to any computer and
incredibly complicated. So when we are born, where’s the instruction manual? Much like using a
computer, how could I be expected to output information if I wasn’t told how to input it in the first
place?
It is now my firm belief that what every student really needs to know before tackling any subject is
how to learn how to learn. This guide aims to reveal that process, so treat this as your own user’s
guide to the brain.
