A Mnemonics Book From Sten? No....!?

I'm really excited!

If you've read my free email course (available here at YouCantBeatMe.com, or the book "Memory - How To Develop, Train and Use It", you know that I'm not very favourably disposed towards artificial mnemonic systems.

I learned this sceptisism from William Walker Atkinson, and recent research seem to confirm some of this notion.

For example, Thomas and Wang (1996) found that using keyword mnemonics to learn a words in a new language, actually decreased performance after a delay.

Now, not all researchers agree to their conclusions. But it is interesting to see the discussion is still going strong.

I have several clients who like Atkinson's book, and who say they've learned a lot from it -- and yet, they're not willing to let go of their mnemonic system. Why? Because they work for them.

Hm....

And I must admit, before I stumbled upon Atkinson, I read Tony Buzan and Harry Lorayne, and used their techniques quite succesfully.

So how do you reconcile two such different views?

Well, I've been thinking, and what I've realised, is that I use these methods for two very different things.

I use William Walker Atkinson's method when I need to remember large bodies of text. Or when I need to remember something for a long time (like, hopefully, the rest of my life). Or when the information is meaningful, like when learning about physics or bioinformatics.

On the other hand, I use methods like Tony Buzan's and Robert H. Nutt's when I need to remember a shopping list -- or what to do today (like pay three bills and buy flowers and check out if I can move my mortgage), or anything else that is volatile -- anything I don't need for very long.

Robert H. Nutt? What kind of a name is that?

It's a name I hope you'll become closer acquainted with in the next couple of days. I've been rewieving his memory system -- and it is absolutely fantastical. It is easy to learn and use, and it just plain works. You know, it works for ephemerals, things you need to remember for a little while -- like 24 hours.

And the reason I'm so excited, is that, very soon, I'm going to be able to present his work to you.

Watch this blog for more info!

Sincerely,
Sten