Memory
By Ken Parks,
January 10, 2007
I never was one to have a great memory, nor good study habits.
All of that changed once I had started taking college courses
and pay for it with my hard earned money. The class studies involved
having to remember things by means of rote memory. I worked hard,
but it seemed too arduous and time consuming. I had to find a
shortcut, something easier, and something that would save me time
and provide the opportunity to concentrate on other things.
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The
Memory Book came out in 1974, co-authored by Harry
Lorayne and Jerry
Lucas. Other than the Holy Bible, this book has been one
of the greatest discoveries in my life. Had it not been for
this particular book, I would most likely have been an average
student at best. I attribute The Memory Book as a
must read for any student who is serious about learning how
to learn. If your really apply the memory techniques on a
daily basis, practice with your subject matters, and develop
unique memory processes, you will find as I have to improve
your study skills, impress friends and professors, and enhance
your ability to solve mathematical problems. The Memory Book
was an educational treasure worth its weight in gold. And,
it is still in print. |
After coming home one day from a series of boring classes, I
sat down to rest and turned on the TV. The Merv
Griffin show had hosted two men by the names of Harry
Lorayne and Jerry
Lucas. And I could not believe my eyes or ears.
Mr Lorayne had demonstrated his amazing memory abilities by memorizing
everyone’s name in the audience he had met at the entrance
door and shook their hands. And he mentioned his new book, The
Memory Book, co-authored with Jerry
Lucas.
I had to get this book. The small New England town of Mystic
seemed sometimes out of touch with the rest of the world, and
I had to order the book through a local bookstore in Olde
Mistick Village.
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The
Merv Griffin Show delighted its audiences from its on-again-off-again
TV programs from 1962 through 1986. He hosted Harry Lorayne
ten times, in which Mr. Lorayne bewildering the crowd with
his amazing memory and related stories. I recalled some of
the interview Merv Griffin had with Mr. Lorayne. Harry had
been identified and kicked out of the casinos in Las Vegas
because of his ability to memorize what cards had been drawn
in the game of Blackjack.
At the time of the show in 1975, Harry Lorayne's book, The
Memory Book was on the New York Times Best Seller's list. |
I resolved not only to read The Memory Book but also
to study and apply the techniques. At first I memorized simple
things such as a short grocery lists and then expanded to greater
lists such as the Presidents of the U.S and the years they served.
I realized that I could use the same memory techniques to help
me in my college studies. I started to concentrate on the memorization
of numbers and equations. For the entire summer prior to the next
series of college classes, I studied The Calculus, attended two
classes at the SubBase, all along applying the Lorayne memory
magic.
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Professor
Potter was one of my better instructors. He did not play mind
games and was fair and honest about what we needed to learn.
Albeit, he was initially annoyed with my apparent disinterest
in his Electron Physics class, I proved that I learned the
material on my own initiative and dedication.
Professor Potter was well appreciated by most students even
though he appeared somewhat stoic. He always made the course
materials interesting and had good lab exercises and projects. |
As a part-time security guard at Mason’s Island (private
island), I employed the Lorayne memory system one day to see if
it could be applied in a real-world situation. I memorized the
visiting names, vehicle tags; time arrived, and their destination.
Towards the end of the day, Rufus Allen, the island manager stopped
by the guard shack and looked at the daily report. It was blank.
He asked, “Didn’t anyone come in today?” I smiled
and replied, “Yes, I had memorized everyone and the details
for filling out the report.” Rufus looked puzzled and commanded,
“Well… remember to fill out the form before you leave.
I need to check the report and file it.” I nodded, “No
problem. I’ll drop by and deliver it to you before I leave
for the day.”
Professor Potter was lecturing in the Electron Physics class
and I had taken a seat in the farthest row in the tier-seated
classroom. I had my feet resting on the unoccupied lower seat
in front of me and I was reading one of Steinbeck’s short
stories in preparation for the next class, an English course.
Apparently this annoyed him and in the middle of his lecture he
interrupted my reading, “Mr. Parks, I will see you after
class.” I shrugged and kept on reading. This probably annoyed
him even more so.
| Professor
Potter taught other classes such as Circuit Theory and Analysis
I and II. I remember one of his lab exercises whereby each
of us had to design and build a three-stage amplifier. I had
worked out the math and breadboarded the lab circuit, but
the darn thing didn't work. If anything, it attenuated the
signal. Professor Potter looked at my design and determined
that it should work. We checked all the component values and
tested the circuit to no avail. He suggested I get an oscilloscope
and see where the problem may exist. This was my first circuit
failure and hoped to quickly learn how to isolate and fix
this challenge. I thought I located the problem, a defective
capacitor. I turned the power off and pulled the suspect component.
ZAP! I yelled out in pain. The capacitor had discharged its
full power through my right forefinger. Everyone was in tears
laughing at me and even Professor Potter tried to hide a chuckle. |
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After the class, the rest of the students left, and Professor
Potter asked, “Do you know what’s going on in here?
Sympathetically, I responded, “Sure.” He pushed his
eyeglasses up to the brim of his nose, grabbed a piece of chalk,
and stated, “Well, let’s see… Can you work this
problem?” He scratched the blackboard with one of the problems
he covered during his lecture and I recognized it as one in the
textbook. I thought to myself, “This is too easy.”
I completed the calculations and explained each equation results.
Professor Potter stood back and shook his head in disbelief. Before
he could ask, I told him that I had spent my summer months memorizing
all the equations and all the variable meanings. Dumbfounded at
the dedication and understanding of the course materials, he finally
professed, “You don’t belong in here. For the rest
of the semester, drop by and wave at me and then go to the library
to read. I’ll mark you off as ‘present’ and
keep you informed of the exam dates. Okay?” I had no problem
with this and easily agreed.
Keith, my lab partner, came up to me in the weeks that followed,
“Why aren’t you attending the Electron Physics class?
You need that class to graduate.” I declared, “Potter
and I have this teacher/student agreement and I don’t have
to attend his class, just show up to take the exams.” Keith
was puzzled; I realized that I had to explain how I had memorized
all the class material.
For the balance of the semester I never attended Potter’s
class but only showed up for the exams, and I managed to average
a 97%.
During the same semester, I had studied speed-reading techniques
and used it in the English class. In one sitting, I had read Kurt
Vonnegut’s book, Player
Piano, wrote a paper about it, and received an ‘A’.
The Applied Calculus course was one of the most difficult of
any class I had taken. While taking the final exam, I had an experience…
of visualizing one of the text pages in order to calculate one
of the problems. For a brief moment, I thought, “This is
like cheating!” I had developed a photographic memory for
the occasion. I scored a 99% on the final exam, and the class
average was less than 45%. Consequently, the lead professor had
to curve the test scores.
| Keith
was my lab partner in all of my classes. Keith, another student
named Stef, and I were vying to go to Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute (RPI), also known as the "Toot." On the
Applied Calculus final exam, I scored a 99, Keith scored a
95, and Stef scored a 90. When the scores were posted by numeric
value to caculate the mean, the median, and the average for
the purpose of curving the exam, Stef jumped from his seat
and demanded, "Who got the 99? Well, who did it?"
I took my paper and turned it face down. He happened to catch
my eyes and smile and yelled out, "Parks... how could
you!" I shrugged my shoulders and professed, "I
didn't mean to score the highest." Keith and I broke
out laughing. |
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One of my fellow classmates was having a difficult time with
the Calculus and he approached me, hoping that I could tutor him.
He asked, “How do you do it? What makes you able to learn
this stuff?” When I told him about my means of memory, he
was dismayed. “I told him that these things don’t
come to me naturally. I had to work at this memory system well
in advance before attempting to accomplish memorizing equations
and problem solving. One has to learn to crawl before they learn
to walk and run.” He turned away, disappointed in that there
was no quick remedy to his poor study and learning habits.
I meditated for about a microsecond, “Well, there are some
folks that don’t want to sacrifice and take the time to
learn the basics of learning.”
To this day, I still use the same memory system, not having to
rely upon rote memory.
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