Page 205 - How to Develop A SUPER-POWER MEMORY

Memory Demonstrations 209
stunt of some sort, just as the ideas for all the stunts can
be used for practical purposes in some way. If you want to
apply substitute words to a stunt, you can memorize names
and playing cards, names and objects, and so on. You can
utilize the system for remembering long digit numbers, by
having people call their names and the serial number on a
dollar bill, or their social security number. Then you should
be able to give the number when you hear the name, and
give the name if you hear the number. To do this you
simply make up a substitute word for the name, if necessary;
associate that to the peg word for the first two digits of
the number, and make a link to the end of the number.
Although the following is not actually a stunt, the idea
grew from the initial and object feat that I mentioned
earlier. The Morse code is a very difficult thing to remem-
ber because it is almost completely abstract and intangible.
The dots and dashes are meaningless and cannot be pic-
tured.
I don't suppose that too many of you will ever find it
necessary to have to remember the Morse code. However,
I do want you to see that there is no limit to what you
can do with conscious associations, and the knowledge that
anything meaningless is easy to remember if it is made
meaningful. Your only limitation is your own imagination.
Since dots and dashes have no meaning, I decided to give
them meaning by making the letter R stand for dot, and
the letter T, or D represent the dash. With this in mind, you
can make up a word or phrase for each letter, which can
be pictured and that will tell you the code signal for that
letter. Look at this list:—

A . - rat E . air
B — . . . terror F . . — . rear tire
C _ . - . torture G ----- . tighter
D — . . tearer H . . . . rarer rye