Page 29 - How to Develop A SUPER-POWER MEMORY

Interest in Memory 33
paragraph, would pertain to the amount of people. There-
fore you gave your attention to the amount of people that
were getting on and off the bus. You were interested in the
amount of people. In short, you wanted to know or remem-
ber how many people would be left on the bus. Since you
didn't think that the number of stops was important, you
didn't pay much attention to that. You weren't interested
in the amount of stops, therefore they didn't register in
your mind at all, and you didn't remember them.
However, if some of you did feel that the amount of stops
was important or if you felt you would be questioned on
that particular point; then you surely did know the answer
to my first question, or remembered the number of stops
that the bus made. Again, simply because you were inter-
ested or wanted to know that particular information.
If you feel elated because you did answer my question;
don't. Because I doubt if you will answer the second one. A
good friend of mine who is employed at Grossingers, a large
resort hotel, at which I perform quite often, uses this in his
afternoon quizzes. I know that a very small percentage of
the guests ever answer this correctly, if at all. Without look-
ing at that first paragraph again, you're to answer this ques-
tion:— What is the bus driver's name?
As I said, I doubt if any of you can answer this correctly,
if at all. Actually, this is more of a trick question on observa-
tion than it is a memory test. I use it here only to impress
upon you the importance of interest in memory. Had I told
you before you read that "bus" story, that I would ask for
the driver's name—you would have been interested in the
name. You'd have wanted to notice and remember it.
Even so, it is sort of a tricky question, and you may not
have been observant enough to be able to answer it. This,
incidentally, is a principle that many professional magicians
have been using for years. It is called "misdirection." It