Page 30 - How to Develop A SUPER-POWER MEMORY

34 Interest in Memory
simply means that the important move in a trick, the move
that actually is the "modus operandi," is kept in the back-
ground. Or, it is covered with another move, one that has
nothing to do with the trick, but which you are led to be-
lieve is the important move. This is the move that you will
observe and remember. The one that actually worked the
trick is not even noticed, and that is why you are completely
fooled. Most people, when describing a magician's trick,
will make the effect so impossible that if the magician him-
self were listening, he wouldn't believe it. Only because
they leave out the all important move in their description.
Aside from "box" tricks, or tricks that mechanically work
themselves, magicians would have a tough time fooling
their audiences if it weren't for the art of "misdirection."
Well, I "misdirected" you by making you think I was
going to ask about one thing, and then I asked about some-
thing you didn't even notice. I guess I've kept you in sus-
pense long enough. You probably are anxious to know the
answer to my second question. Well, actually the first word
of the paragraph tells you who the driver is. The first word
of the paragraph is, "you." The correct answer to the ques-
tion, "What is the bus driver's name?", is your own name!
You were driving the bus. Try this one on your friends and
see how few of them can answer it correctly.
As I've said, this is more of an observation test than a
memory test. But memory and observation do go hand in
hand. You cannot possibly remember anything you do not
observe; and it is extremely difficult to observe or remember
anything that you do not want to remember, or that you
are not interested in remembering.
This, of course, leads to an obvious memory rule. If you
want to improve your memory immediately, force yourself
to want to remember. Force yourself to be interested
enough to observe anything you want to remember or re-