How to get into Second Life without really trying

Selby Evans is Thinkerer Melville in Second Life

The first secret is the one we psychologists tell people about.  Usually under the name Galton’s walk.  Suppose you want to remember a list of items in a specific order.  Pick some route you are familiar with, say a street or shopping center where you often shop.  Imagine you are there.  See, in your mind’s eye, the first store you would normally notice.  Think of the first item on your list and imagine some bizarre or amusing connection between that object and the store.

For example, you want to remember dog food and the first store you normally notice is the donut shop (surprise!).  So, in your mind’s eye, you see Lassie trot into the store, hop up onto a stool, and eat a donut (with coffee?).

Make that kind of imaginary connection between the other items on the list and the stores you would pass by on your walk.  When you want to remember the list, imagine yourself walking down the street.  Look in each store for the item you put there.

If you try Galton’s walk, you may be surprised at how well you can remember the list. 

This trick is for people who can't remember
to use pen and paper.

Memory and how to forget about it.

Cuepons:  Memory Tips

You will have noticed that this scheme illustrated several tricks you find in the thinkering tools.

Called on your imagery to make a cue
 for each item you want to remember.

Connected what you want to remember
 to things you already know.

Asked for a connection that was funny and distinctive.

Focused your attention on what you wanted to remember.

Used a map in your head to organize things.

Rock around the Clock
A timely memory trick.

Imagine

Connect

Organize

Using our forecasting powers, we make the following prediction.  Some time in the future, you will see a book on how to develop a better memory.  It will have a name like

The Seven Simple Steps to Building a More Powerful Memory!!!

You will wonder why somebody who is building a powerful memory can’t handle, say, fourteen fairly complicated steps.  If you have time, you may look through the book to see how much of it is like the thinkering tools.  If you don’t remember to do these things, maybe you better buy the book.

The second secret to remembering things, the one psychologists really use to remember, is (drum roll here): 

We write lists.  Just like normal people.  Because you don’t carry your keys in your hand when they will fit in your pocket.  You put them where they won’t need any further attention until you want them.

The third secret to remembering things is:  Remember at the right time.  You will be shocked to hear that psychologists make lists and leave them at home.  Psychologists go into grocery stores with list in their pockets and fail to look at the lists.  Rumor has it that normal people do this too.  So the third memory secret is to use cues that you will notice when you need the memory.  This is the trick people often miss.  Probably because they don’t have a cue.    

Cueless is like clueless.

To use the trick, open your mind’s eye and see the place where you want to remember something.  Then see whatever it is you want to remember.  Imagine it in some unusual form.  See it big, distorted, or flying around. 

You see yourself about to get into your car when your car door turns into a grocery list.  It spoils your beautiful paint job.  You wonder what people will say.  You wonder if your car key will work on a grocery list.  You wonder if the other side of your car has more of the list.  You imagine a police officer who gives you a warning about driving with an expired grocery list.  You realize that the only way to get your car back to normal is to be sure you have your grocery list.

You will notice that this scheme is a lot like Galton's walk.  Except this scheme can’t be replaced by a list.  It is to help you remember to use list.

Other Tools:
Tools: Memory

Memory Clipit

The fourth secret?  We forgot.  Didn't put it on the list.