Memory

How good is your memory? Mine works pretty good, usually. It takes me about 10 minutes to study for a test and I know all. So I study when I'm in study hall for about 10 minutes, and for the rest of the period, I sleep. And then when the period comes when it's time to take the test, I study for it (for the 5 minutes given before we really begin) and it's like a review. Although, it feels like I forget it sometimes, when the test comes, it all just comes back to me.

And if I was given a number to remember for a week, I could remember it. Just like my lock number for my locker, pretty easy to remember. It's 4-44-4 ;). Like I said, easy! But I also have a gym locker which is a bunch of even numbers and it took me less than 10 minutes to remember it. And every lock that I've had since 6th grade, I remember all the combinations!

Anyone else like this with a good memory?

And off topic a little, you know how we hear a song, or past songs and we just start singing them? And then whenever that song comes on, you just know the words. But you know the words to like every song. How the hell do we remember 20+ songs (or however much you listen to)?

[parksie]

My memory is useless for remembering facts, although if I hear it, I never forget.

And for South Park fans: "I'm sailing away..." (that's them occupied for a few minutes ;))

[HarryW]

We remember songs like that, when we hear a few bars/riffs/words/whatever because it's like pattern matching. It's a bit like a hash table I suppose. The little bit that you hear just kind of clicks into place with the rest of the song.

And did you know? It's a fact that if you are given a list of numbers through speech and not writing them down, the only numbers that would probably be memorized are the first and last.

32 <- known
74 <-maybe known
And here is where you start to lose it.
88 - lost
92 - lost
29 - lost
56 - lost
And here is where you may get it back.
60 <-maybe known
10 <-known


Only if we could learn more about using our minds, it could open up a whole new world (Twilight Zone Musik starts playing...) :rolleyes:.

[parksie]

The human brain's pattern matching capacity is what seems to have stumped AI researchers for god knows how long.

[Sophtware]

My father has a safe he uses too store his valuables.guns knifes, nukes..etc etc;)
And i remember the combo to it since i was like 10 years old.So thats not bad...remembering a combination for 11 years eh?

Another thing i remember is my SSI number...it only took me about 3 times writing it down too memorize it...( i remembr stuff better for some reason if i write it down a couple times)So many times i have been dealing with a govt. place or a credit card company, and they would ask "Social security number please" and it would seem like my mind just yanked the number right out of the pit of **** in my brain and i remeberd it easily!

Another thing that is kind of sad ..in a funny way though is this code for the oooooooooold NES video game "Contra"

This is how it goes...

At the title screen press "UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT A,B SELECT START" HAHAHAHA Me and my friends (who also rememberd the same code) were talking about that the other day..and one of them said.."yeah i bet the day comes when someone asks you something important like "Honey? what is the color of my eyes?" or "Whats your name son?" At least one of us would say "UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT A, B SELECT START"

HAHAHA










"my brain is filled with useless knowlege..but at least it's knowlege!"

[Joker]

Hey, I kind of rememeber that one Sophtware. Me and you must be about the same age or at least the same generation.

How old are you Matthrew? The younger the better the memory. The older like us CONTRA Nintendo guys, the less memory.

[Gen-X]

Actually you don't get less memory with age... :)

What happens is your start setting up mental barriers and filters that reduce the absorption of information.

Thats why you could convince a 3 year old there is a monster in his closet or that the mud pie is really chocolate. Kids simply aborb information without having to categorize or filter it... it just goes in. When you get older you stop accepting things on face value and start running them through your filters.


As for the brains pattern matching.. the whole problem scientists are having is because they are trying to get it right.

Human beings get things wrong... we make mistakes, we mis-remember things and we confuse things... this isn't an error... its actually part of the requirement of the way we store information. Scientists are so caught up on getting a 100% match ratio that they keep overlooking the most obvious things.

That is why using memory techniques or matching something to a euphemism (Remember the phrase to remember the order of the planets?) works... because we instigate a pattern and place the information in areas that are "like" others. When we remember them we could remember a "similar" word rather than the exact one and still reach the correct memory... Computers aren't capable of doing this.

[Juan Carlos Rey]

That´s why all antique chronicles and sagas (are they spelled so?) are in verse, I mean poetry. When there was no writing, only oral tradition, it was easier to remember poetry than prose. Patterns do work...

I´m 52 and can memorize phone numbers in a fly. And I can still remember old phone numbers or car plates from my old friends, some of them I have not seen since 20 or 30 years now!

But some times I don´t remember where did I put my glasses or the car keys!

damn man, you're old!!!
heheh j/k

Originally posted by Joker
Hey, I kind of rememeber that one Sophtware. Me and you must be about the same age or at least the same generation.

How old are you Matthrew? The younger the better the memory. The older like us CONTRA Nintendo guys, the less memory.

I am 15, going to be 16 next month (November 17).
I have a pretty good memory when it wants to work :rolleyes:.

[JPRoy392]

I ran into one guy from high school I haven't seen in ten years at a bar. We remember **** as if it were yesterday. My long term memory is unbelievable. I can remember stuff that happened 20 years ago.

My short term memory sucks. I have a hard time remembering what I had for breakfast, or what code I wrote a couple of days ago. I think part of that is due to the excesive partying I did in college. It's funny, I can remember certain events before college better than I can remember stuff after college. Kinda strange how the brain works.
I've tried using Ginko to improve my memory, but the lady at the herb-store says it more beneficial for older people (older than 27).

What was this thread about?