bodner088

The following fabulous memory hacks (I'm using the term "hacks" in the non-pejorative sense of the term) were recently described in an article by Bruce Price in the Blog “Mental_Floss” which I happened to stumble upon while casually surfing about the labyrinth of, well, StumbleUpon. While the original article listed “10 Mnemonic Tricks,” I found the first 7 of them to be worth sharing; the other three (probably added in the interest of making an even 10), where either impractical or (pun intended) unmemorable. Use these as part of your memorization mastery regimen for better Braintenance, my dear Cranial Campers. But be advised that they are not substitutes for true native memory development – they are merely shortcuts where our underdeveloped memories would otherwise fail us. Those few of us blessed with eidetic or photographic memories may simply skim over this article rapidly. 1. The rhyme. For hundreds of years, schoolchildren started the study of American history w...

 ? In Braintenance, confusion is the magic which creates new neurological pathways, greater plasticity, and enhanced creative skills. The brain and mind are strengthened in the same fashion as the bodybuilder builds and defines new muscle -- by changing the workout regimen to "shock" the body into over-compensation. The mental exercises which follow are gearing toward forcing you to think (and problem-solve) in a different manner than you usually do by changing the entire problem-solving scenario. Want to strengthen your mind? of course you do. Simply find the missing numbers or letters in each of the following sequences. You'll notice that you are not trying to find the next number or letter in each sequence (as you are accustomed to doing) -- you are being asked to think interpolatively instead of extrapolatively: 1)   A C _ D C E D _ E G 2)   _ 4 9 _ 25 _ 49 3)   2 4 _ _ 10 _ 14 4)   P_S_ENG_RS  O_  A  T_AIN 5)   _...

Two essential components of intelligence are the ability to recognize (and extrapolate) patterns, and the ability to simply memorize strings of randomized data. Each requires the use of different parts of the brain. Alternating between one and the other creates an increase in both abilities plus increases neuronal plasticity and problem-solving ability. For each of the following strings of data, do the following: 1) Recite all of the data points from memory after looking at the data for no longer than two minutes; 2) Recite all of the data points backwards from memory after looking at the data for another minute; 3) If you recognize a pattern, find the next data point. NOTE: Do not look back to previous strings in working on this exercise! --------------- STRING A: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 ... STRING B: 1, 3, 2, 4, 3, 5, 4, 6, 5, 7 ... STRING C: 3, 7, 5, 8, 3, 9, 6, 11, 2 ... STRING D: Apple, Bicycle, Carnival, Donut, Energy, Footprint ... STRING E: Carbon, Log, Melon, River, Wheel, Toe ...

We tend to think in pictures, but we describe those images in words. The better our vocabularies, the better our ability to express what we are picturing, and the more persuasive that we can be. But were you aware that by increasing your vocabulary, you also increase you mind's ability to visualize, conceptualize and think coherently? That is correct. The better and more extensive your vocabulary, the more creative your imagination and the sharper your intellect! My suggestion for taking command of a newly-learned vocabulary word is entailed in the following simple steps: 1) Learn the word (at least one new one per day), and use it in several sentences uttered to yourself , even if this feels a bit unnatural, or forced at first; 2) Close your eyes, and write the word ten times on the blackboard of your mind; 3) Use the word at least three times the next day in conversations with others. For today, you might just look up the true meanings of the often confused and abused terms ...

Knowledge Can Make You Rich But Only If You Are Intelligent Enough To Apply It; And Even Then, Only If You Are Motivated To Use Your Intelligence. But you must first understand and acknowledge what knowledge actually is. According to Wikipedia: “ Knowledge is a familiarity, awareness or understanding of someone or something, such as facts , information , descriptions , or skills , which is acquired through experience or education by perceiving , discovering , or learning . Knowledge can refer to a theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. It can be implicit (as with practical skill or expertise) or explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a subject); it can be more or less formal or systematic. [1] In philosophy , the study of knowledge is called epistemology ; the philosopher Plato famously defined knowledge as " justified true belief ", though "well-justified true belief" is more complete as it accounts for the Gettier problems . However, se...

  There are many individuals who possess certain self-defining characteristics which we try to label them with. And all too often, we mislabel them -- and almost as often, they mislabel themselves! Let's think about this and try to find out what the characteristics are which define a person. Let's stop mis-classifying (either a Lingovation or a word assembled out of convenience) our fellow Humans . After all, we are the readers and followers of The Braintenance Blog - and we are each and all compelled by a quest to become more intelligent and more knowledgeable (by the way, do you fully understand the difference between intelligent and knowledgeable?) in the interests of the mind's own desire for growth . 1 ) Many times the words "cynic" and "skeptic" are used interchangeably. Yet each describes a very different kind of person. What are the crucial differences between a cynic and a skeptic? Hint : One is an obsessive questioner, and a challenger of the...

Several observations -- and do not look at your watch because you will be wasting valuable, irreplaceable time by the act of tracking it! Since you've been kind enough to stay with me for this length of time, I will attempt to add some "party conversation starting quotation" value to this post, with a quote from my closest associate, Mr. Douglas E. Castle : "Prepare for the future, because the present moment becomes history all too quickly." More Quotes follow, invoking paradoxes or infinitely self-recursive statements which provoke deeper and more expansive thought. The Human Mind, when challenged by a concept that warrants analysis (actually "validation" or acceptable analogy). "You cannot make up for lost time. No matter how expediently and ambitiously you accelerate the pace of your work, the unproductive present moment is permanently gone, except for its persistence in memory." "You cannot change the speed of the passage of time ...