Nelson Dellis's Remember It and other books to Revise fundamentals

General Memory Chat
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Nelson Dellis’s Remember It and other books to Revise Fundamentals.

Probably like you, if you have been into memory systems for several years and collect books, I’ve got most of the Memory Books listed anywhere on this and other memory forums, web sites and Facebook pages. And Amazon’s top picks.

About three months ago I decided to go back to basics and look at the books that got me thinking about memory systems in the first place. Revision of fundamentals is something that’s really useful in any area of activity, and I should have done this before, but haven’t. Probably thought I hadn’t missed anything first time at round,… But… I had…

So…I reread Dominic O’Brien’s books (you’ll know them if you’ve been a reader, best one in my opinion is How To Develop a Perfect Memory - the others are pretty good too) and listened again to his Quantum Memory Audio course. Love the work he did. But he’s not my type of guy. Or writer. Great systems for some people. I’ve never liked the Dominic System in his form, I prefer Straight A to I for 1 - 9. But his system is of course, valid.

I have to say that his garden party grouping strategy he describes in detail for giving the day of any date in any century was something I’d missed the first time around. Not talking about the date thing. But the way he groups and groups bunches of people in open spaces… I’ll use that but not for the day in history trick.

I also listened to one of my heroes of the memory business Ron White, he was probably my favourite though I’m less fond of his videos. Ron White is a player not a theorist. And brilliant for procedural memory, speeches and talks.

I’ve looked again at Ed Cooke’s Remember Remember - I’ve got the hardback which cost a bloody fortune and reads like it was written by an impulsive clown, and I don’t like books that are like they were written by impulsive clowns… couldn’t get through it this time.

I’ve reread Mark Channon’s book Improve Your Memory which is a bit too much like self help or corporate away day training and not about memory a lot of the time, admittedly only in parts, and Johnathon Hancock’s Improve Your Memory for Study, it’s interesting and very good if you like thinking about memory as a branch of amateur psychology and explained AT LENGTH in a less than accurate a Janet and John style biology lesson for six year olds…(Why do some Memory authors go on wrongly about left and right brain?.. Beta waves etc? It’s utter nonsense, and not useful to the reader Dominic O’Brien is a prime offender here too)…

I’ve also bought a few new to me ones:

Two books from Sjur Midttun (e books) - absolutely brilliant writer, crazy system. Brings a fresh voice to the subject and he’s an engaging writer.
Highly Recommended link system and utterly crazy PAO system.

Also (gawd knows why) I took some Australian lady’s audio book about Stonehenge and landscape memory theory - utter nonsense (not a shred of evidence not a shred) and a waste of both her time and mine. (Author name withheld it’s that bad).

And now tthis:
Nelson Dellis “Remember It”.
First thing - wasn’t expecting much as I’m not a fan of what I’ve seen of him on YouTube.

But…

Wow.

What a good writer he is. Or

He must have a great EDITOR.

He does say as much in the outro.

THIS IS A FABULOUS BOOK.

Extremely well written.
No psychological hillbilly pontifications based on hunches.
Straight forward.
Explains his systems…
Covers almost every introductory system and strategy I’ve ever heard of including verbatim - which is rare.

So far. Best introductory AND Revision book I’ve come across in this revision dip into the literature.

Just a thought.

PS - There are many more books than I mention. If anyone has recommendations… Please tell me.

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Hey, I am a reader too. I read lots of memory books.
After reading around 10 + memory books , at one point it’s started feeling like everything is repeating. I mean every memory author writes the exact same thing just his way of explaining changes. Sometimes some authors even change the name of memory palace and call it with other name.
But still don’t know why, I still like it to read fully haha.

You didn’t mentioned aditi singhal’s book (How to memorize anything) . Check out that. (Ofcourse everything will be feel like same as you read some memory books already.)
But I still recommending you try it.

If you tell me which books you read already then it will be easier for me to suggest.
And if I missed something, it will be new for me too. :slight_smile:

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Nelson’s book is the only one Ive read and I can’t recommend it enough. I knew nothing about memory techniques before reading that in July 2020

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Well said. I’ve read loads and I’m impressed too.
Good luck with your memory journey!

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I actually had about 8 memory books in my Amazon cart yesterday and realized I might regret the impulse buys.

My girlfriend and I are going to check out the library tonight.

I am most immediately interested in two books by Jill Bolte Taylor about a neuroscientist’s insights from her own stroke.

I am also very interested in reading Free Will by Sam Harris.

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Thank you for sharing.

Regarding Sjur Midttun I have a question.

I just found this: How to build a Memory Palace Book One And Two.

Are his link system and PAO system are part of it or is it on another ebook?

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I agree with most of that. It’s good to go back to basics sometimes and you often spot things, nuances and tips in particular, that you didn’t focus on the first time around.

I would add “Memo” by Oddbjourn By. One of my first memory reads and still a good primer.

I personally really like the audio to which you refer (and the follow up book by the same author) but each to their own.

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“Not a shred of evidence” in The Memory Code?

That’ll be the day.

Just about every book you’ve mentioned, if not every book, would not be possible were it not for the ancestral behaviors @LynneKelly outlines.

The only things that I can imagine explain such a conclusion are:

  1. Listening to the audiobook, many versions of which do not handle footnotes and citations well. Nor are Works Cited particularly fun to listen to.

  2. There’s some other book by an Australian that you’re referring to and perhaps you’ll be kind enough to name the author and title so we can decide for ourselves how well-evidenced that book may or may not be.

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Thank you, Anthony. Fortunately I can laugh at such comments.

The theories in The Memory Code, as I know you already know, were first published in Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies, an academic title published by Cambridge University Press after extensive peer review. It came from my PhD, examined by Australian and US archaeologists. I managed to fool all of them?

The theories in The Memory Code are now part of formal academic research projects by academics in 6 universities, here in Australia, in the US and UK. A US archaeologist / evolutionary biologist / geneticist has taken the ideas back to a genetic mutation over 300,000 years ago. She’s presented it at conferences with no complaint there about the lack of evidence.

My “lack of evidence” seems to be standing up well to academic examination.

Lynne

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Okay, not a shred of evidence that I buy. I once spent a month with a guy who did the research for a TV documentary about Stonehenge. His theory was nonsense as well, but only in my opinion.

Thanks for your reply though, appreciated.

MM

P.S. Just noticed your second point, about asking for the name of the work and author. I didn’t like to bother doing that in a thread about revising the fundamentals, and for an audiobook whose premise I found wanting, I only mentioned it in passing but I shall bear your suggestion in mind if that’s ‘good form’. Thanks again.

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Thank you so much for your reply. I did not mention your name as it wasn’t personal to you it was a personal opinion.

For the record: I have absolutely no doubt that yours is a valid - completely valid conjecture to make, and you are free to have published it and garner interest from other academics. You will concede it is a theory? I hope. It is a theory I don’t buy, personally. I am a follower and stickler for the Karl Popper school of falsification of theories. And in my opinion your theory has been falsified. But good luck with your memory studies and of course your theory. If you get any proof, I’d be delighted to change my view.

Regards from Scotland

MM

P.S. Just a thought but whatever happened to the ‘customer is always’ right?

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He goes through a quasi-PAO for his card technique, all very ingenious but I must admit it confused the beejeezus out of me. That in the section on cards. The section I really really liked was his introduction - one of the best I have ever read, and his cool warning which was along the lines of: “I am going to show you how to memorise this list (something like ten random words) but a word of warning: It will - at first - sound ridiculous.” He truly has a gift for hitting the nail on the head.

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Thanks for that Andrew, I do not know that “Memo” by Oddjourn, if I can find it I will certainly try to pick it up based on your recommendation. Not directed at you specifcally, but I also very much rate Derren Brown’s introduction to memory which is a major part of his book “Tricks of the Mind”.

And I do appreciate the each to his own comment, Buying and owning books is a bit like being a promoter at a festival where you have to fill a bunch of stages, there are a lot of bands that get on the bill that you personally can’t stand but other punters do.

Thanks Again
Mm

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Thank you MM :wink:

These (e)books will definitely go on my “to-read” list.

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Doesn’t apply to customers who invoke Popper.

;D

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Memo is still available as a Kindle eBook. Have not read it in a while but I though it was great at the time.

Tricks of the mind is a good book, and very good on memory in particular, agreed.

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If you are a Popperian, @MMScotofGlasgow, you know then that theories are not falsified by mere opinions.

So it would then be very interesting and important for me and others who share a similar interest in scientific knowledge that you share the elements/evidence that falsify @LynneKelly’s theory (which, by the way, it would be important for you to define -i.e. which theory you refer to, or which of her hypotheses you refer to).

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Well… I have learned that she has bothered to gather evidence to support her theories and hypotheses, and that her interpretations of that evidence are indeed falsifiable.

As so often physics and biology have done over the millennia with respect to misinterpreting THEIR evidence, she may also have been wrong in interpreting her evidence regarding Stonehenge. But if there is one thing she has done in her books, it is to provide considerably more than “not a shred of evidence”…

I have also learned that it is good to review Popper’s ideas by reading Kuhn, Lakatos and others, so that you are not left with a single idea of what science is and how it evolves (incidentally, much of the discoveries in human history have been achieved by ignoring what the philosophers of science had to say…).

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Oh, don’t worry: what you’re not going to get from me is a fight. Much less with your arguments, which once again hide valid reasoning.

What you got, yes, is what I now notice you tried to get from the beginning with your arbitrary judgment of a work, typical of social networks: attention from us.

Well, you obtained from me. So now I say goodbye.

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@mad10000 There’s a difference between giving something or someone attention and letting the sunshine in.

But your mention of social networks brings the third verse of the Atmabodha to mind:

“Action cannot destroy ignorance, for it is not in conflict with or opposed to ignorance. Knowledge does verily destroy ignorance as light destroys deep darkness.”

If our species actually could win a fight with ignorance on any scale, the Internet probably would have won a long time ago.

I don’t feel this additional quote that pops to mind is exactly right, but nonetheless apropos:

“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” – André Gide

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