Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer photographic memory

Personally, I like the sense of conscious control over memories and in-the-moment recall that mnemonic techniques give me. Sure, they take practice and consistent application to become habit, but they do provide a very pleasant sense of command over your mental processes....and help you stay present with things.

Also, I've heard it suggested by certain memory researchers that what often gets labeled a 'photographic memory' is actually a very skillful or innate application of synesthesia -- or making strong associations from as many of the five senses as possible. Some seem to do it naturally, others need to practice.

I bought a course about memory skills from an infomercial about 10 years ago. It was the best $49 I ever spent!

Some of the techniques were awesome. Using visualization and association it's possible to remember lists, numbers, names, faces, etc.

One of the taglines was that 'everyone has a photographic memory...you just have to learn how to use it.' This is true in a sense...I remember memorizing a whole magazine using the techniques. When someone called out "page 49!" for instance, your brain would make the association and instantly you would have a visualization in your mind of what the page really looked like. It's quite amazing.

Think about it. Try to remember the last magazine that you read. Can't you at least picture the cover in your minds' eye? That's a photographic memory.

To this day, I still use the techniques for remembering phone numbers and names. And once the techniques are learned, you don't even know you are using them anymore. Frankly, I think I'm a lot smarter than I think I am! It's like growing old...you don't see yourself age every day, but you wake up one morning and you're old! Well, I woke up one morning and I'm smart!

I get chastised a lot for patronizing infomercials. Most people see them as scams. I see them as a perfect conduit for bringing valuable products to people. Some awesome things I got from infomercials:

- Memory Course
- Photo Reading
- Ab Slide

DavidC,
I'm glad you shared the part about recalling magazine contents. I've had similar experiences. When I consciously apply memory techniques to visual things, it's amazing how vivid my visual recall is later. I think memory techniques establish a solid link between the conscious mind and what gets stored away subconsciously. If I only establish a few good associations, it's like the entire memory often comes back in near-perfect fidelity.

RE infomercials: it's easy to denounce them all, wholesale, as being scams. Sorry for the cliche, but there are some very healthy babies in all that bathwater.