WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.028
equipment as everybody

00:00:01.028 --> 00:00:04.209
else so its something anyone

00:00:04.216 --> 00:00:05.400
can do.

00:00:06.467 --> 00:00:08.418
It sounds intriguing so Im

00:00:08.426 --> 00:00:09.857
going to give it a try.

00:00:17.338 --> 00:00:19.188
So Andi, what mental torture

00:00:19.205 --> 00:00:19.744
have you got for me this

00:00:19.744 --> 00:00:20.441
morning?

00:00:20.622 --> 00:00:21.125
Well Im going to give you

00:00:21.125 --> 00:00:22.707
this list of words and I

00:00:22.707 --> 00:00:24.126
want you to try to remember

00:00:24.126 --> 00:00:25.631
them. These are the words,

00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:28.441
wash, apple jet, mad, actress,

00:00:28.441 --> 00:00:29.952
marmalade, jack, van, clock,

00:00:29.952 --> 00:00:32.585
tile, polecat, tail, film, pier,

00:00:32.585 --> 00:00:34.584
bucket, chain, bottle, sand,

00:00:34.584 --> 00:00:37.209
egg, window, salamander,

00:00:37.209 --> 00:00:38.494
paper, microphone, cork,

00:00:38.494 --> 00:00:39.991
piano, dog, captain, tennis,

00:00:39.991 --> 00:00:43.599
kennel, tomato. And youre

00:00:43.599 --> 00:00:44.104
going to be able to

00:00:44.104 --> 00:00:45.065
remember them.

00:00:45.065 --> 00:00:45.632
No Im not.

00:00:45.632 --> 00:00:46.657
Well I think you might

00:00:46.657 --> 00:00:48.252
because Im going to give

00:00:48.252 --> 00:00:49.482
you a technique that will

00:00:49.482 --> 00:00:50.503
help. Im going to ask you

00:00:50.503 --> 00:00:52.221
to picture 2 words at a

00:00:52.221 --> 00:00:54.593
time in a sequence of

00:00:54.593 --> 00:00:55.749
locations around your

00:00:55.749 --> 00:00:57.267
home. So Ill give these to

00:00:57.267 --> 00:00:57.650
you.

00:00:57.650 --> 00:00:58.168
But then Ill have three

00:00:58.168 --> 00:00:59.350
things to remember, the 2

00:00:59.350 --> 00:01:00.599
words plus the location.

00:01:00.599 --> 00:01:01.274
You will already know the

00:01:01.274 --> 00:01:02.150
locations around your

00:01:02.150 --> 00:01:03.147
home so the sense of

00:01:03.147 --> 00:01:04.087
location is going to help

00:01:04.087 --> 00:01:04.742
you, trust me. Its not

00:01:04.742 --> 00:01:05.830
going to add to your

00:01:05.830 --> 00:01:06.517
problems.

00:01:07.332 --> 00:01:08.020
Ill never do it.

00:01:08.269 --> 00:01:09.300
Yes you will Im going

00:01:09.339 --> 00:01:10.770
to give you at least until

00:01:10.815 --> 00:01:13.143
that egg gets cold to have

00:01:13.213 --> 00:01:14.509
a look at that list.

00:01:15.644 --> 00:01:18.790
So I start off in the garden,

00:01:18.856 --> 00:01:22.229
wash the apple. Then to

00:01:22.299 --> 00:01:25.082
the hall where there is

00:01:25.149 --> 00:01:27.571
a jet madly flying around.

00:01:29.725 --> 00:01:33.790
Into the dining room where

00:01:33.862 --> 00:01:34.951
this is an actress.

00:01:34.951 --> 00:01:35.609
Whos your favorite

00:01:35.740 --> 00:01:36.610
actress?

00:01:36.801 --> 00:01:39.860
Judy Dench. But she

00:01:39.928 --> 00:01:40.516
wouldnt be smeared in

00:01:40.516 --> 00:01:41.073
marmalade.

00:01:41.073 --> 00:01:41.834
She would be.

00:01:41.991 --> 00:01:42.645
Why?

00:01:42.771 --> 00:01:44.065
So you can remember her.

00:01:48.288 --> 00:01:49.821
For the next 5 minutes I

00:01:49.893 --> 00:01:51.198
frantically try to imagine

00:01:51.329 --> 00:01:53.260
all these crazy images and

00:01:53.367 --> 00:01:54.511
think where to put them.

00:01:59.478 --> 00:02:00.095
The normally quite

00:02:00.230 --> 00:02:01.384
unexceptional Winston

00:02:01.457 --> 00:02:03.020
household will never feel

00:02:03.116 --> 00:02:04.272
quite the same again.

00:02:08.771 --> 00:02:10.055
Frankly Im convinced it

00:02:10.164 --> 00:02:11.091
wont work.

00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:12.609
Okay I think that better

00:02:12.609 --> 00:02:13.401
be, time up.

00:02:13.495 --> 00:02:15.780
No. Its not long enough.

00:02:15.873 --> 00:02:18.707
I know the first two. Ill

00:02:18.707 --> 00:02:20.038
never remember that.

00:02:20.640 --> 00:02:22.046
No youll do okay

00:02:22.202 --> 00:02:23.421
I better get to work.

00:02:23.854 --> 00:02:24.973
See you later.

00:02:27.320 --> 00:02:28.160
Now all Ive got to do

00:02:28.316 --> 00:02:29.380
is go through my normal

00:02:29.568 --> 00:02:33.313
working day. The challenge

00:02:33.422 --> 00:02:34.594
will be see how many

00:02:34.676 --> 00:02:36.123
of the 30 words I can

00:02:36.196 --> 00:02:37.317
remember at the end

00:02:37.402 --> 00:02:38.036
of it. 

00:02:55.214 --> 00:02:56.041
So do you think you can

00:02:56.041 --> 00:02:56.694
remember any of the

00:02:56.694 --> 00:02:57.516
words I gave you earlier

00:02:57.516 --> 00:02:58.133
today?

00:02:58.332 --> 00:02:59.989
Well Ill give it a go.

00:03:00.642 --> 00:03:02.238
We will start outside in

00:03:02.300 --> 00:03:07.055
the garden, wash, apple,

00:03:09.648 --> 00:03:19.212
jet, mad, actress,

00:03:19.402 --> 00:03:22.617
marmalade, jack, van,

00:03:27.869 --> 00:03:30.963
polecat, tail, film, pier,

00:03:32.507 --> 00:03:37.665
bucket, chain, clock, tile,

00:03:38.699 --> 00:03:40.171
bottle, sand.

00:03:50.432 --> 00:03:51.641
Okay try to remember

00:03:51.889 --> 00:03:53.049
the room you were in

00:03:53.161 --> 00:03:54.111
when you thought of those

00:03:54.236 --> 00:03:54.891
words.

00:03:59.454 --> 00:04:01.953
Salamander, paper,

00:04:04.016 --> 00:04:06.018
microphone, cork, piano,

00:04:06.148 --> 00:04:09.547
dog, captain, tennis, kennel,

00:04:09.547 --> 00:04:10.142
tomato.

00:04:10.235 --> 00:04:11.524
How many out of 30 do

00:04:11.602 --> 00:04:12.339
you think youve gotten.

00:04:12.835 --> 00:04:13.864
I think Ive probably gotten

00:04:13.864 --> 00:04:14.343
them all right.

00:04:14.343 --> 00:04:16.106
All of them, well done.

00:04:16.662 --> 00:04:17.414
So it works?

00:04:17.699 --> 00:04:18.542
Of course it does.

00:04:20.481 --> 00:04:22.012
When we use simple story

00:04:22.293 --> 00:04:24.166
to memorize facts, were

00:04:24.232 --> 00:04:25.777
creating several pathways to

00:04:25.860 --> 00:04:26.897
where those memories are

00:04:26.989 --> 00:04:28.679
formed in the brain. Its as

00:04:28.752 --> 00:04:30.819
if instead of setting up one

00:04:30.898 --> 00:04:32.593
set of dominos we are

00:04:32.675 --> 00:04:41.845
setting up several. The

00:04:41.926 --> 00:04:42.846
reason we often have

00:04:42.895 --> 00:04:44.937
difficulty retrieving a memory

00:04:45.039 --> 00:04:46.539
is because one neuron

00:04:46.577 --> 00:04:47.728
pathway can often get

00:04:47.775 --> 00:04:53.952
broken. But by having several

00:04:54.024 --> 00:04:56.058
different pathways to a memory

00:04:56.060 --> 00:04:57.518
it means that if one doesnt

00:04:57.566 --> 00:05:00.142
manage to reach it another

00:05:00.317 --> 00:05:05.765
one will. Thats the advantage

00:05:05.765 --> 00:05:07.291
of the story technique it

00:05:07.292 --> 00:05:08.849
creates lots of neural

00:05:09.001 --> 00:05:10.906
pathways in our brains,

00:05:12.972 --> 00:05:14.691
and all our brains can work

00:05:14.877 --> 00:05:21.970
in this way. Which is why

00:05:22.066 --> 00:05:24.251
everyone can use this method,

00:05:24.689 --> 00:05:26.361
by using a story to memorize

00:05:26.361 --> 00:05:28.942
facts we all have the potential

00:05:29.041 --> 00:05:30.537
to perform astonishing feats

00:05:30.634 --> 00:05:31.196
of memory.