Buzan on memory and shopping
Memory
Tony Buzan explores memory and shopping - and sharpening one to help with the other.
Memory and shopping
Tony has developed a number of systems designed to help us improve our memories. He observes that our brains are divided into the left and right cortex. The left side is dedicated to tasks involving order, logic, words, lists, numbers and analysis, the right side deals with rhythm, imagination, daydreaming and colour. If we want to remember things we have to use the whole brain.
By using our powers of imagination and association we give our brains something to key on, and this is the basis for Tony’s Rhyming number system: Suppose you want to buy the following 10 items in the supermarket: matches , honey, oranges, paper towels, washing powder, toothpaste, bananas, bread, shirts, cornflakes. Using the rhyming number system you first memorise the following "peg" words:
| one | bun |
| two | shoe |
| three | tree |
| four | door |
| five | hive |
| six | sticks |
| seven | Devon |
| eight | skate |
| nine | vine |
| ten | hen |
The next step is to make an imaginative link or association between the "peg" word and the thing you really want to remember. So for example if you want to buy matches you need to come up with an image that conveys a bun and matches in the same thought, it could be a bun on fire, to remember your second item, honey, you might think of your favourite shoe and then imagine it being filled full of honey, and so it goes on till you have a vivid image for all ten items.
The more vivid and memorable or even absurd the image the easier it is to remember. Hear your burning bun crackle and spit, smell the smoke and flames. Taste the honey oozing out of your shoe.
The Rhyming number system can be harnessed to any memory task and is only one of a number of techniques developed by Tony Buzan.
More about Tony
Tony has dedicated his adult life firstly to encouraging all around him to be aware of the latent brainpower that we all possess and secondly to teach a whole range of memory and study techniques that aim to dramatically improve our performance. His book Use your Head has sold more than a million copies. This - and subsequent titles - have been translated and published in many countries around the world.
Tony has been retained as an advisor and gives regular lectures to commercial and educational institutions alike. His radical note-taking method known as Mind-Mapping is designed to mirror the construction of the human brain. He is co-founder of the Mind Sports Olympiad – an annual event where would be champions meet up to do battle over games like chess, backgammon, draughts and scrabble. Tony argues that mind sports should be put on an equal footing with physical sports.
Take it further
Tony has published a large number of books, including Use your Head Use Your Memory, The Speedreading Book, The Mind Map Book and Master Your Memory.
Fancy taking your interest in body & mind further? Why not explore some of the options we've gathered to help you explore this area in more detail.
