I am publishing my response to someone asking me about the Memory Class that I advertise. I think there is something in this for anyone interested in improving his or her memory.
Hi DJ.,
Thanks for your inquiry. [About Memory Classes] When people ask me for a memory course, I feel unsure whether or not I have what they want.
Most people who seek to take part in a course are interested in knowledge on a particular subject or they want a certificate showing that they have achieved a certain expertise on the topic from a recognized institution or a prestigious guru.
Also, people who seek to take part in a class are often non-competitive. They want what having a good memory has to offer, similar to the benefits of having an I phone and not a good memory for its own sake. In other words, they are thinking of exploiting the full extent of their memory, and success in memory competitions is simply not part of what they consider a worthy benefit.
If I were to tell you that you need success in a competing memory setting in order to show your knowledge about memory, more than you need to complete anybody's memory class or program, how would you feel about that?
IMO, memory is power and if you can demonstrate high level of memory power, then you know about it.
Because people are asking for classes believing that it is the way to improve their memories (when in fact, they need to improve their memory competition results ) expensive memory classes (that never test your raw memory power as memory competitions do) spring up, but to me, this is a buyer beware situation.
If you are going to achieve the high level of success that I think you can achieve, well it is simply not going to happen with such classes, in my opinion.
So may I inform you a bit more about what you have to gain from seeking success in memory competitions? But before I start, I would like to ask if you think my approach to learning more about memory may suit you fine.
When people are definitely uninterested in seeking success in a competitive setting, I kind of know to save both of us some time by putting a prompt end to our conversation.
Memory competitions are what brought back the knowledge and practice of memory techniques, not schools or classes. I hope that my comments here will help you make the right decision as to what you wish to do next as you consider your prospects for improving your memory.
In many ways, I feel that memory training is another way to discuss success and power training. So when people feel interested in memory training, I want them to be made aware of what I think goes along with it, so we are on the same page.
Also, it should be mentioned that whatever specific subject you may have that lead you to have an interest in memory classes is a subject that can and should be used for your competitive memory training, so by accepting the prospects of participating in and training for a memory competition, you are certainly not going to forget about what you wished to learn in the first place.
All the best,
Simon Luisi
PS. Have you downloaded this free app dueling n back? It is great and when you reach level 4, you get to really feel great about your progress.