# Making the Most of One's Mind/Chapter 3

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MANIPULATION OF THE MEMORY
NO apology is necessary for giving to memory a chapter all to itself. It is recognized as one of the fundamental qualities of human nature and the basis of our self-identity. Without memory our individual existence would lose all meaning. We know that we are the same persons that we were last year, because we remember the experience we then had. Memory bridges over the gulf of time and convinces us of the continuity of our own personality.
But while this is true for people in general, for the student the memory has a rather special significance. It has to do with the retention of knowledge, which is the student's special business. We can all acquire, at any given time, a mastery over certain facts, but if we are unable to retain that mastery our labour in acquiring it is wasted. Students are only too willing to admit the weakness of their memory and to lay to that score a great many of their failures. Now it has to be admitted that much depends upon ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/70 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/71 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/72 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/73 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/74 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/75 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/76 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/77 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/78 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/79 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/80 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/81 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/82 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/83 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/84 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/85 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/86 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/87 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/88 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/89 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/90 ​Page:Making the most of one's mind (IA makingmostofones00adam).pdf/91 ​might be that however smart the Americans think themselves, the English are always several hours ahead of them. The Americans might retaliate with the mnemonic that since England is an old and effete country, it is natural that it should be evening in England while it is still noon in America: young nation young time, old nation old time. But this is a case in which no mnemonic is required. Everybody knows that the sun moves from east to west. When it is overhead at London, London has midday, while America must wait till the sun reaches her before it can be midday there. An English watch must therefore be "fast" when compared with an American watch.
Among the most effective ways of fixing the alternative is the force of contrast. In the scale of colours the wave-lengths increase towards the red end of the spectrum and diminish towards the violet. There are reasons for this, which the man of science can give, no doubt, but for the student at an examination in elementary physics it is comforting to remember that red is the smallest name for a colour and yet has the biggest wave-length. Violet has a big name and yet has to be content with the smallest wave-length. This mnemonic is typical of the sort of thing that is most useful to you in your ordinary work. It is simple, natural, free from scaffolding and all manner of fuss; and these are just the qualities you should insist upon having in the mnemonics you use.