Learning Backwards: Braintenance Mind Jolt - Douglas E. Castle

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Learning Backwards: Braintenance Mind-Jolt

How often have you heard of someone knowing something "backwards and forward(s)"?  There is a reason for this in the etymology of the expression itself: it is generally perceived as being difficult for people who have learned and memorized something in a particular order to be able to learn and memorize it in a different order. Learning something "backwards" requires a (with apologies to Liam Neeson) special skill set. The skills involved are used both consciously and subconsciously every day by most people. In learning backwards, you'll have to use these skills consciously -- at least at first.

These skills include visualization (visualizing the list of items with eyes closed), creating acronyms (using the first letter of each image to create a word) and sensory association (i.e., linking a group of things to a simple song, or making them part of a simple story).

The benefits to backwards learning are tremendous. The process stimulates memory and recall, improves cognition and improves creativity.

Following are some lists of items for you to learn "forwards" and backwards. Since I'm not proctoring this exercise, I'll trust that you will be able to recite each of the following lists without cheating. One hint: The most bizarre or humorous associations are generally the most memorable.

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1) A B C D E F G H I

2)  5 1 6 7 8 5 1 0 4

3) Apple, Snake, Pickle, Bicycle, Ruler

4) Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet

5) Sulfur, Phosphorous, Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen

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The video below provides an incredibly simple [oxymoron intentional] means of learning the entire alphabet backwards. This is a great way to be entertaining at social gatherings with friends who are either mathematicians or MENSA members...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wCxRn35jwA


Douglas E. Castle for the Braintenance Blog











BRAINTENANCE: Train, Strain And Improve Your Brain. Expand Your Mind.

http://braintenance.blogspot.com

Braintenance contains articles, resources, exercises, games and specially-designed protocols to improve the power of your brain and your mind in every significant aspect, including memory, cognition, IQ, plasticity, creativity and problem-solving ability.

Key Terms: brain, mind, cognitive enhancement, memory, brain gym exercises, IQ, plasticity, mind expansion, creativity, meditation, altered states, perception, self-hypnosis, self-growth, neuron, artificial intelligence, learning, somatic intellect, mathematics, language, dissonance, individualism, herd mentality, puns and word games, linguistics, genius, emotion, subconscious, unconscious, intuition, instinct, psychedelic, reality, learning curve, probability, collective consciousness

TWO TYPES OF LEARNING AND ANALYSIS

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There are two different types of analysis and learning relating to our ability to see and recognize patterns and relationships. One method is extrapolative, which means finding the next item in a sequence of items. The second method is interpolative, which means finding the missing item somewhere in the middle of a sequence of items.

We are expressing ourselves interpolatively when we average items -- for example when you are told that an item will cost between $10.00 and $20.00, your mind averages the two together and you think of a "middle" or simple mean average price of $15.00. This is how most people think without realizing that they are doing it. In fact, if you were told that the price would be on the higher side, you would probably interpolate the anticipated price as $17.50 -- we do this by first finding the mean, and then by finding a second mean (or 'derivative mean') between the first mean and the maximum. Our mind dices and slices when we are asked to estimate "between" two things.

When we must find the last item in a sequence of items, we must recognize a pattern and then apply extrapolative thinking. An Example of each type follows, for a quick brain exercise:

1) We are on a 100 mile trip, and have gone three quarters of the way. How many miles do we have left? How many miles have we already traveled? In we are going to make a rest stop halfway between where we are and our final destination, how many more miles must we go before we can rest?

2) What is the next item in the series? ABD, BCE, CDF.... ___ .

Enjoy the TED Video (Goals Versus Behaviors) which follows!



Douglas E Castle for Braintenance

BRAINTENANCE: Train, Strain And Improve Your Brain. Expand Your Mind.

http://braintenance.blogspot.com

Braintenance contains articles, resources, exercises, games and specially-designed protocols to improve the power of your brain and your mind in every significant aspect, including memory, cognition, IQ, plasticity, creativity and problem-solving ability.

Key Terms: brain, mind, cognitive enhancement, memory, brain gym exercises, IQ, plasticity, mind expansion, creativity, meditation, altered states, perception, self-hypnosis, self-growth, neuron, artificial intelligence, learning, somatic intellect, mathematics, language, dissonance, individualism, herd mentality, puns and word games, linguistics, genius, emotion, subconscious, unconscious, intuition, instinct, psychedelic, reality, learning curve, probability, collective consciousness

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The Three Secrets: Learning Language

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There are three basic keys ('secrets,' if you wish) to learning to speak any language adequately (for most purposes) within an incredibly short period of time, with credit given, in part, to Dr. Pimsleur of the famous "Pimsleur Approach":

1) Every language has its principal structure in common with every other language. These common roots emerged from the very beginnings of Humankind's first use of language, and they have not changed structurally. Were you to waste some time a diagram a sentence in any language, you would find the same building blocks. While writing is different, speech is very much the same. Your mind is built to learn and speak any and all language;

2) Repetition, drill and writing actually inhibit our ability to "absorb" speech and to connect it with the core language center of our brains. These things don't enhance our ability, but they serve to confuse us and to set our subconscious minds on a destructive course to defeat our innate abilities [not to mention that they serve to bring back the years of accumulated self-doubts and limiting beliefs which keep us from being successful at most every endeavor. The harder you try, the more elusive the basics become;

3) We learn to speak a language better when we listen to it being spoken and begin to unconsciously allow our central 'language learning zone' to zero in on it. We learn to respond, hesitantly at first, and then faster and faster until we've reached a conversational pace.

Please enjoy the sales presentation by Pimsleur Associates which follows to learn a bit more. Please bear in mind that neither The Braintenance Blog, nor Douglas E. Castle, nor any of the affiliates of either have any financial interest in the Pimsleur Company or receive any compensation from the company; nor do any of the aforementioned persons or entities endorse or pass on the merits of the particular program.

Enjoy the presentation which follows, both for the wonderfully "open" and educational marketing approach, and for what is said[ enjoy the part about the 'phonological loop' of the brain -- that's entertaining and educational.

https://www.pimsleurapproach.com/presentation413.asp?sid=sl36004bnr&uid=454975&es=90

If for any reason the above link should fail you, try this one:

http://tinyurl.com/opa54ft

Thank you, as always for reading me and for sharing my articles with your connections, contacts and colleagues through your social media sharing tools and networks.

Douglas E. Castle

More about the Phonological Loop, from Wikipedia, slightly corrupt (ask BP!), but still useful:

The phonological loop (or "articulatory loop") as a whole deals with sound or phonological information. It consists of two parts: a short-term phonological store with auditory memory traces that are subject to rapid decay and an articulatory rehearsal component (sometimes called the articulatory loop) that can revive the memory traces.
Any auditory verbal information is assumed to enter automatically into the phonological store. Visually presented language can be transformed into phonological code by silent articulation and thereby be encoded into the phonological store. This transformation is facilitated by the articulatory control process. The phonological store acts as an "inner ear", remembering speech sounds in their temporal order, whilst the articulatory process acts as an "inner voice" and repeats the series of words (or other speech elements) on a loop to prevent them from decaying. The phonological loop may play a key role in the acquisition of vocabulary, particularly in the early childhood years.^[3] It may also be vital for learning a second language.

Five main findings provide evidence for the phonological loop:

1. The effect of phonological similarity:
   Lists of words that sound similar are more difficult to remember than words that sound different. Semantic similarity (similarity of meaning) has comparatively little effect, supporting the assumption that verbal information is coded largely phonologically in working memory.^[4]
2. The effect of articulatory suppression:
   Memory for verbal material is impaired when people are asked to say something irrelevant aloud. This is assumed to block the articulatory rehearsal process, thereby leaving memory traces in the phonological loop to decay.^[5]
3. Transfer of information between codes:
   With visually presented items, adults usually name and sub-vocally rehearse them, so the information is transferred from a visual to an auditory code. Articulatory suppression prevents this transfer, and in that case the above mentioned effect of phonological similarity is erased for visually presented items.^[6]
4. Neuropsychological evidence:
   A defective phonological store explains the behavior of patients with a specific deficit in phonological short-term memory. Aphasic patients with dyspraxia are unable to set up the speech motor codes necessary for articulation, caused by a deficiency of the articulatory rehearsal process.^[7]
5. On the other hand, patients with dysarthria, whose speech problems are secondary, show a normal capacity for rehearsal. This suggests that it is the subvocal rehearsing that is crucial.^[8]

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The Single Most Important Thing About You.

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It is quite an awe-inspiring legacy, viewed from a grand perspective. You have such a rich history encoded in your unique DNA. I wish that we could actually read that book together, chapter by chapter, from end (today) to beginning (the first murmurings and grunts of our species). It took such an amazing journey to bring you here. And now that you have arrived, no one other person in the world could take your place or assume the amazing work of being you. You were bred for being something unique. And you are instilled with such amazing genetic memory. Draw upon your instincts, intuition and dreams to draw this memory forth.
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Let us simply look at the math regarding Bearers Of The Torch who participated in the amazing process which brought it to you.

Bearers Of Your Torch - The Number Of Torchbearers (Genetic Predecessors And Contributors To Your Genetic Composition) Leading Up To The Miracle Of Your Birth:

Parents        2
Grandparents     4
Great Grandparents  8
Ten Generations Ago    1,024
Fifteen Generations Ago   32,768
Twenty Generations Ago       1,048,576
Twenty Five Generations Ago     33,554,432

The odds of your becoming the unique Human Being whom you've become are incalculably small! Miniscule. You are incredibly unique in the Universe. You are irreplaceable. Just look at the overwhelming odds against your becoming you!


NOTE: The above calculations were done on a terrific exponential calculator which can be found at http://www.rapidtables.com/calc/math/Exponent_Calculator.htm

Thank you for being who you are. You are a miracle, with an unfathomable legacy of generations of torchbearers before you. You are completely and thoroughly unique. You are irreplaceable. Be You. The balance of our native planet Earth depends upon you, and the choices that you alone will make and the things that you will accomplish -- even the teachings and stories you tell to others may become legendary some day.  Everyone you interact with will carry a bit of your light forward to future generations.

With every second, you make the future, and you affect all of Humankind. - Douglas E. Castle

By the way, the single most important thing about you is the way you use the torch - whether you use it to burn things down, or to light the way to greatness.

Thank you, wonderful followers, for reading me, and for spreading my words and sharing my articles with your connections, comrades and colleagues through your ever-growing list of social networking platforms and forums.

Douglas E. Castle

Sponsored By: 
CFI - CrowdFunding Incubator LLC 
ICS - International Connection Services 
Global Edge Technologies Group LLC 
CFI Business Growth
Douglas E. Castle On LinkedIn - Join Me! 

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