Chapter 20. Recall From Your Memory What Interests You The Most

With your list of key words, you can make a part of your permanent mental baggage any collection of data you wish to recall from your memory. Obviously, usefulness will be your first criterion even in drill ing with lists of words. Scarcely less desirable is this type of one-two-three memory as a social asset—from an also-asked you can leap easily into the proud position of the life of any party. To know the names of the first fifteen Vice-Presidents of the United States would be a curious accomplishment of no great use. On the other hand, you are constantly coming across references in books to "the sixth President" or "the eighth President," and so on. And aren't people constantly asking you, or aren't you asking yourself, "Who came after Monroe?" and so on? So, knowing the order of succession of the Presi­dents of the United States is a really useful accomplishment. Here are the first fifteen:

1. George Washington
2. John Adams
3. Thomas Jefferson
4. James Madison
5. James Monroe
6. John Quincy Adams
7. Andrew Jackson
8. Martin Van Buren
9. William Henry Harrison
10. John Tyler
11. James K. Polk
12. Zachary Taylor
13. Millard Fillmore
14. Franklin Pierce
15. James Buchanan

Of course, it's just as important to know the second group of fifteen. Interestingly enough, this second group begins with our second most famous President, Abraham Lincoln. Rather than use the 16th to 30th key words in learning this group, it is easier to think of Lincoln as the first President, and add fifteen, to get his number in the complete succession: 1+15 = 16. And so on. This second list of fifteen takes you through Calvin Coolidge, and from there on unaided memory will do the rest.

Of course, in these days of flux, with world politics as much America's interest (if not business) as WPA or CGG camps, it's well to know just where things are happening. Polish up your geography. Consult The World Almanac for a list of the world's largest islands or longest rivers. You'll find Java among the first, the Amazon and Volga among the second. In that way, you can get at least a quantitative mind's eye picture of land and water that make news. People make news, too— first and foremost. Do you know the names of the rulers of the five greatest countries? But, for that matter, do you know the names of these countries? You'll find the lists in the omniscient World Almanac.

Of course, these are but samples of the kind of knowledge you can have at your instant command. Apply your key words to any situation that requires data remembered for the sake of your career or for the sake of your ego. Practically any factual book you pick up contains a number of related facts you will want to recall from your memory just like that—one, two, three, four, five!

And, if you haven't guessed it already, the key words can open up a lot of fun to you. Use them in games, combining profit with pleasure. For instance, in a group, using The World Almanac as a text, each person recites a list slowly, such as the last ten winners of the Kentucky Derby or the Rose Bowl champions for the past fifteen years. Allow thirty seconds for each item to recall from your memory. Then the players, excepting the person who pro­pounded the list, try to duplicate the items in correct order. After each person has had his turn saying a list, papers are collected, and scores totaled.

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