Memorization = 5S in your brain

Last year, I had the lesson of human resource management of MBA course. During the lecture, we had discussed some ideas for memorization, because one of my classmate was the world champion of memorization competition. We shared some info and ideas in the class, I want to share my ideas with you in post here. They might be not correlated with lean but I would like to write them in points form.

0. First of all, I am not the expert of memorization but we can have more information from Wiki link as below, Information of Memory from Wiki

1. Can people memorized everything?

I think it is possible. Physically, the memory size in our brain is infinitely. We can have a special training to strengthen memorization. Nowaday, we always equiped a PDA, even a mobile phone with additional memory. We can record everything we want to memorize by text, voice or photo. Therefore, basically, everybody can memorize anything they want, but...is that necessary to do so? Is that necessary we need to memorize the color of our dressing twenty days before? (Assumed that is not a special day we had such as the first time we were having dinner with our girl/boy friend...) Agree? Shift to next question.

2. Why we only memorize something we want?

No more talk about the handheld equipment, only focus the memory in our brain. I believed that our memorization is a selective system but we do not realize its process. We need to keep a spare space in brain for new event or thinking. If our brain is full of rubblish data (same as the rubblish email), it is a serious waste for us. In lean concept, it would be an issue of over stock / inventory, one of the 7 wastes.

First, we only need to memorize something important to us, such as our name, because we need to use that everyday. From working memory through interactive to long term memory. Second, we always can memorize the event which had deep image to ourselves. A simple question, where is the place you first time kiss your girl/boy friend? I think you can remember that in your whole life. From affective system or sensory system to long term memory. Third, we always memorized something which is not always used but need to remember, such as the birthday of your father. Actually, we only need to use that data once a year. From short term memory to long term memory.

3. Is that important of memorization?

A long time before, out of our brain, no other storage memory. All the information and knowledge only can be stored in the memory of brain. At that moment, memorization is so important. How much memory of knowledge you had, it represented how much knowledge you learned. In modern day, the above concept is meaningless, because we have too many devices having the same function of memory storage in our brain.

Now, we said, "undertstanding is more important than memorization.", why we said that? At my point of view, understanding means you have already memorized the truth. For instant, we learn driving in the thoeries of controling steering wheel and gear, it is very hard to forget after we started to drive a car. After we successfully got the driving license, that's mean we have the understanding of driving, you can not forget how to drive because you already understood how to drive. On the other hand, it is very easy to forget something if we do not understand or no way to understand. Can you remember all the numbers in yellow page? How long you can remember those number? The number on yellow page can not be used, that is meaningless for you. You have no way to understand that, and hard to remember.

4. What is factor help for memorization?

Based on the theory of "undertstanding is more important than memorization.", the most important factors improving the memorization are intellect and recombination. Intellect can make the intangible info to be a concrete image. Recombination can help you to put all the concrete image in sequence. Only one part you can remember, you can educe the whole subject.
It was a very common game shown in TV programme. We gave you some items no related such as a ball, a man, a chicken and a car, let you make a story using all the items. I would say, "A MAN played basketBALL, and then drove his CAR back to home, after playing basketball, he felt very hungry and he ate a CHICKEN in dinner by himself.". This is one kind of sample help you to memorize.

5. Which is needed to memorize?

In simply say, happy people only remember happiness. If your brain full of mirthless stories, I don't believed that you can be a happy people. No matter what we are talking about, you only recall the joyless memory to cause a negative emotion. That's a very terrible habit, but I have some friends doing that everyday.

Therefore, I suggest you only needed to remember your knowledge, and your good time. Clear up some spare space in your mind for thinking. Wash away the unhappiness. Do some 5S job for your brain.

OK, my friend, be a happy people!!!