h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A432145

I realize that there is an edited entry "Mnemonic Devices for the Guitarist," but this one is more general than that one and contains several scientific, geographical, mathematical, and musical mnemonics. I've been working on it off and on for several months, and now consider it complete enough for submission.

While I think this is a handy dandy list, it's not exactly full of as much original, researched material as entries accepted for the guide usually are. If you are really interested in pursuing this, I'd suggest considering the addition of some paragraphs on:

the history of mnemonic devices
why they work so well

Hope this helps some!


Mikey

ps -- I'd also like to point out that I really like your entry on Oneida. With a few more additions on things like where to eat or hang out or whatnot, it would be another great entry to submit to Peer Review!


Mikey

Why thank you! I hadn't ever thought to enter the article on my little town. I'll definitely take you advice on both articles. Thanks for the advice.

Glad to be of some help!




Mikey

I also have trouble thinking of lists as being suitable for entries in the guide.

Please, do turn this into a proper article on practical mnemonics.

Your list, as it is, is a fine set of examples, but that is all.

Barton

St. Thomas,

I agree with Barton that this Entry would benefit a lot if you'd add some more information on how mnemonic devices work.

I read an article about local "brain championships" a couple of weeks ago, where the contestants had to memorize decks of cards. One of them described some of the tricks of the trade. Something like this would be a very valuable addition to the Guide, and you could use all your examples.

Please let us know if you still want to have this thread in the Peer Review, or if it's ok for you to move it to the Writing Workshop (which I'd like to recommend, as a personal matter of opinion).

Jeremy

I suppose for now it should be nixed from the peer review. I can always resubmit if/when I get around to fixing it.

Yep, I agree totally with the other posts - you need to go into the way memory works, i.e. it chunks and tries to get as much information lumped together as possible to enable faster processing. Small chunks take a lot of processing and can easily be lost. All the mnemonics do is to create larger chunks of meaning.

You might also like to go into other memory systems - like the card deck one mentioned - this is where each suit and each card of a suit have a particular personality. When given a personality, or some kind of persona, the brain can create a story, which is one long linked chain of information. This enables processing too.

Just my suggestion.

It's a nice start. I can think of lots of others.

C.I.V.I.L. In a capacitor current (I) leads voltage. Voltage leads current in an inductance (L)

I got into trouble for posting my 1960s version of the resistor colour codes!

BODMAS - for the order in which to evaluate expressions. brackets, of, divide, multiply, add and subtract.

MoVEM J SUN P - The planets, from the sun outwards. Mecury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupitor, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.

Just a drive-by thought... (similar to, but less dangerous than a drive-by shooting).

Mnemonic devices work best if they are:

Profane, obscene, extreme, outrageous: one is more likely to remember
Good Boys Don't F*** Animals
for the bass clef than the tamer versions.

In rhyme of some kind, or can be sung to a familiar tune
The Amendments to the US Constitution are sung this way to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas in the 1990s remake of... it slipped my mind, but in stars Melanie Griffith as an airhead who finds herself in Washington DC. I need a mnemonic device for the names of bad films with funny ideas in.

If they are funny/visual
Clark Gable Did Almost Everything But Fly
is sillier and visual, and therefore easier to remember for the order of sharps in the circle of fifths

I like your device for pi! Neat.

These things have to do with the sort of impact that profanity, visual imagery, humour, auditory memory (music), etc have on the brain, and that is a complex subject indeed. It will be a terrific article if you can just work some of these threads in.

There's quite a lot of research on this subject, so it should not be too difficult for you to find and synthesise.

Good luck!

Arpeggio, for LeKZ

re Posting 10, our planets:

In German this one works fine:
Mecury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupitor, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.(M)ein (V)ater (E)rklärt (M)ir (J)eden (S)onntag (U)nsere (N)eun (P)laneten. (somewhere along the lines of: Every Sunday my father outlines our nine planets to me).
*hopes this will survive moderation*


See you over in the Workshop then. Keep up the good work!
Bossel (Scout)

Ooopsie, already there!

Some more examples (unfortunately I only know German ones, keeping fingers crossed):

the keys in music ('#' and 'b'):

Frische Brötchen Essen Alte Damen Gern
F.......B........E.....A....D.....G
(literally: Old ladies like to eat fresh rolls)

Geh Du Alter Esel Heu Fressen
G...D..A.....E....H...F
(Old Jack, go and eat hay)


* moderator, please have mercy! *

Unfortunately, our dear friend Thomas has left the building. You can find the Flea Market thread here: F74125?thread=179777

-Spike A.

I want to adopt this entry. Mnenomic Devices are my favorite devices of all! Seriously, I want this one.

You'll have to do it at the Flea Market...

-Spike A.

(here: F74125?thread=179777&latest=1)