The benefits of memory systems can be summed up by three F's : Fast, Fun, and Fearless.
- Fast: In your studies you frequently encounter material that is slow and painstaking to learn . A lot of this information comprises details that you know you might be tested on: numbers, formulas, terminology, names of important people, places, and events, and so forth. Most likely you've learned much of this information by rote, repeating it until it finally sinks in (you hope). But by using memory aids you can avoid this time-consuming process of repeating information over and over again.
- Fun: When learning by frequent repetition, you are likely to become easily bored. You may even short-circuit the process and not study the material as well as you know you should. One big advantage of mnemonic systems is that they can make memorizing more interesting . Learning becomes fun because you are
using your imagination and creativity to help remember the information. Each memory problem becomes an interesting puzzle for which you are seeking a solution . Any solution you develop is the right one, as long as it works for you .
- Fearless: Perhaps most important, memory aids increase your confidence that you are correctly remembering the information. Details often have no rhyme or reason . How do you remember, for example, that Rutherford discovered the nucleus and Chadwick the neutron and not the other way around? Mnemonic techniques help you make sense out of such facts and many other kinds of information too. Misremembering is far less likely because you have locked the information in securely.