Most tips on studying reiterate the same advice: Get good sleep, eat well, don’t cram, and take notes. Although this basic advice is sound, you need far more than these simple platitudes to be a top-performing student.
You need a structured memory system to succeed at the highest level. Optimal memorization techniques are rarely taught in school and require a new way of thinking. As Morpheus from The Matrix would say, you need to “Free your mind.”
As it turns out, movies can act as the ultimate studying guide. This article covers the best tips for improving memory using The Matrix.
I remember the first time I watched the original Matrix like it was yesterday. Although over two decades have passed since then, the film remains number one on my all-time favorites list. I was only a freshman in high school when it came out, and at the time my mom didn’t allow R-rated entertainment in the household. Luckily, a good friend lived just a few blocks away, and his parents were far more lenient.
One Saturday afternoon at my friend’s house, I finally got to watch the movie everyone was talking about. It was a gorgeous day outside, but I didn’t care—I’d been dying to see the film. The VHS even had special features after the credits, and I was excited for those too—I’d never heard of such a thing as special features.
The moment the blockbuster began, I was hooked. From the point where Neo says, “Guns, lots of guns,” until the end, I didn’t blink once. Seriously. It wasn’t until the credits began to roll that I finally closed my stinging, mesmerized eyes.
For months afterward I couldn’t stop thinking about the Matrix—I wanted to bend reality and dodge bullets. Most of all, I wanted to load information into my skull with the click of a button.
I wanted a brain built like a hard drive—full of organized files that I could search for at the click of a button.
But my brain was no hard drive. Important information would often slip my mind during exams, leaving me frustrated. During most my academic career, my study techniques were far from optimal.
It wasn’t until medical school that I finally figured out how to organize my brain like a supercomputer. I created a memory system to catalog and memorize my entire education. The system transformed me from a struggling student to a graduate with an M.D.
Want to know what saved me? The answer is really going to bake your noodle—I harnessed the power of my favorite entertainment to succeed in school!
Here’s the secret: To reliably remember any amount of information, first turn the material into pictures. For more info on why pictures are so important, check out Top Study Tips.
Next, store the image-reminders inside a familiar location or Memory File—this is so you know where to find it at a later date. For more info on how to create a Memory File, check out 4 Simple Steps to Remember Anything.
I’ve watched the original Matrix so many times, it might as well be wired to my head. I even used the trilogy to remember all the antiviral medications of my medical training. But I’ll skip the medical jargon in this article, and instead show you how to memorize important geometry equations using this cyberpunk classic.
Remember: Turn the information into pictures and then drop the pictures into familiar locations. Let’s begin with Trinity’s famous leap into the air at the beginning of the movie. We can use this scene to remember the area of a triangle.
Area of a triangle = ½ base x height
Reimagine the cops storming the room as area rugs cut into triangles (triangle area). Our heroine clad in leather leaps high in the air (height) and holds up half of an oversized baseball base as a shield (½ base).
Bam! Pow! First equation memorized!
Now let's work on remembering the volume of a cylinder:
Volume of a cylinder = pi x radius^2 x height
First picture the iconic scene of Neo and Trinity entering the agent’s stronghold. Reimagine their bag of explosives on the x-ray machine as cylinders of dynamite with a volume knob (cylinder volume). The security guard stops Neo with a pie (pi) to measure him (height). But then, Neo whips out a pair of radishes (radius2) and pelts the guard into submission.
Finally, we can remember the volume of a sphere by reimagining Neo dodging bullets on the rooftop.
A sphere’s volume = 4/3 x pi x radius^3
As Neo contorts his body to dodge the agent’s bullets, imagine the slowed down shrapnel as perfect spheres with little volume knobs (sphere volume). Neo’s bent-back body can act as the fraction symbol: If we picture a tripod supporting him from underneath (3), and a flag (4) sprouting from his belly button on top, we can remember the fraction . Trinity watches in amazement but can’t move her legs because she’s stuck in a pie (pi). Instead, she pulls out a trio of radios (radius3) and blows the agent away with sound, uttering her signature catchphrase: “Dodge this.”
Most learners unknowingly take the blue pill and study using the least efficient means—rereading and rewriting. I encourage you to take the red pill: Turn your material into pictures and then file those picture reminders inside your favorite movies, TV shows, and video games. The technique will free your mind and allow you to absorb far more information than you ever thought possible.
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