Mapping the Mind

In these increasingly information loaded times, a genius gives us a tool to cope up.
It's called the Mind Map.

There have been no official counts yet, but the number of times our mind gets swept by information tidal waves daily is enough to awe one. With an average of 55 channels in the cable TV, a few hundred million web pages, a few hundred newspapers on the Internet, growing strings of e-mail and the frenetic data torrents through office work, folks struggle through swelling information oceans and shrinking attention spans.

The constantly updated Survival of the fittest law says we now need to communicate in, short, sharp burst. Long speeches and dainty letters are heading the dinosaur -dodo way. On its way to becoming a specialised skill, thought crafting may soon be taught in kindergarten. Developing Thought Clarity (TC) is going to be the next shrill social, corporate and governmental clarion call, and that's when mass marketers of tools like Mind Maps will be hitting the Fortune 500.

A Mind Map

Join the fun: on a piece of paper, or the back of your visiting card, jot down the word "mind map" at the center of the available blank space. Then, as you read this article, keep writing around this center word, whatever related word or concept that strikes your mind.

Your have begun drawing a mind map, or the use of a center word or idea as a building block to make more related ideas or concepts. These inter-ideas (found to vary from individual to individual) jotted down mentally, or on a single sheet of paper, help to quickly grasp or convey information effectively, anything from a book to a lecture, to a meeting. So, the next time you have a problem, try drawing a mind map. Users say that so has helped them forget what a mental block means.

Mind Map Benefits

A mind map can be a powerful original-idea generator or even the dream tool of a creative mind.

With Minds maps:

• A self -created page summarises a 1000-page book, with original ideas attached.
• Official meetings, particularly the brain storming variety, become more productive.
• Helps public speaking, project presenting. A card becomes a powerful memory aid.
• Allows thought flexibility. As ideas and concepts are reduced to single words, they can be easily moved around.
• Helps problem solving. Whenever a problem Strikes, mind map helps thread the relevant issues together clearly and to see how they relate to each other. Now, finding the cause, effect and solution to the problem becomes easy.
• Helps better planning. Whether it's a weekend trip, organizing an annual conference or a party, a mind map help the mind get a better grip, of the factors involved.
• As a memory enhancer it becomes a great academic learning tool for students.

Mind Map Key

Tony Buzan invented Mind Mapping, the product of his researching note taking techniques. He studied three common ways of note taking during lectures: writing a complete transcript, a summary or writing key words only. He found key word takers were absorbing the most information.

The Principle behind that finding is our powerful visual memory. To prove it, a researcher RalpHaber showed some 2560 photograhs to various people. They wre next shown 2560pairs of photographs and asked to identify ones from the original set. The accuracy rate was between an astounding 85 percent to 95 percent.

The experiment showed we have an almost photographic visual memory. That's why they say a good photograph is worth a thousand words. And that's why a good mind map is worth a thousand ideas.

Mind Map Machinery

The human mind is said to be naturally associative, not linear. Or, it works more at apparent random, rather than step by boring step, or word by word. So swatting texts is fraught with risks of a wandering mind, wasted time and faulty recall, which is why our memories come in pictures- -3-D, not in font - Times News Romans text. Mind Maps works on visualizations as the central engine. Look at your visiting card, each word in your mind map is a link between ideas and concepts your mind has been churning out. And the layout of your mind map is the mirror of your mind, showing how your own mind chews and splits out ideas. So in effect, mind maps are a concrete indicator of human individuality. Ask a family member or close friend to do same trick, with the word mind map and this article. Compare the two cards and see. For example, if both of you have drawn a mini mind map (a mini map has one level depth, i.eonly two words related to the central idea) with only six words , studies shown that the probability of the two words being common between the two cards is one. Anything above two common words is considered very unusual.

Minds maps are now sold as computer software, an indicator to how prevalent it will be in the near future. It's a product bred by the necessity of our evolution. The more information our mind needs to cope up with, the more we need mind developing mechanisms. The mind map is just one tool.