Summary

Joshua Foer details his yearlong quest to improve his memory while working with some of the world's best memory champions. He clearly describes some very practical memory techniques, research and tricks that can be implemented immediately into our lives to improve our memory. Memory can be improved with training just like anything else, it is not static as many of us believe

Key Takeaways

Myth of how memory started - Simonides walked out of a building just as it fell and was able to show the killed persons family where they were sitting so that they could say goodbye (memory palace - engage spatial memory and create a visual of unmemorable info)

​Memory palace - remembering technique where you create crazy visual images of unmemorable lists or items and place them somewhere you are very familiar with such as your house or a route you walk or drive a lot

Memory is a highly creative and imaginative process which is why the POA (person, object, action) memory technique works so well

We have transferred our extremely important skill of memorization externally to books and computers and paintings. It is a way of extending our mortality but it also robs us of something very human and very important - our memory

When shown 10,000 images, people were able to choose the one they had seen over 80% of the time

Most people believe that we remember everything but forget because we misplace them in our minds

Electrically stimulating parts of our brain brings back vivid lost memories

This man named "S" had an incredible memory and can recall pretty much anything that has ever occurred to him. He has synesthesia too and every number is personified and certain words and people he associates with colors too. He visualizes pretty much every word but this makes short stories and poetry very hard for him to read. He stored memories linearly which was why he could recite things backwards as easily as forwards. This is not the case for normal people. Had to work in the art of forgetting by convincing himself that things were meaningless and he'd forget. He was not successful as a person though and could not hold a job.

People must filter life in order to live it

The mental athletes (memory champions) brains' were indistinguishable to normal people but London cabbies spatial memory part of the brain was considerably larger than normal

Baker v Baker Paradox. You remember a baker better than somebody who's last name is Baker since you can visualize a baker better than someone named Baker

Make a sound or situation that you'll easily remember to remember someone's name

People can remember about 7 +/- 2 things in their working memory

​Chunking - remember more by breaking it into bigger chunks

Who we are and what we do are a reflection of everything we have already experienced

"EP" is a man who has both retro and anterograde amnesia. He does not remember anything after WWII for more than a couple seconds. He is kind of in a time capsule but he forgets that he has a memory problem so it seems like everything he forgets is just casual like it is for normal people.

A scientist did a self experiment where he lived in a cave with no clocks or sunlight or anything. He pretty much became amnesiac and thought that only a month had passed when it had been two

Creating new memories stretches out our lives

​Tony Bouzan of Mind Map fame and Ben Pridmore are some famous memory champions

Check out Mind Meister - a free mind mapping software tool

​Camillo (a Renaissance scientist) believed that he could create a real, physical memory palace where one could store all there is to know in the world by relying on certain powerful cues that could bring to light any subject you wanted to discuss

​Assimilative Memory by Loisette is an amazing read on how to improve your memory

Invention is a product of inventory (new ideas or products are a result of what you already have on your head)

​Bruce Lee - there are no limits, there are plateaus, but no limits

Learning and memory are like spiderwebs. The more you know, the more you catch and the more you catch the bigger you become

What I got out of it

Memory is very clearly something that can be trained and improved upon. Many of these techniques, such as the memory palace and "writing" people's names in the air with my finger, are tricks I use in my daily life in order to better remember lists, presentations, names, etc.