by Juvoni Beckford@juvoni
Before readingWhy I picked it up
I saw a recommendation for this book on Bill Gates' blog gatesnotes. Understanding memory has peaked my interest for a while, growing up watching the science channel and weird contest shows showing of these super memory competitors. I also remember watching a documentary about these people with superhuman memory, it was so interesting to me because I've always had trouble recalling things. Moving away from the hard science aspect of memory, Moonwalking with Einstein would give an interesting perspective, in the form of a memoir from a journalist, who went on a mission to enter into the US Memory Championship, through training alone.
After readingPosted
I enjoyed reading this book, although, I think my expectations were a little too high, and I didn't finish feeling like a had a lot of practical knowledge to implement. This makes sense after the fact as the books reads like a memoir, following the journey of Josha Foer a science journalist, who has the audacious goal of breaking into the U.S Memory Championship as a way to show that super memory is in part a skill and can be trained, which I think he does a good job of showing. One cool and practical technique that I took from the book was the concept of a Memory Palace, known as the method of loci where you use a location that you are very familiar with, and you store the items you want to remember visually in notable places within that location memory along with an extremely odd and sometimes explicit thought to help the memory stick. This will give you a new perspective as to the many capabilities of memory, but don't expect you'll be leaving with Rainman-like super powers.
Three reasons to read it
- Learn techniques used by mental athletes to improve their memory, that you can apply in everyday life
- Hear the epic story of a journalist who made his way to the U.S. Memory Championship
- Understand the cultural history of memory
Notes for this book are still being transcribed.
