An Expert In Remembering

OK, try to memorize this list: "Picked Garlic, Cottage Cheese, Peat Smoked Salmon, Six bottles of white wine, Three pairs of cotton socks, Three Hula-hoops, Snorkel, Dry Ice machine, Email to Sophia, Skin toned cat suit, DVD of Paul Newman's Somebody Up There Likes Me, Elk Sausages, Directors Chair, Rope and Harness, Barometer."

Done? Good, we'll get back to it in a moment. First, a bit more about its source: Its from the new book, "Moonwalking With Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything," by Joshua Foer. The book really has nothing to do with either moonwalking or Einstein, but is instead about developing a good memory. There is some discussion of technique, but it is more of a socialogical study of how the value of a good memory has changed through human history.  For this discussion the author uses the context of the US Memory Championships- which he first discovers as a journalist and then as a (very successful) contestant. This is in similar vein to Stephen Fatsis' journey into the world of competitive Scrabble in "Word Freak."

Entertaining though is the description of the competition, the training, and many of the main characters, I think the book has a couple of more important points to make. The first is about the value of a good memory and actually placing significant emphasis on developing one. For most of history, a good memory was one of the most valued skills that a person could have. Then came all the ways of making "external" memories: paper, printing, and now of course, the Internet. Over the last century or so, most progressive thinkers in Western education have rubbished the value of remembering things/facts, while emphasizing creative thought and comprehension. But, are the two really incompatible? The author makes a strong case for re-emphasizing memorization as part of regular schooling- in his telling, memory and intellect are really two sides of the same coin.  I am already looking for the 'Kumon' of memorization - I suppose some would argue that the Indian education system would fit the bill nicely!

The second point is about the benefit of "Deliberate Practice." This will be familiar to those who have read "Talent Is Overrated" by Geoffrey Colvin, whose central thesis is the same thing. In both cases, the authors are quoting the research results of Dr. Anders Ericsson of Florida State University who has explored this in multiple research studies. He (like many others in his field) has not found any evidence of "raw talent" and the best indicator of success/excellence is what he has called, Deliberate Practice. It is the notion that while practice may make perfect, not just any practice will - you have to focus on specific skills to practice and then do them over and over, almost ad nauseum.  Once again, this has great significance to how we approach education and schooling. The Kumon approach to math and reading are perfect examples of this approach.

The author covers a rather wide and diverse territory - maybe a bit too scattershot to be a truly gripping book. His description of memory techniques were all new to me - specifically, the use of "memory palaces."  The insight here is that the human brain has an amazing memory for images and more specifically for recalling what was in a particular place, as long as you remember the place itself. More importantly, the author tries hard to make the point that very few (if any at all) are "born" with a great memory - it is a skill that can be developed with hard work and with the right techniques. There is no such thing as a "photographic memory."

This brings us back to the rather eclectic list that I started this blog off with: Memorizing that list is an exercise that the author has the reader do and I dutifully followed his instructions.  That was more than three weeks ago and when I started to type this blog, I was able to reproduce it exactly from my memory.