Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
By Andrea Li
Photographic memory (noun) : the ability to remember information or visual images in great detail. Whether it’s from a book or movie character, you have probably wondered if photographic memory actually exists. Can people really take “pictures” in their mind and remember everything?
In Moonwalking with Einstein, the author, Joshua Foer recounts his time as a journalist covering the USA Memory Championships. As he interviews the expert mnemonists about how their memorization works, he is surprised to hear one contestant claim that the memories of all mental athletes are “quite average.” They, like the rest of us, forget why they walked into a room, or where they put the car keys. Yet how could a normal person memorize a deck of playing cards in less than a minute, and be able to recite that same deck ten years later backwards?
With the help of a skilled mnemonist Ed, Josh learns a trick invented by Simonides where mnemonists convert what they need to remember into mental images and place them in “memory palaces” in their brain. This is done by visualizing a familiar childhood home or space, and translating what needs to be memorized into images hung up around the house. When recalling it again, all the person has to do is “walk” around the house and name all the images. While the memory palace is an important mnemonic device, the biggest reason mental athletes are so successful is the amount of practice they do. In essence, practice really makes perfect! Josh is obsessed with this newfound world of memory, and he ends up back at the memory championships a year later, this time as the national memory champion. Joshua Foer goes on to represent the USA in the world championships.
The most amazing takeaway from this book is that mnemonists are not geniuses with photographic memory and talent, but rather common people who put in a great deal of practice and effort. Essentially anyone in the world could memorize infinite knowledge, if they really wanted to.
Through Joshua Foer’s remarkable journey, the book discusses the history of memory, interesting research, and mnemonic devices. As someone who usually prefers to read fiction, I still enjoyed reading this book a lot and was captivated by his informative and humorous writing style. I definitely recommend checking out Moonwalk with Einstein sometime!
Rating: 4.5/5 :)
I think you did a really good job explaining this book. It sounds really complicated, but you made it easy to understand. The book sounds really interesting, and I like the way you explained how the author remembered things.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an interesting book even though I also generally prefer fiction. I like the ideas he reveals about how there are just techniques used to remember things and I will remember to read this one at some point.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post! The way you lead with a question and answer it makes me want to read more about it. The part about 'Memory Palaces' was also really interesting. I think I might check the book out.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds really interesting. I have heard a little bit about these memorization techniques but I did not know much and I did not really understand how people bring the things like cards into their house and memory. I thought your review really explained the ideas well. I thought it was really interesting how you tied it to photographic memories in books, because I have also often wondered about the characters and detectives in books that have such memories. Good job!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a really interesting book! I remember there was a kid in my elementary school who could memorize crazy stuff like that. I was always so impressed, because there was no way I could have done that. It makes sense though that it isn't some superpower and just a lot of practice and techniques. I will definitely give this book a read, Great post :)
ReplyDeleteMy only experience with something like photographic memory is when I remember what the stairs looked like in my old apartment. I was really little when I live their (so little that I took my first steps there), and the only thing I remember was what the stairs up to the apartment looked like. It was like a wooden bar, with a gray carpet thing in the middle. I don't know why I remember this but it seems to be relevant with memory and stuff.
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