Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer. For the most part, Joshua is a recognized freelance writer appearing in The New Yorker, National Geographic, Esquire, Slate, Outside, and the New York Times.
Joshua wrote a story regarding the US Memory Championship. He was so moved by the event, he spent the next year training to compete. Therefore this book reveals Joshua’s year long effort to learn mnemonics and memory palaces.
His book certainly conveys how you can sharpen your memory skills based upon techniques used by participants in the competition. Pretty cool insights.
Joshua’s abilities was certainly enhanced by interviewing contestants who befriended him. Above all, the memory palace chapter was a wonderful introduction into learning how you can create deep lasting memories regarding any topic.
At the same time, techniques to memorize complex mathematics was brilliant, yet a technique that I would struggle with in attempting to master. Yet, if there is a will – there is a way.
Cultural memory practices across history
Accordingly, the segments addressing how memory was used across cultures helps solidify how widespread memory techniques were historically taught across the globe. At the same time, this leads to a rather interesting conclusion:
At the heart of the unease about these earliest works of literature were two fundamental questions: First, how could Greek literature have been born ex nihilo with two masterpieces? Surely a few less perfect stories must have come before, and yet these two were among the first on record. And second, who exactly was their author? Or was it authors? There were no historical records of Homer, and no trustworthy biography of the man exists beyond a few self-referential hints embedded in the texts themselves.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the first modern critics to suggest that Homer might not have been an author in the contemporary sense of a single person who sat down and wrote a story and then published it for others to read. In his 1781 Essay on the Origin of Languages, the Swiss philosopher suggested that the Odyssey and Iliad might have been “written only in men’s memories.
pp. 229-230.
Knowledge sharing prior to paper?
Joshua also addresses how when Socrates famously complained that writing destroys memory. This is certainly very intriguing. The closing chapter reveals that Joshua won the championship the following year and the techniques he used to secure his win.
Unquestionably, this is fascinating reading. I believe many will enjoy this book and find thoughtful insights regarding memorization techniques.
Talks at Google | Moonwalking with Einstein
TED | Feats of memory anyone can do
The Aspen Institute | The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
Elmhurst University | The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
Chicago Humanities Festival | Moonwalking with Einstein