So his is different from what I usually read… very, very different… firstly because it’s not fiction… and I generally only read fiction. But… well… my dad told me to read this, and I rival Hermione Granger in terms of the amount I read, so… I read it. And I thought it would be really boring, because face it: that’s what all teenagers think when their parents tell them to read something, but, surprisingly, it’s not. It’s pretty interesting.
The book basically discusses memory. Human memory, and how even an average memory like mine can be used better- and this sounds like nonsense, but it works. I still remember a list I memorized 3 weeks ago… my friend tested me, and I still remembered everything, using a memory palace, which the book discusses. If you Google memory palaces, it also tells you what they are and how to make one; basically, it’s a place you know well enough, like your house or for a bigger memory palace, your school or even your town. You place the stuff you want to remember along a certain route, and it sticks. It’s explained better in Moonwalking with Einstein. And this is a technique apparently used by ‘mental athletes’ in the World Memory Championships. The book also tells you about how some people remembered everything, just by subconsciously placing everything in a memory palace- like, every single thing. Which is actually quite a lot.
One of the points there which I found pretty interesting is the thing about chess; I found it interesting because I play chess as well, sometimes… anyway, so it talks about how chess players who have played more games are better, which I’m sure every chess player knows, but it also tells you how playing more makes you better. It explains that because people have played more chess games, they have games in their memory to relate this one to; they recall thousands of moves, and because they have so much stuff to relate games to, they can memorize entire chess boards, and they can also analyze a move much faster, because they will think back to a game where someone made a certain move and it turned out like this.
It’s different from every single other book I have talked about on this site; probably one of the only non fantasy books I’m gonna talk about here; but it’s still pretty good.
Get your own copy from AMAZON
Moonwalking with Einstein WIKI site
Author Joshua Foer‘s official site
Author Joshua Foer’s TED talk on the technique – “Memory Palace”
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