Joshua Foer - Moonwalking with Einstein A SUMMARY

Joshua  Foer – Moonwalking with Einstein

Did I miss it, or does the author not explain the meaning of the title?

The book is a magical mystery tour through the world of memory competition both US competition and world competition.  I had no idea there was such a world.  The author enters and wins the US competition.  

I understand the mnemonic concept of the Memory Palace.  I can’t see myself utilizing such a technique.  But then again, I have no desire to memorize the Pelham phone book, a deck of cards in 90 seconds, or the first 10,000 digits of Pi.

One of the refrains in the book is “anybody can do it.”  That is, anybody can master memory techniques to memorize huge mountains of data.  The question is: who wants to?  

The possible link between savants and people using mnemonic techniques is interesting.  The human mind is capable of incredible things, sure, whether because of genetics, brain damage, or learned techniques.

Cognitive psychology, brain research, is all the rage these days and rightly so.    Interesting stuff to be sure, but I don’t lie awake at night thinking about the results of some memory research at Florida State.

The old idea that memory---the proper retention and ordering of knowledge---is a vital instrument in the invention of new ideas is an provocative concept.  P. 12

Yes, Baby Boomers like me are always afraid of “losing their marbles.”  P. 12

The book’s history of memory and the importance of memory before printing is perhaps the best part of the book for this history major.

I feel sorry for S, the man who remembered too much.  Chapter Two

I can relate to the idea that it is what we forget rather than remember that makes us human.  P. 37

The “neuroplasticity” of the brain is much commented on these days.  P. 38

The business about chicken sexing is fascinating!  The way such expertise comes from experience is doubly fascinating.  Chapter Three

The magical number 7.  P. 56

How chess experts can look at the board quickly and make the correct move.  It’s all in context, not in analysis.    P. 65

Who we are and what we do is largely a function of memory.  P. 66

Chapter Four.  The most forgetful man in the world.  What a sad story.  How horrible it would be to be like this.

Once upon a time every literate person had memory training---considered a centerpiece of classical education on a par with logic, grammar, and rhetoric.  Students were taught not just what to remember but how to remember.  Those were the days!   P. 95

The difference between natural and artificial memory.  P. 96

The loci method.  P. 97

Fast reading vs. ruminating on what you’ve read.  P. 110

The phrase “in the first place” is a residue from the art of memory.  P. 123

I enjoy the discussion about Homer.  Did Homer write Homer?  P. 125-129

Chapter Seven.  How we’ve externalized our memories.  Socrates disdained writing.  He was wrong.  If someone had not written down what he said, we today would not know what he said.  P. 139

How punctuation was invented.  How fascinating!  P. 140-142

Reading is an act of remembering?  P. 143

Fascinating discussion of the addition of TOCs and indexes. Less reason to remember things.   P. 144-145

The author points out that we read quickly these days.  We value quantity over quality.  At least I do.  P. 147-148

We read and we read and we read and we forget what we read.  Yes, I am guilty.  P. 148

I would hate to record everything in my life like Gordon Bell.  How awful!  P. 156

There is a distinct “me” driving the bus.  P. 161

Chapter Eight:  The OK Plateau.  I understand and I understand the way to improve is thru focused practice: deliberate practice which is very hard.

I take it that students memorize less in school than they used to.  The author traces this back to the influence of Rousseau.  P. 192

Then we go thru William James and John Dewey.  One day I’ll read up on Dewey, that calcified old liberal.  P. 192-194

Memory and creativity are two sides of the same coin.  You need memory to be creative.  P. 202

“Memory is how we transmit virtues and values, and partake of a shared culture.  P. 208

The people we admire have facts, anecdotes, quotes at their disposal.  It enlivens their conversation.  You can’t do this without remembering things.  P. 209

The intertwining of senses of the little rainmen sounds non-appetizing to me.  P. 216

I do not want to be a savant.  No little rainman in me!

No memory competition for me.  I just want to remember names, faces, and things I’m supposed to remember in everyday life.