Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer

My notes from the book.

Our experiences and memories may alter the physical structure of our brains.

Memories are organized in our brains as connections among neurons.  Where those memories actually lie is still unknown.

Applying information spatially and visually is helpful with memorizing.

Connecting information to already known facts or experiences is helpful with memorizing.

A monotonous life compresses time.  Having new experiences causes our psychological time, or how we experience time, to lengthen and seem fuller.  The more mental landmarks we have, then the slower time seems.  As the author puts it, “Creating new memories stretches out psychological time, and lengthens our perception of our lives," and  “Monotony collapses time; novelty unfolds it.”

Anyone can improve his or her memory.

Two types of memories: explicit and implicit.  Explicit is things you know you remember.  Implicit is things you know unconsciously.  They rely on different parts of the brain.  Explicit relies on the hippocampus.

Explicit memory is divided into semantic and episodic.  Semantic is facts and concepts.  Episodic is experiences.

When writing first began, there were no spaces or punctuation.  Reading was done aloud.  Not until there were spaces and punctuation did reading become silent.

Before writing, when stories were told orally, rhyming, repetition, and other devices were used to help people remember.  Consequently, when stories were told, they were not always told verbatim.  Rather, the gist was told.  With writing, it became possible to remember verbatim, and writing became more complex and less structured.

When writing started, it was considered a means to remember what a person already knows.  It was not about learning new information.  But, as the book evolved - with spaces, punctuation, indexes, tables of contents, and page numbers - writing and reading evolved too.  Before indexes, finding a bit of information meant looking through the entire text.  With indexes, people could skip to what they wanted.

The author did not improve his everyday memory with the techniques discussed, such as the memory palace.  He still forgets where he put his keys, for example.  But he insists that cultivating better memories is important because memory is inherently human and because who we are and how we act are products of our memories.

Moonwalking with Einstein is one of the images he uses for memorizing.