Moonwalking with Einstein Book Summary - Moonwalking with Einstein Book explained in key points

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Moonwalking with Einstein summary

Name: Moonwalking with Einstein
Rating: 4.2 (217 reviews)
Author: Joshua Foer

Joshua Foer

The Art and Science of Remembering Everything

4.2 (217 ratings)

20 mins

Topics

Learning Neuroscience Mental Health Skills

Table of Contents

Moonwalking with Einstein
Summary of 10 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 10

What’s in it for me? Learn how to improve the power of your memory.

Do you have a bad memory? For those of us who do, we tend to believe that we’ll be stuck with this limitation forever. But the truth is, anyone can vastly improve their ability to remember even complex information. All it takes is learning a few simple yet remarkably effective techniques.

In these blinks you will learn

how your memory works,
why the art of memory has declined since ancient times and
how you can store your memories in your childhood home.

Our memory capacity is not fixed: we can train ourselves to remember more.

Have you ever met someone with a knack for remembering names or facts and thought: “Why can’t I do that?” Well, anyone can improve their memory. All you need to do is learn how to use the capacity of your memory correctly – it’s far from being a talent that you either do or don’t have.

One way you can do this is by practicing the phonological loop method, where you repeat the things you need to remember to yourself. This method was demonstrated in a classic experiment by psychologist K. A. Ericsson and his colleague Bill Chase, who presented an undergraduate known as SF with digits that he had to repeat back to them.

At first, SF could retain around seven items in his phonological loop, which is considered an average result. However, after practicing this test for 250 hours, SF was able to expand his memory by a factor of 10.

Aside from the phonological loop method, you can also improve your memory in a particular field by becoming an expert in that area. In the 1920s, scientists tested world-class chess players on their general cognitive abilities, such as memory. They found that although expert players were far better at chess than average players, they did not perform significantly better on any of the general tests.

Later in the 1940s, however, a Dutch psychologist found that expert chess players do have a so-called “chess memory,” enabling them to see the chessboard differently than less experienced players. That is, they focus on spots on the board that are the most relevant and, rather than perceiving the board as 32 pieces, they see a few bigger pieces of the board.

Although their general memory remained the same, by becoming skilled at chess, their memory of the game developed massively.

Changing the way you store information in your brain can enable you to remember more.

Are you good at remembering numbers? Could you recite the numbers 1224200001012001 after reading them just once? Probably not. Most of us are only able to remember five to nine pieces of information at a time.

But what if you split these numbers into these dates: 12/24/2000 and 01/01/2001? The information stays the same, but suddenly it’s much easier to remember. This is known as chunking. Chunking means combining information into bigger pieces that are easier to remember.

We remember things unconsciously.

Have you ever wondered what a life without memories would feel like? Consider the famous case of an amnesiac known as EP, who became an amnesiac after a virus damaged the medial temporal lobes of his brain – a part that is vital for memory.

But even though EP isn’t able to learn new information to recall later, research shows that he can unconsciously. Psychologist Larry Squire showed EP (along with other patients) a list of 24 words to memorize. Within a few minutes, EP could not recall any of the words. In fact, he even forgot the exercise happened at all.

Memory was an important skill in the ancient world.

Many of us hated learning facts by rote in school – it all seemed so pointless. This is especially true today, when we can simply look up what we need to know online. In earlier times, however, recalling huge chunks of information was an important skill.

In fact, memorization professionals have existed throughout history as the bearers of the world’s oral tradition. Where written language was limited, their task was to remember in order to pass on knowledge and share cultural heritage.

Memory became less important once the printing press was invented.

So why is human memory so poor nowadays? Well, the decline in the importance of memory is actually tied to reading and the book.

Before the modern book there were scriptures. However, these were seen as a reminder of facts the reader already knew. They weren’t so friendly on the eyes, either: before 200 BC, scriptures didn’t even contain any punctuation and words ran together in a stream of capital letters without spaces. If you didn’t already know the content by heart, a format like this would’ve proved near impossible to use.

Schools don’t teach proper memory techniques, even though it could improve students’ education.

Why should we learn to improve our memory if we have books and smartphones within reach at all times? Easy: because your memory can actually help you achieve more.

Take history teacher Raemon Matthews’ students. Matthews teaches at a South Bronx high school where the students’ average socioeconomic status is low and the dropout rate is high. Each year, he selects a group of students he calls the “Talented Tenth,” teaches them memory techniques and enters them in the USA Memory Championship.

If you want to better remember people’s names, turn their names into vivid images.

Imagine being at a cocktail party where you don’t know anyone. Are you already breaking out in a sweat at the thought of trying to learn new names? If this is the case, you might just need to make the abstract names more memorable for your brain.

Why does it work? Let’s look at the baker/Baker paradox to see how our brain favors more impressive facts in memorization.

Use images or emotions to remember lengthy pieces of text.

Have you ever camped out under the stars with a date and all that was missing was some well-recited Shakespeare? Well, even if poetry isn’t your thing, remembering poems or famous speeches can be impressive to a certain kind of romantic.

But how can you memorize such involved text?

To remember facts, assign them to a room in your memory palace.

Now that you have an idea of how to convert abstract ideas into memorable forms, you need to know how to store them properly and retrieve them at will. This is where your memory palace comes into play.

The memory palace, or the method of loci, as it was called by the Romans, assigns every image a certain place along a well-known route or place that stands out in your mind. Because our brains are particularly adept at remembering locations, this is a very effective technique.

Final Summary

The key message in this book:

The art of memorizing has declined since ancient times, when reciting texts and stories was a respected, vital ability. These days we rely more on books and technology for storing information and an outstanding memory is often associated with savants. However, by using the right techniques and putting in some practice time, anyone can achieve extraordinary memory skills.

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What is Moonwalking with Einstein about?

Moonwalking with Einstein takes us on the author’s journey towards becoming the USA Memory Champion. Along the way he explains why an extraordinary memory isn’t just available to a select few people but to all of us. The book explores how memory works, why we’re worse at remembering than our ancestors, and explains specific techniques for improving your own memory.

Best quote from Moonwalking with Einstein

A great memory isnt just a by-product of expertise; it is the essence of expertise.

—Joshua Foer

Who should read Moonwalking with Einstein?

Anyone who can’t remember their spouse’s or best friend’s phone number
Anyone who wants to impress others with their broad knowledge at a cocktail party
Anyone who has trouble remembering names

About the Author

Joshua Foer is a Yale graduate and freelance science journalist. His work has appeared in The New York Times, National Geographic and The Washington Post.

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