Memorize This

I'm reading Moonwalking with Einstein- The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer right now, and am completely mind blown.  He discusses memory as a dying art. The current chapter I'm in describes how far we've fallen since the golden ages of the Greek. Back then, they memorized scrolls. They internalized words, and learned them. Today, we skim. We read billboards and text messages. Some of us read a book in a week, or a day. When we move this quickly, we fail to absorb the content of what we lay our eyes on.

Foer described one guy who literally compiled an entire electronic database of his life. He recorded every conversation, scanned every sticky-note, thank you letter and tax return into his hard drive so that he would have every moment easily accessible. While I think this is a bit excessive, (OK, absolutely mental) I agree that we need to take more in. Life moves too quickly. They say we forget moments at about the same rate we relive new ones. I refuse to accept that as truth. We need to adapt as a society, think before we speak, and act in ways we want others to remember. (And then make an honest effort to remember more of what we do, read, hear and experience.)

While I don't want to store every moment of my life, or  be able to remember as well as some of the characters Foer meets and describes, I do want to be better at the art. After all, the world's greatest books and documents, ancient literature, were written at a time when reading was completely different. When "reading" meant "internalizing," not taking in words on a page for the sake of brief entertainment. Memory gives meaning.

More about Moonwalking with Einstein and Joshua Foer

• Rated one of the best books of the year on Amazon
• Foer appeared on The Colbert Report back in March
• Review appeared in the New York Times
• Appeared on 99% website

Go out and read it!!

This post is about human connection.

        So I recently began reading The Cider House Rules by John Irving. I've found it to be pretty unique so far-- I'm only 100 or so pages in and so much has unfolded already. I've found parts innocently describing bedtime stories and sections just pages later that describe dirty prostitutes and unsafe abortions.  It's gripping and different from what I've been used to lately. Here's a bit I enjoyed today:

If you love no one, and feel that no one loves you, there's no one with the power to sting you by pointing out that you're lying. If an orphan is not adopted by the time he reaches the alarming period of adolescence, he may continue to deceive himself, and others, forever. He believes he can trick the world. He believes he is invulnerable. An adolescent who is an orphan at this phase is in danger of never growing up.

        At the end of the day, what counts is human connection. It's a bit like rock climbing, if you dare indulge. You can't start a successful climb without the proper gear, and a well-trained spotter. What matters is having someone to grab your rope, before anyone else even realizes it's slipping. We need reliable lifelines who aren't deceitful, people who can see the whole face of the cliff and let us know where to put our hands and feet when we get stuck. We need friends who will stand at the top of the cliff ready to lift us out of our pits, put blankets on our back and salve on our hands. We need people to give us slack, give us tension, and help us stay safe as we crawl our way up our massive rock face. If we don't find these spotters, we'll either be too stunted to start the climb, or end up plummeting off of it somewhere in the middle.

Morals of the story:

• Adopt orphans so they have a home
• Read John Irving
• Don't go rock climbing under-prepared.