A walk down memory lane

He's the Guiness Book of Records holder for memorising 500 numbers forwards and backwards, has several bestsellers to his credit including Secrets of a Superb Memory and is probably the owner of the sharpest memory in the world

He's the Guiness Book of Records holder for memorising 500 numbers forwards and backwards, has several bestsellers to his credit including Secrets of a Superb Memory and is probably the owner of the sharpest memory in the world. But Eran Katz' still of the opinion that his 'memory is as good as anyone else's.' At Israel's 63rd Independence Day celebrations, CS turns guinea pig for Eran as he helps us remember 10 random words in order in a matter of a minute:


Pic/Santosh Nagwekar
u00a0
Brain drain
We're all born with superpower memories, but our problem is that we find that hard to believe. Research shows that we use only 10 per cent of our brain at any given point in time. I'm just like you when it comes to remembering thingsu00a0-- I'm no genius. My mother thinks that I'm above average, while my wife thinks that I'm below average (laughs). If I remember some things better than others, it's only because I draw associations to things and make them seem interesting to me. Children have better memories because they specialise in asking questions. They want to know why the sky is blue or where babies come from. When we grow up, we think we know everything, so we lose the enthusiasm to learn and remember things. Our questions also turn boring, like 'why didn't you call today?' or 'what's for lunch?' If you let your brain stagnate, there's no way that you're going to remember things.

Forget me not
That's not to say that I don't forget things. For the life of me I can't remember to unplug the iron. So now, what I've started doing is to put my cellphone on the stool next to the iron table. And since I know that I will never step out without my phone, I also know that I will invariably remember to unplug the iron. It's an association that works for me. Even learning a new language is a piece of cake when you stop underestimating your memory. Research shows that we just need to know a thousand words to be able to comprehend 75 per cent of a newspaper. It's easier to do a job when it doesn't seem too Herculean.

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