09-29-2015, 10:30 AM
Hey guys,
Just watched this video of a 60/60 episode from a few years back.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-gift-of-endless-memory/
It made me connect a few thoughts together about how potentially we could have memory like that. I think the real key to their memory is their method of encoding events as they live them. There have been some experiments where scientists have used electric stimuli on the brain to invoke memories in that person. These memories are very detailed which leads me to believe that you can remember just about any experience you have ever had. The problem is that we have no way to access these memories. They are missing the correct "hooks" to be able to recall them. The people in this video have incredible memories because they are able to generate these hooks while encoding the memory. They can think about a certain date and know what happened that day. The hook was the date and the memory was attached to that hook.
The reason I think this is important is because there might be a way to train a person to be able to do a better job at encoding memories and generating hooks for them. There are two issues. First, you have to generate a hook as mentioned already. The second issue is strengthening the connection of that hook. For instance, if I'm learning Spanish (which I am) and I want to learn the word for hello, then I would hook the Spanish word Hola to the English word for Hello. Likewise I could make the opposite hook so when I see the word Hola, I know that means Hello in English. Only have seeing the word Hola many times and thinking about Hello does that strengthen the connection allowing near automatic recollection of that connection. If you could use a subliminal audio message to tell your subconscious to build that connect automatically then it could be a simple matter of studying that word a few times until you know it. My spanish teacher told me that he only has to look at a word list in a foreign language a few times before he knows the entire list. In contrast, I spend hours looking at the list. He has spent a lot of time learning language and so he can encode the information quickly and strengthen the connections.
Just watched this video of a 60/60 episode from a few years back.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-gift-of-endless-memory/
It made me connect a few thoughts together about how potentially we could have memory like that. I think the real key to their memory is their method of encoding events as they live them. There have been some experiments where scientists have used electric stimuli on the brain to invoke memories in that person. These memories are very detailed which leads me to believe that you can remember just about any experience you have ever had. The problem is that we have no way to access these memories. They are missing the correct "hooks" to be able to recall them. The people in this video have incredible memories because they are able to generate these hooks while encoding the memory. They can think about a certain date and know what happened that day. The hook was the date and the memory was attached to that hook.
The reason I think this is important is because there might be a way to train a person to be able to do a better job at encoding memories and generating hooks for them. There are two issues. First, you have to generate a hook as mentioned already. The second issue is strengthening the connection of that hook. For instance, if I'm learning Spanish (which I am) and I want to learn the word for hello, then I would hook the Spanish word Hola to the English word for Hello. Likewise I could make the opposite hook so when I see the word Hola, I know that means Hello in English. Only have seeing the word Hola many times and thinking about Hello does that strengthen the connection allowing near automatic recollection of that connection. If you could use a subliminal audio message to tell your subconscious to build that connect automatically then it could be a simple matter of studying that word a few times until you know it. My spanish teacher told me that he only has to look at a word list in a foreign language a few times before he knows the entire list. In contrast, I spend hours looking at the list. He has spent a lot of time learning language and so he can encode the information quickly and strengthen the connections.
