Tricks that memory plays
By Roshni Johar

JUST imagine ...... the small human brain has the power to recall a staggering 86 billion pieces of information every day, stored deeply in our memory. And this mysterious memory is contained somewhere in the human brain’s "three-and-a-half pounds of pinkish-grey material with the consistency of oatmeal." Indeed, memory is one of the most amazing wonders of nature.

Some of the world’s famous personalities possessed astounding memories. Legend says that in ancient Greece, Themostocles knew the names of all the 20,000 Athenian citizens while Cyrus could recall the names of all soldiers of his vast army. Biographers of Julius Caesar opine that even he could address thousands of his soldiers by name.

Many literary giants possessed the unique quality of what is scientifically termed as a photographic memory. This simply implies that instead of remembering facts mentally, such persons instead, retain their visual image. They can look at somethings usually a page of a book for a few seconds, and then read it back, as if they were looking at a photograph of the page in their minds. This phenomenon is somewhat similar to light images recorded on photographic films or plates.

Scientists feel that one-fourth of all children under the age of 10, have a photographic memory (called eidetic imagery) which usually disappears by the end of adolescence.

This is why Ben Jonson the playwright as well the Rev John Beale, Chaplain to Charles II could recall from memory the contents of any book after a single reading. Not to be outdone, Seneca the Elder could recite — hold your breath — both backwards and forwards 200 long poems just for asking. And Bishop Jewel could do the same in English and foreign languages.

Joseph Scaliger memorised all the work of Homer in just 20 days. It is said that Lord Thomas Macaulay learnt John Milton’s Paradise Lost in a single night just in order to win a bet. He is credited with having written accurate histories without even bothering to read reference books.

However, it is a different story that Calvin Coolidge used Paradise Lost as a substitute for sleeping pills, reading a few pages every night before retiring. History tells us the T.E. Lawrence lost his attache case which contained the manuscript of Seven Pillars of Wisdom at Reading railway station. And the author rewrote the script from memory, writing day and night till the task was completed.

In a similar case, Mendelssohn when a mere lad, had composed the haunting music of A Midsummer Night’s Dream only to lose the original music sheets. He too had to rewrite it from memory.

Thomas Fuller had a unique way of writing. He used to dictate to five different assistants on five different subjects, without his memory ever confusing and letting him down. He also had the ability to recall all shop signs and that too in order in which way displayed on both the sides of the road.

The entrance examination to an Islamic institution in Egypt’s capital Cairo requires every student to repeat the holy Koran from memory. It takes at least three days to accomplish this feat and yet, no less than 25,000 students successfully memorise it.

If some of the world’s famous had fantastic memories, these were others too, who were extremely forgetful to the point of humiliation and embarrassment. There is the classic tale of the poor memory of Thomas Alva Edison. One day while he was deeply engrossed in trying to find a solution to a scientific problem, he had to go to the court to pay his tax. He had a stand in a line awaiting for his turn. And when finally his turn did come, Edison just plain forgot his own name! One of his neighbours who happened to be there, came to his rescue and whispered in his ear that his name was Thomas Alva Edison. Later Edison confused that he could not have remembered his name even if his life depended upon it.

Charlie Chaplin did not remember that last name of his private secretary Carlyle Robinson, who had worked for him for seven long years. Leonardo da Vinci was constantly writing notes and forgetting where he had placed them, thus losing them for posterity.

Sir Walter Scott, a victim of bad memory, praised one of his own poems thinking that Lord Byron had written it. And Lord Byron is said to have such a sharp memory that he could recite all the verses he ever wrote. Yet strangely, Sir Walter Scott was able to dictate one of his most famous books from memory.

However, it was Theodore Roosevelt who had successfully master-minded the secret of a good memory. He found out little personal details about the people he met, studied their facial expressions and their mannerisms and repeated their names until they were implanted in his memory. He once surprised a Japanese banker, whom he had not seen for 15 years, by immediately beginning to talk about a subject they had earlier discussed 15 years ago.

Tony Buzan, founder of World Memory Championship opines that memory is like a muscle which needs regular exercise — so it should be kept alert.