An unassuming personality, Israeli Eran Katz is both a best-selling author and an authority on memory and brain power. His books have been translated into 18 languages, including Thai and his bestsellers include Secrets Of The Super Memory and Five Gifts For The Mind.
Having won literary prizes along his journey to enlighten people on memory and intelligence, Katz was recently in Bangkok to share his secrets for accessing the brain's superpower.
He started with a bang. His first book Jerome Becomes A Genius clinched the top spot in the best-seller category. So far, the book has been printed in 14 editions.
In over two decades that he mastered his craft, the 50-something has conducted a string of lectures and seminars for multinational companies and organisations, making him a leading authority on the topic.
Katz also holds a title in the Israeli Guinness Book of World Records in the category of memory stunts.
The interesting aspects he shares in his books are a blend of ancient Jewish memorising techniques and modern memory tricks that have worked for him.
"If you think about it, our whole lives are based on our ability to remember -- names, faces, facts, places, words and languages. Some of us have better memory and some less, but the good news is that we can all improve using various techniques, some of which are even quite simple," remarked Katz before a talk in Bangkok.
If you are wondering whether Covid-19 impacts people's ability to remember, Katz said there was no concise report to support that theory. It is more the fear of losing our memory that impacts humans.
"If you experience memory-related issues, it is not linked with Covid. People underestimate their memory and think they have memory issues when in fact they don't.
"For example when you look for your phone or keys, and can't remember where you put them. This might happen to you twice a week, but you might feel that it has become an issue, when in fact if you make a rough calculation you will find that you tend to recall where you've kept your belongings more often than not.
"Nonetheless, there are things that affect memory and this can include fear and anxiety. Students might experience fear of not being able to remember what they've learned. Fear is the thought of not being able to remember information you learn. Being tired also affects our memory and so do certain medications. There are things that influence our memory but that doesn't mean that our actual memory is poor. The point is that it is outside factors that impact our ability to retain information than our memory in itself.''
Katz said his ability to remember developed during his school days when he searched for methods to retain information for exams without having to spend long hours hitting the books.
"I am from Haifa, which has a beautiful beach. While in high school I enjoyed spending my time at the beach more than at school, yet I wanted to get good grades and succeed in my studies. I started learning memory shortcuts which helped me to memorise material in half the time that others took.
"Reading books on such topics became a hobby, and changed my life because I was able to study with confidence, remember lots of material using these techniques, without having to give up my social life."
Katz said there are three principles of retentive memory: awareness, being interested and being organised.
Eran Katz gives a talk in Bangkok. Courtesy of Israel Embassy in Bangkok
"Paying attention and being aware is a huge part of retaining information, and is the 'save button' to your memory," remarked Katz. "Why is it that with certain things no matter what happens, you recall it vividly. It is because you made it a point to be aware of it. You forget because you just did not pay attention from the beginning. You have to consciously pay attention to remember. For this reason, people remember a favourite celebrity's most intimate details without having to put their thinking cap on.
"Being interested is also important. Interest builds curiosity so humans tend to retain stuff that keeps them hooked. Then there is being organised. It is a known fact that people who file everything tend to have a better memory."
Katz said there are a bunch of methods to sharpen one's memory, one of which includes the Roman Room Technique.
What makes this ancient technique stand out is that it helps you to remember unstructured information where the relationship of items of information to other items of information is not important. It functions by imagining a room, "say for example your sitting room/bedroom and within that room are objects".
"You observe that the technique works by associating images with other objects. To recall certain information, simply take a tour around the room in your mind, visualising the known objects and their associated images."
In his book Jerome Becomes A Genius, Katz also shares Jewish physical exercise techniques to boost memory. One of the most interesting is the back-and-forth swaying of religious Jews in particular that helps improve the flow of blood and oxygen supply to the brain, as does studying and thinking while walking.
