TED2012
Joshua Foer: Feats of memory anyone can do
Joshua Foer: Hukommelsebedrifter alle kan præstere
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5,663,855 views
Der er mennesker der hurtigt kan huske lister med tusindvis af numre, rækkefølgen på alle kortene i et kortspil (eller ti!), og meget mere. Videnskabsskribent Joshua Foer beskriver teknikken -- kaldet hukommelses paladset -- og viser dens mest bemærkelsesværdige træk: alle kan lære at bruge det, inklusiv ham selv.
Joshua Foer - Writer
Joshua Foer is a science writer who 'accidentally' won the U.S. Memory Championship. Full bio
Joshua Foer is a science writer who 'accidentally' won the U.S. Memory Championship. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:16
I'd like to invite you to close your eyes.
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Jeg vil gerne bede Jer om at lukke jeres øjne.
00:20
Imagine yourself standing
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Forestil Jer, at I står
00:23
outside the front door of your home.
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ude foran døren til Jeres hus.
00:27
I'd like you to notice the color of the door,
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Jeg vil gerne bede Jer om at lægge mærke til dørens farve,
00:30
the material that it's made out of.
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materialet den er lavet af.
00:34
Now visualize a pack of overweight nudists on bicycles.
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Forestil Jer nu en flok overvægtige nudister på cykler.
00:41
They are competing in a naked bicycle race,
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De konkurrerer i et nøgen cykelløb
00:44
and they are headed straight for your front door.
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og de er på vej lige til din hoveddør.
00:48
I need you to actually see this.
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Jeg har brug for at I kan se dette.
00:50
They are pedaling really hard, they're sweaty,
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De træder hårdt i pedalerne, de sveder,
00:53
they're bouncing around a lot.
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de hopper og og ned.
00:56
And they crash straight into the front door of your home.
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Og de styrter lige ind i fordøren til Jeres hus.
01:00
Bicycles fly everywhere, wheels roll past you,
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Cykler flyver ud over det hele, hjulene ruller forbi dig,
01:04
spokes end up in awkward places.
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eger lander uheldige steder.
01:07
Step over the threshold of your door
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Gå over dørtærsklen til din dør
01:11
into your foyer, your hallway, whatever's on the other side,
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ind i din forhal, din entré, hvad end der er på den anden side,
01:13
and appreciate the quality of the light.
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og værdsæt lyskvaliteten.
01:17
The light is shining down on Cookie Monster.
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Lyset skinner ned på Cookie Monster.
01:23
Cookie Monster is waving at you
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Cookie Monster vinker til dig
01:26
from his perch on top of a tan horse.
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fra sin plads på toppen af en mørk hest.
01:29
It's a talking horse.
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Det er en talende hest.
01:31
You can practically feel his blue fur tickling your nose.
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Man kan næsten mærke hans blå pels der kilder ens næse.
01:35
You can smell the oatmeal raisin cookie that he's about to shovel into his mouth.
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Man kan dufte havregrynskagerne med rosin, som han skal til at skovle i munden.
01:40
Walk past him. Walk past him into your living room.
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Gå forbi ham. Gå forbi ham ind i din stue.
01:43
In your living room, in full imaginative broadband,
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I din stue, i fuld fantasirig figur,
01:46
picture Britney Spears.
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forestil dig Britney Spears.
01:49
She is scantily clad, she's dancing on your coffee table,
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Hun er meget let påklædt, hun danser på dit kaffebord,
01:55
and she's singing "Hit Me Baby One More Time."
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og hun synger "Hit Me Baby One More Time".
01:57
And then follow me into your kitchen.
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Og følg så efter mig ind i dit køkken.
02:00
In your kitchen, the floor has been paved over with a yellow brick road
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I dit køkken, er gulvet brolagt med gule brosten,
02:04
and out of your oven are coming towards you
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og imod dig ud af ovnen kommer
02:08
Dorothy, the Tin Man,
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Dorothy, Blikmanden,
02:10
the Scarecrow and the Lion from "The Wizard of Oz,"
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Fugleskræmslet og Løven fra "Troldmanden fra Oz",
02:13
hand-in-hand skipping straight towards you.
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hånd i hånd, sjippende direkte hen imod dig.
02:15
Okay. Open your eyes.
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Okay. Åben øjnene.
02:20
I want to tell you about a very bizarre contest
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Jeg vil fortælle Jer om en meget bizar konkurrence
02:23
that is held every spring in New York City.
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der bliver afholdt hvert forår i New York City.
02:26
It's called the United States Memory Championship.
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Det hedder United States Memory Championship.
02:30
And I had gone to cover this contest a few years back
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Og jeg var taget afsted for at dække denne konkurrence for et par år siden,
02:33
as a science journalist
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som videnskabsjournalist
02:35
expecting, I guess, that this was going to be
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og forventede, tror jeg, at det ville blive
02:37
like the Superbowl of savants.
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ligesom Superbowl for nørder.
02:40
This was a bunch of guys and a few ladies,
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Dette var en bunke fyre og et par damer,
02:44
widely varying in both age and hygienic upkeep.
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med stor forskel i både alder og hygiejnisk tilstand.
02:48
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
02:51
They were memorizing hundreds of random numbers,
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De lærte hundredevis af tilfældige numre udenad,
02:55
looking at them just once.
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bare ved at kigge på dem én gang.
02:56
They were memorizing the names of dozens and dozens and dozens of strangers.
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De lærte navnene på dusinvis og dusinvis og dusinvis af fremmede mennesker udenad.
03:01
They were memorizing entire poems in just a few minutes.
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De lærte hele digte udenad, i løbet af ganske få minutter.
03:04
They were competing to see who could memorize
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De konkurrerede om hvem der hurtigst kunne lære
03:06
the order of a shuffled pack of playing cards the fastest.
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rækkefølgen på et blandet spil kort udenad.
03:10
I was like, this is unbelievable.
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Jeg tænkte, det her er utroligt.
03:12
These people must be freaks of nature.
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Disse mennesker må være et af naturens luner.
03:15
And I started talking to a few of the competitors.
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Og jeg begyndte at snakke med et par af deltagerne.
03:19
This is a guy called Ed Cook
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Det her er en fyr der hedder Ed Cook
03:20
who had come over from England
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der var kommet herover fra England
03:22
where he had one of the best trained memories.
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hvor han havde en af de bedst trænede hukommelser.
03:24
And I said to him, "Ed, when did you realize
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Og jeg sagde til ham, "Ed, hvornår gik det op for dig,
03:27
that you were a savant?"
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at du er en savant?"
03:30
And Ed was like, "I'm not a savant.
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Og Ed sagde, "Jeg er ikke en savant.
03:33
In fact, I have just an average memory.
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Faktisk, har jeg en ganske gennemsnitlig hukommelse.
03:35
Everybody who competes in this contest
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Alle der deltager i denne konkurrence
03:37
will tell you that they have just an average memory.
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vil fortælle dig at de har en gennemsnitlig hukommelse.
03:40
We've all trained ourselves
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Vi har alle trænet os selv
03:42
to perform these utterly miraculous feats of memory
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til at udføre disse komplet mirakuløse hukommelsesbedrifter
03:46
using a set of ancient techniques,
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ved at bruge en mængde gamle teknikker,
03:48
techniques invented 2,500 years ago in Greece,
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teknikker opfundet for 2.500 år siden i Grækenland,
03:52
the same techniques that Cicero had used
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de samme teknikker Cicero brugte
03:55
to memorize his speeches,
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til at lære sine taler udenad,
03:57
that medieval scholars had used to memorize entire books."
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som lærde i middelalderen brugte til at lære hele bøger udenad."
04:01
And I was like, "Whoa. How come I never heard of this before?"
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Og jeg tænkte, "Whoa. Hvordan kan det være,at jeg ikke har hørt om det her før?"
04:05
And we were standing outside the competition hall,
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Og vi stod uden for hallen hvor konkurrencen foregik,
04:08
and Ed, who is a wonderful, brilliant,
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og Ed, der er en vidunderlig, genial,
04:11
but somewhat eccentric English guy,
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men en smule excentrisk engelsk fyr,
04:14
says to me, "Josh, you're an American journalist.
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sagde til mig, "Josh, du er en amerikansk journalist.
04:19
Do you know Britney Spears?"
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Kender du Britney Spears?"
04:21
I'm like, "What? No. Why?"
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Jeg sagde, "Hvad? Nej. Hvorfor?"
04:26
"Because I really want to teach Britney Spears
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"Fordi jeg kunne rigtig godt tænkte mig at lære Britney Spears
04:29
how to memorize the order of a shuffled pack of playing cards
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hvordan man lærer rækkefølgen på et kortspil udenad
04:31
on U.S. national television.
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på amerikansk tv.
04:34
It will prove to the world that anybody can do this."
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Det vil bevise for verden, at alle kan gøre dette".
04:37
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
04:41
I was like, "Well I'm not Britney Spears,
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Jeg sagde, "Tja, Jeg er ikke Britney Spears,
04:45
but maybe you could teach me.
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men måske kan du lære mig det.
04:48
I mean, you've got to start somewhere, right?"
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Jeg mener, man skal starte et sted, ikke?"
04:50
And that was the beginning of a very strange journey for me.
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Og det var begyndelsen på en meget underlig rejse for mig.
04:54
I ended up spending the better part of the next year
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Og jeg endte med at bruge størstedelen af det efterfølgende år
04:57
not only training my memory,
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ikke kun på at træne min hukommelse,
04:59
but also investigating it,
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men også på at undersøge den,
05:01
trying to understand how it works,
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og prøve at forstå hvordan den fungerer,
05:03
why it sometimes doesn't work
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hvorfor den nogen gange ikke virker
05:05
and what its potential might be.
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og hvad dens potentiale kunne være.
05:07
I met a host of really interesting people.
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Jeg mødte en masse meget interessante mennesker.
05:10
This is a guy called E.P.
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Det her er en fyr der hedder E.P.
05:11
He's an amnesic who had, very possibly,
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Han lider af hukommelsestab, og har muligvis
05:14
the very worst memory in the world.
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den allerdårligste hukommelse i verden.
05:17
His memory was so bad
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Han hukommelse var så dårlig
05:18
that he didn't even remember he had a memory problem,
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at han ikke engang kunne huske, at han have et problem med hukommelsen
05:21
which is amazing.
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hvilket er utroligt.
05:23
And he was this incredibly tragic figure,
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Og han var denne utrolig tragiske skikkelse,
05:25
but he was a window into the extent
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men han var et vindue til det omfang
05:27
to which our memories make us who we are.
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hvorpå vores hukommelse skaber den vi er.
05:31
The other end of the spectrum: I met this guy.
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Den anden ende af skalaen: jeg mødte denne fyr.
05:34
This is Kim Peek.
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Dette er Kim Peek.
05:35
He was the basis for Dustin Hoffman's character in the movie "Rain Man."
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Han dannede grundlaget for Dustin Hoffmans karakter i filmen "Rain Man".
05:39
We spent an afternoon together
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Vi tilbragte en eftermiddag sammen
05:41
in the Salt Lake City Public Library memorizing phone books,
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i Salt Lake Citys bibliotek med at lære telefonbøger udenad,
05:45
which was scintillating.
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hvilket var glimrende.
05:48
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
05:51
And I went back and I read a whole host of memory treatises,
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Og jeg tog tilbage og læste en hel række afhandlinger om hukommelsen,
05:55
treatises written 2,000-plus years ago
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afhandlinger der var skrevet over 2.000 år siden
05:58
in Latin in Antiquity
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på latin i antikken
06:00
and then later in the Middle Ages.
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og så senere i Middelalderen.
06:03
And I learned a whole bunch of really interesting stuff.
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Og jeg lærte en masse virkelig interessante ting.
06:05
One of the really interesting things that I learned
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En af de virkelig interessante ting jeg lærte var
06:08
is that once upon a time,
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at engang,
06:11
this idea of having a trained, disciplined, cultivated memory
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var denne ide om at have en trænet, disciplineret, kultiveret hukommelse,
06:17
was not nearly so alien as it would seem to us to be today.
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ikke nær så fjern som den er i dag.
06:22
Once upon a time, people invested in their memories,
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Engang, investerede mennesker i deres hukommelse,
06:26
in laboriously furnishing their minds.
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ved flittigt at udruste deres sind.
06:31
Over the last few millenia
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I løbet af de seneste årtusinder
06:34
we've invented a series of technologies --
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har vi opfundet en række teknologier --
06:36
from the alphabet to the scroll
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fra alfabetet til skriftrullen
06:39
to the codex, the printing press, photography,
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til kodekset, til trykpressen, fotografering,
06:41
the computer, the smartphone --
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computeren, smartphonen --
06:43
that have made it progressively easier and easier
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der har gjort det gradvist nemmere og nemmere
06:46
for us to externalize our memories,
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for os at eksternalisere vores hukommelse,
06:49
for us to essentially outsource
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dybest set outsourcer vi
06:51
this fundamental human capacity.
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denne fundamentalt menneskelige evne.
06:54
These technologies have made our modern world possible,
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Disse teknologier har muliggjort vores moderne verden,
06:58
but they've also changed us.
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men de har også forandret os.
07:00
They've changed us culturally,
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De har ændret os kulturelt,
07:02
and I would argue that they've changed us cognitively.
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og jeg vil argumentere for, at de har ændret os kognitivt.
07:05
Having little need to remember anymore,
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Fordi der efterhånden er mindre behov for at huske,
07:08
it sometimes seems like we've forgotten how.
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virker der nogen gange som om vi har glemt hvordan man gør.
07:11
One of the last places on Earth
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Et af de sidste steder i verden
07:13
where you still find people passionate about this idea
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hvor man stadig kan finde mennesker der er passionerede omkring denne ide
07:16
of a trained, disciplined, cultivated memory
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om en trænet, disciplineret, kultiveret hukommelse
07:19
is at this totally singular memory contest.
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er ved denne helt enestående hukommelseskonkurrence.
07:22
It's actually not that singular,
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Den er faktisk ikke så enestående,
07:23
there are contests held all over the world.
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der bliver afholdt konkurrencer i hele verden.
07:25
And I was fascinated, I wanted to know how do these guys do it.
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Og jeg var fascineret, jeg ville vide hvordan disse gutter gør det.
07:29
A few years back a group of researchers at University College London
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For et par år siden, bragte en gruppe forskere fra University College London
07:34
brought a bunch of memory champions into the lab.
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en gruppe hukommelsesmestre ind i laboratoriet.
07:37
They wanted to know:
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De ville gerne vide:
07:38
Do these guys have brains
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Har disse gutter en hjerne
07:40
that are somehow structurally, anatomically different from the rest of ours?
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der på en eller anden måde er strukturelt, anatomisk forskellig fra os andres?
07:44
The answer was no.
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Svaret var nej.
07:47
Are they smarter than the rest of us?
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Er de klogere end resten af os?
07:50
They gave them a bunch of cognitive tests,
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De gav dem en række kognitive tests,
07:52
and the answer was not really.
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og svaret var, ikke rigtigt.
07:54
There was however one really interesting and telling difference
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Der var dog en rigtig interessant og informativ forskel
07:58
between the brains of the memory champions
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mellem hjernen på hukommelsesmestrene
08:00
and the control subjects that they were comparing them to.
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og kontrolpersonerne som de sammenlignede dem med.
08:02
When they put these guys in an fMRI machine,
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Da de puttede disse gutter i fMRI maskinen,
08:05
scanned their brains
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skannede deres hjerner
08:07
while they were memorizing numbers and people's faces and pictures of snowflakes,
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mens de lærte numre og menneskers ansigter, og billeder af sneflager udenad,
08:12
they found that the memory champions
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fandt de ud af at hukommelsesmestrene
08:14
were lighting up different parts of the brain
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lyste op på andre steder i hjernen
08:17
than everyone else.
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end alle andre.
08:19
Of note, they were using, or they seemed to be using,
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Særligt brugte de, eller virkede til at bruge,
08:22
a part of the brain that's involved in spatial memory and navigation.
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en bestemt del af hjernen der bliver brugt til spatial hukommelse og navigation.
08:26
Why? And is there something the rest of us can learn from this?
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Hvorfor? Og er der noget vi andre kan lære af det?
08:32
The sport of competitive memorizing
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Sporten om konkurrerende hukommelse
08:37
is driven by a kind of arms race
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er drevet af en slags våbenkapløb
08:39
where every year somebody comes up
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hvor en ny person hvert år finder på
08:43
with a new way to remember more stuff more quickly,
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en ny metode til at huske flere ting hurtigere,
08:45
and then the rest of the field has to play catchup.
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og så må resten af feltet lære at følge med.
08:47
This is my friend Ben Pridmore,
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Dette er min ven Ben Pridmore,
08:49
three-time world memory champion.
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tredobbelt hukommelses verdensmester.
08:51
On his desk in front of him
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På bordet foran ham
08:52
are 36 shuffled packs of playing cards
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er der 36 sæt blandede kortspil
08:56
that he is about to try to memorize in one hour,
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som han skal til at forsøge at huske udenad på en time
08:59
using a technique that he invented and he alone has mastered.
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ved hjælp af den teknik han opfandt og som kun han har mestret.
09:03
He used a similar technique
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Han brugte en lignende teknik
09:05
to memorize the precise order
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til at udenadslære den præcise rækkefølge
09:08
of 4,140 random binary digits
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på 4.140 tilfælde binære tal
09:13
in half an hour.
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på en halv time.
09:16
Yeah.
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Ja.
09:18
And while there are a whole host of ways
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Og mens der er en hel stak forskellige måder
09:22
of remembering stuff in these competitions,
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at huske ting på i disse konkurrencer,
09:25
everything, all of the techniques that are being used,
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kan alt, alle teknikker der bliver brugt,
09:28
ultimately come down to a concept
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i sidste ende koges ned til et koncept
09:31
that psychologists refer to as elaborative encoding.
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som psykologer refererer til som detaljeret kodning.
09:35
And it's well illustrated by a nifty paradox
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Og det illustreres godt ved hjælp af et smart lille paradoks
09:37
known as the Baker/baker paradox,
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kendt som Bager / bager paradokset,
09:39
which goes like this:
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hvilket er dette:
09:41
If I tell two people to remember the same word,
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Hvis jeg fortæller to mennesker at de skal huske det samme ord,
09:44
if I say to you,
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hvis jeg siger til dig,
09:45
"Remember that there is a guy named Baker."
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3627
"Husk på at der er en fyr der hedder Bager."
09:49
That's his name.
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Det er hans navn.
09:50
And I say to you, "Remember that there is a guy who is a baker."
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Og jeg siger til dig, "Husk på at der er en fyr der er bager".
09:56
And I come back to you at some point later on,
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3242
Og jeg kommer tilbage til jer på et senere tidspunkt,
09:59
and I say, "Do you remember that word
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og jeg siger, "Kan I huske det ord
10:03
that I told you a while back?
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som jeg fortalte Jer for noget tid siden?
10:04
Do you remember what it was?"
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Kan I huske hvad det var?"
10:06
The person who was told his name is Baker
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Personen der fik at vide at hans navn var Bager
10:09
is less likely to remember the same word
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har mindre sandsynlighed for at huske det samme ord
10:11
than the person was told his job is that he is a baker.
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end personen der fik at vide at han er bager.
10:15
Same word, different amount of remembering; that's weird.
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Samme ord, forskellig slags hukommelse; det er mærkeligt.
10:18
What's going on here?
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1977
Hvad sker der her?
10:20
Well the name Baker doesn't actually mean anything to you.
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Jo, navnet Bager betyder egentlig ikke rigtig noget for en.
10:25
It is entirely untethered
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Det er total afsondret
10:27
from all of the other memories floating around in your skull.
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fra alle andre minder der flyder rundt i ens kranie.
10:31
But the common noun baker,
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1890
Men det almindelige navneord bager,
10:33
we know bakers.
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1871
vi kender bagere.
10:34
Bakers wear funny white hats.
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2029
Bagere har mærkelige hvide hatte på.
10:37
Bakers have flour on their hands.
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1627
Bagere har mel på deres hænder.
10:38
Bakers smell good when they come home from work.
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Bagere lugter godt når de kommer hjem fra arbejde.
10:40
Maybe we even know a baker.
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Måske kender vi endda en bager.
10:42
And when we first hear that word,
210
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1411
Og da vi først hørte det ord,
10:44
we start putting these associational hooks into it
211
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begyndte vi at sætte en masse associerende kroge i det
10:47
that make it easier to fish it back out at some later date.
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4071
der gør det nemmere at fiske det tilbage på et senere tidspunkt.
10:51
The entire art of what is going on
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2958
Hele kunstarten af hvad der sker
10:54
in these memory contests
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2115
ved disse hukommelseskonkurrencer
10:56
and the entire art of remembering stuff better in everyday life
215
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3227
og hele kunstarten med at huske ting bedre i hverdagen
10:59
is figuring out ways to transform capital B Bakers
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3986
er at finde ud af måder hvorpå man kan forandre stort B Bagere
11:03
into lower-case B bakers --
217
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1996
til lille B bagere --
11:05
to take information that is lacking in context,
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3387
at tage informationen der har mangler i kontekst,
11:08
in significance, in meaning
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2306
i betydning, i mening
11:11
and transform it in some way
220
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1550
og ændre det på en eller anden måde
11:12
so that it becomes meaningful
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2175
så det bliver betydningsfuldt
11:14
in the light of all the other things that you have in your mind.
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set i lyset af alle de andre ting man har i sindet.
11:19
One of the more elaborate techniques for doing this
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3734
En af de mere indviklede teknikker til at gøre dette
11:23
dates back 2,500 years to Ancient Greece.
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3919
er 2.500 år gammel og stammer fra oldtidens Grækenland.
11:27
It came to be known as the memory palace.
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671417
1978
Det blev kendt som hukommelses paladset.
11:29
The story behind its creation goes like this:
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3425
Historien bag dens skabelse er denne:
11:32
There was a poet called Simonides
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2972
Der var en poet der hed Simonides
11:35
who was attending a banquet.
228
679792
1906
der deltog ved en festmiddag.
11:37
He was actually the hired entertainment,
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2248
Han var faktisk den hyrede underholdning,
11:39
because back then if you wanted to throw a really slamming party,
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3012
fordi hvis man dengang ville holde en virkelig fed fest,
11:42
you didn't hire a D.J., you hired a poet.
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3212
hyrede man ikke en D.J., man hyrede en poet.
11:46
And he stands up, delivers his poem from memory, walks out the door,
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4870
Og han rejser sig, overbringer sit digte citeret fra hukommelsen, går ud af døren,
11:50
and at the moment he does, the banquet hall collapses,
233
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5112
og i øjeblikket da han gør det, styrter festhallen sammen,
11:56
kills everybody inside.
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og dræber alle derinde.
11:58
It doesn't just kill everybody,
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2565
Det dræber ikke kun alle,
12:01
it mangles the bodies beyond all recognition.
236
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3864
det lemlæster alle ligene så de er ugenkendelige.
12:05
Nobody can say who was inside,
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2321
Ingen kan sige hvem der befandt sig derinde,
12:07
nobody can say where they were sitting.
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3171
ingen kan sige hvor de sad.
12:10
The bodies can't be properly buried.
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2239
Ligene kan ikke begraves korrekt.
12:12
It's one tragedy compounding another.
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3843
Den ene tragedie forværrer den anden.
12:16
Simonides, standing outside,
241
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2704
Simondies, der står udenfor,
12:19
the sole survivor amid the wreckage,
242
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2131
den eneste overlevende i midten af ødelæggelserne,
12:21
closes his eyes and has this realization,
243
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3636
lukker sine øjne og gør den opdagelse,
12:25
which is that in his mind's eye,
244
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2538
at han for sit indre øje,
12:27
he can see where each of the guests at the banquet had been sitting.
245
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5145
kan se hvor alle gæsterne sad ved festmiddagen.
12:32
And he takes the relatives by the hand
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2343
Og han tager de pårørende i hånden
12:35
and guides them each to their loved ones amid the wreckage.
247
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4058
og fører dem hver især hen til deres kære, midt i ødelæggelserne.
12:39
What Simonides figured out at that moment
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3264
Hvad Simonides fandt ud af i det øjeblik
12:42
is something that I think we all kind of intuitively know,
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3433
er noget jeg tror vi alle instinktivt ved,
12:45
which is that, as bad as we are
250
750088
2412
hvilket er, at hvor dårlige vi end er
12:48
at remembering names and phone numbers
251
752500
2894
til at huske navne og telefonnumre
12:51
and word-for-word instructions from our colleagues,
252
755394
2658
og ord for ord instruktioner fra vores kolleger,
12:53
we have really exceptional visual and spatial memories.
253
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5490
så har vi virkelig exceptionelle visuelle og rumlige hukommelser.
12:59
If I asked you to recount the first 10 words
254
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3596
Hvis jeg bad Jer om at gengive de første 10 ord
13:03
of the story that I just told you about Simonides,
255
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2464
af den historie jeg lige fortalte Jer om Simonides,
13:05
chances are you would have a tough time with it.
256
769602
2488
ville I sandsynligvis have rigtig svært ved det.
13:07
But I would wager
257
772090
2314
Men jeg vil vædde med,
13:10
that if I asked you to recall
258
774404
2683
at hvis jeg bad Jer huske
13:12
who is sitting on top of a talking tan horse
259
777087
4556
hvem der sidder på en talende, mørk hest
13:17
in your foyer right now,
260
781643
1998
i Jeres forhal lige nu,
13:19
you would be able to see that.
261
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2325
ville I være i stand til at se det.
13:21
The idea behind the memory palace
262
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2530
Ideen med hukommelses paladset
13:24
is to create this imagined edifice in your mind's eye
263
788496
4633
er at skabe dette forestillede bygningsværk for ens indre øje
13:29
and populate it with images
264
793129
1746
og fylde det med billeder
13:30
of the things that you want to remember --
265
794875
2208
af de ting man vil huske --
13:32
the crazier, weirder, more bizarre,
266
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3329
jo mere skørt, mærkeligt, bizart,
13:36
funnier, raunchier, stinkier the image is,
267
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3600
sjovt, beskidt, stinkende billedet er,
13:39
the more unforgettable it's likely to be.
268
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2875
jo mere uforglemmeligt er det.
13:42
This is advice that goes back 2,000-plus years
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2834
Dette er råd der er mere end 2.000 år gammelt
13:45
to the earliest Latin memory treatises.
270
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2785
til de tidligste latinske afhandlinger om hukommelsen.
13:48
So how does this work?
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1829
Så hvordan virker det?
13:50
Let's say that you've been invited
272
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2540
Lad os sige at man er blev inviteret
13:52
to TED center stage to give a speech
273
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3806
til at holde en tale ved TED, på den store scene
13:56
and you want to do it from memory,
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2534
og man vil give den frit fra hukommelsen,
13:59
and you want to do it the way that Cicero would have done it
275
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5045
og man vil gøre det på den måde Cicero ville have gjort det,
14:04
if he had been invited to TEDxRome 2,000 years ago.
276
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4659
hvis han var blevet inviteret til TEDxRom for 2.000 år siden.
14:08
What you might do
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2258
Hvad man kunne gøre
14:11
is picture yourself at the front door of your house.
278
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5219
er at forestille sig, at man stod ved fordøren til ens hus.
14:16
And you'd come up with some sort
279
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2042
Og man ville finde på et eller andet
14:18
of an absolutely crazy, ridiculous, unforgettable image
280
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3508
utrolig skørt, latterligt, uforglemmeligt billede
14:21
to remind you that the first thing you want to talk about
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2983
til at minde en om, at den første ting man skal tale om
14:24
is this totally bizarre contest.
282
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2792
er denne totalt bizarre konkurrence.
14:27
And then you'd go inside your house,
283
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2833
Og så går man ind i sit hus,
14:30
and you would see an image of Cookie Monster
284
854554
2852
og man ville se et billede af Cookie Monster
14:33
on top of Mister Ed.
285
857406
1887
oven på en Hr. Ed [Talende hest].
14:35
And that would remind you
286
859293
1269
Og det ville minde en om
14:36
that you would want to then introduce your friend Ed Cook.
287
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3174
at man ville introducere ens ven, Ed Cook.
14:39
And then you'd see an image of Britney Spears
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2664
Og så ville man se et billede af Britney Spears
14:42
to remind you of this funny anecdote you want to tell.
289
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2812
for at minde en om den sjove anekdote man ville fortælle.
14:45
And you go into your kitchen,
290
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1672
Og så går man ind i sit køkken,
14:46
and the fourth topic you were going to talk about
291
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1845
og det fjerde emne man ville tale om
14:48
was this strange journey that you went on for a year,
292
872729
2938
var denne mærkelige rejse man havde gennemlevet i løbet af et år,
14:51
and you have some friends to help you remember that.
293
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4964
og man har nogle venner til at hjælpe en med at huske det.
14:56
This is how Roman orators memorized their speeches --
294
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4219
Det er sådan romerske talere huskede deres taler udenad --
15:00
not word-for-word, which is just going to screw you up,
295
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3394
ikke ord for ord, hvilket bare forvirrer en totalt,
15:04
but topic-for-topic.
296
888244
2412
men emne for emne.
15:06
In fact, the phrase "topic sentence,"
297
890656
2907
Faktisk, udtrykket "topic sentence",
15:09
that comes from the Greek word "topos,"
298
893563
3300
der kommer af det græske ord "topos",
15:12
which means "place."
299
896863
1720
der betyder "område".
15:14
That's a vestige
300
898583
1567
Det er en levning
15:16
of when people used to think about oratory and rhetoric
301
900150
2320
fra dengang mennesker tænkte på talekunsten og retorik
15:18
in these sorts of spatial terms.
302
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2238
i disse rumlige termer.
15:20
The phrase "in the first place,"
303
904708
1937
Vendingen "in the first place",
15:22
that's like in the first place of your memory palace.
304
906645
3423
det betyder det første sted i ens hukommelses palads.
15:25
I thought this was just fascinating,
305
910068
1980
Jeg tænkte at dette var utroligt fascinerende,
15:27
and I got really into it.
306
912048
1900
og jeg blev virkelig opslugt af det.
15:29
And I went to a few more of these memory contests.
307
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2748
Og jeg tog til lidt flere af disse hukommelses konkurrencer.
15:32
And I had this notion that I might write something longer
308
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2561
Og jeg havde denne ide, at jeg måske ville skrive noget større
15:35
about this subculture of competitive memorizers.
309
919257
3293
om denne subkultur med konkurrerende udenads huskere.
15:38
But there was a problem.
310
922550
2027
Men der var et problem.
15:40
The problem was that a memory contest
311
924577
2748
Problemet var, at en hukommelses konkurrence
15:43
is a pathologically boring event.
312
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3729
er en patologisk kedeligt begivenhed.
15:46
(Laughter)
313
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2606
(Latter)
15:49
Truly, it is like a bunch of people sitting around taking the SATs.
314
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4550
Virkelig, det er flok mennesker der bare sidder og tager en eksamen.
15:54
I mean, the most dramatic it gets
315
938210
1694
Jeg mener, det mest dramatiske der sker
15:55
is when somebody starts massaging their temples.
316
939904
1379
er at nogen begynder at massere deres tindinger.
15:57
And I'm a journalist, I need something to write about.
317
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3038
Og jeg er en journalist, jeg har brug for noget jeg kan skrive om.
16:00
I know that there's this incredible stuff happening in these people's minds,
318
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3777
Jeg ved at der sker fantastiske ting i disse menneskers sind,
16:03
but I don't have access to it.
319
948098
2100
men jeg har ikke adgang til det.
16:06
And I realized, if I was going to tell this story,
320
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2719
Og jeg blev klar over, at hvis jeg ville fortælle denne historie,
16:08
I needed to walk in their shoes a little bit.
321
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2750
blev jeg nødt til at gå i deres fodspor, for en stund.
16:11
And so I started trying to spend 15 or 20 minutes
322
955667
3581
Så jeg begyndte at bruge 15 eller 20 minutter
16:15
every morning before I sat down with my New York Times
323
959248
2835
hver morgen, før jeg satte mig ned med min New York Times
16:17
just trying to remember something.
324
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2521
bare på at prøve at huske noget.
16:20
Maybe it was a poem.
325
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1669
Måske var det et digt.
16:22
Maybe it was names from an old yearbook
326
966273
2039
Måske var det navnene fra en gammel årbog
16:24
that I bought at a flea market.
327
968312
2259
som jeg havde købt på et loppemarked.
16:26
And I found that this was shockingly fun.
328
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5496
Og jeg fandt ud af, at det var utrolig sjovt.
16:31
I never would have expected that.
329
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2078
Det havde jeg aldrig forventet.
16:34
It was fun because this is actually not about training your memory.
330
978145
3363
Det var sjovt, fordi det egentlig ikke handler om at træne ens hukommelse.
16:37
What you're doing is you're trying to get better and better and better
331
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3038
Det man prøver på er, at blive bedre og bedre og bedre
16:40
at creating, at dreaming up,
332
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2429
til at skabe, og udvikle,
16:42
these utterly ludicrous, raunchy, hilarious
333
986975
2894
disse komplet latterlige, beskidte, grinagtige
16:45
and hopefully unforgettable images in your mind's eye.
334
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4125
og forhåbentlig uforglemmelige billeder for ens indre øje.
16:49
And I got pretty into it.
335
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1583
Og jeg blev temmelig opslugt af det.
16:51
This is me wearing my standard competitive memorizer's training kit.
336
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6657
Dette er mig, iført mit standard huskekonkurrence trænings kit.
16:58
It's a pair of earmuffs
337
1002234
1966
Det er et sæt øremuffer
17:00
and a set of safety goggles that have been masked over
338
1004200
3409
og et sæt sikkerhedsbriller der er blevet lukket til
17:03
except for two small pinholes,
339
1007609
2673
på nær to små huller,
17:06
because distraction is the competitive memorizer's greatest enemy.
340
1010282
5326
fordi afbrydelser er den konkurrerende huskers største fjende.
17:11
I ended up coming back to that same contest that I had covered a year earlier.
341
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5767
Jeg endte med at komme tilbage til den samme konkurrence, som jeg havde dækket året før.
17:17
And I had this notion that I might enter it,
342
1021375
2106
Og jeg havde denne ide om, at jeg måske ville stille op i den,
17:19
sort of as an experiment in participatory journalism.
343
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3302
som en slags eksperiment i deltagende journalistik
17:22
It'd make, I thought, maybe a nice epilogue to all my research.
344
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4521
Jeg tænkte det ville lave en fint epilog til al min research.
17:27
Problem was the experiment went haywire.
345
1031304
3738
Problemet var at eksperimentet gik i kludder.
17:30
I won the contest,
346
1035042
2737
Jeg vandt konkurrencen,
17:33
which really wasn't supposed to happen.
347
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3103
hvilket egentlig ikke var meningen.
17:36
(Applause)
348
1040882
5849
(Bifald)
17:42
Now it is nice
349
1046731
1705
Det er selvfølgelig rart
17:44
to be able to memorize speeches
350
1048436
2827
at kunne lære taler udenad
17:47
and phone numbers and shopping lists,
351
1051263
3094
og telefonnumre og indkøbssedler,
17:50
but it's actually kind of beside the point.
352
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2776
men det er faktisk ikke pointen.
17:53
These are just tricks.
353
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2198
Dette er bare tricks.
17:55
They are tricks that work
354
1059331
2002
Det er tricks der virker
17:57
because they're based on some pretty basic principles
355
1061333
3183
fordi de bygger på nogle temmelig basale principper
18:00
about how our brains work.
356
1064516
1776
om hvordan vore hjerner virker.
18:02
And you don't have to be building memory palaces
357
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3952
Og man behøver ikke at bygge hukommelses paladser
18:06
or memorizing packs of playing cards
358
1070244
2006
eller at lære rækkefølgen på pakker med spillekort
18:08
to benefit from a little bit of insight
359
1072250
2013
for at drage nytte af en lille smule indsigt
18:10
about how your mind works.
360
1074263
2644
i hvordan ens hjerne fungerer.
18:12
We often talk about people with great memories
361
1076907
1793
Vi taler ofte om folk med gode hukommelser
18:14
as though it were some sort of an innate gift,
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som om det er en medfødt gave,
18:16
but that is not the case.
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men sådan hænger det ikke sammen.
18:18
Great memories are learned.
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Gode hukommelser trænes.
18:22
At the most basic level, we remember when we pay attention.
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På det mest simple niveau, husker vi når vi er opmærksomme.
18:26
We remember when we are deeply engaged.
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Vi husker når vi er dybt engagerede.
18:29
We remember when we are able
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Vi husker når vi er i stand
18:30
to take a piece of information and experience
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til at tage et stykke information og opleve
18:33
and figure out why it is meaningful to us,
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og regne ud hvorfor det er betydningsfuldt for os,
18:35
why it is significant, why it's colorful,
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hvorfor det er signifikant, hvorfor det er farverigt,
18:38
when we're able to transform it in some way
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når vi er i stand til at ændre det på en måde
18:40
that it makes sense
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så det giver mening
18:42
in the light of all of the other things floating around in our minds,
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i forhold til alle de andre ting der flyder rundt i vores sind,
18:44
when we're able to transform Bakers into bakers.
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når vi er i stand til at ændre Bagere til bagere.
18:49
The memory palace, these memory techniques,
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Hukommelses paladset, disse husketeknikker,
18:52
they're just shortcuts.
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de er kun genveje.
18:54
In fact, they're not even really shortcuts.
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Faktisk, er de ikke rigtig genveje.
18:56
They work because they make you work.
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De virker, fordi de får en til at arbejde.
19:00
They force a kind of depth of processing,
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De fremtvinger en bearbejdning i dybden,
19:04
a kind of mindfulness,
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en art opmærksomhed,
19:05
that most of us don't normally walk around exercising.
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som de fleste af os ikke har i dagligdagen.
19:09
But there actually are no shortcuts.
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Men der er faktisk ikke nogen genveje.
19:12
This is how stuff is made memorable.
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Det er sådan ting bliver gjort mindeværdige.
19:15
And I think if there's one thing that I want to leave you with,
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Og jeg tror, at hvis der er en ting jeg gerne vil lade Jer sidde tilbage med,
19:19
it's what E.P.,
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så er det det E.P.,
19:22
the amnesic who couldn't even remember that he had a memory problem,
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manden med hukommelsesproblemer, der ikke engang kunne huske at han havde hukommelsesproblemer,
19:26
left me with,
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lod mig sidde tilbage med,
19:27
which is the notion
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hvilket er ideen om
19:29
that our lives are the sum of our memories.
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at vores liv er summen af vores minder.
19:34
How much are we willing to lose
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Hvor meget er vi villige til at miste
19:40
from our already short lives
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af vore allerede korte liv
19:44
by losing ourselves in our Blackberries, our iPhones,
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ved at fortabe os selv i vores Blackberries, vores iPhones,
19:51
by not paying attention to the human being across from us
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ved ikke at lægge mærke til mennesket overfor os
19:54
who is talking with us,
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der taler med os,
19:56
by being so lazy that we're not willing
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ved at være så dovne at vi ikke er villige til at
19:58
to process deeply?
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være eftertænksomme?
20:02
I learned firsthand
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Jeg lærte på egen krop
20:04
that there are incredible memory capacities
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at der er utrolige kapaciteter for hukommelse
20:08
latent in all of us.
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latente i os alle.
20:10
But if you want to live a memorable life,
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Men hvis man vil leve et mindeværdigt liv,
20:13
you have to be the kind of person
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skal man være den slags person
20:15
who remembers to remember.
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der husker at huske.
20:18
Thank you.
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Tak.
20:20
(Applause)
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(Bifald)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Joshua Foer - WriterJoshua Foer is a science writer who 'accidentally' won the U.S. Memory Championship.
Why you should listen
In 2005 science writer Joshua Foer went to cover the U.S. Memory Championship. A year later he was back -- as contestant. A year of mental training with Europe's top memorizer turned into a book, Moonwalking with Einstein, which is both a chronicle of his immersion in the memory culture and wonderfully accessible and informative introduction to the science of memory. Much more surprisingly, that year of training also turned into a first-place victory at the national competition in New York and the chance to represent the U.S. at the World Memory Championship. Foer's writing has appeared in National Geographic, Slate, the New York Times, and other publications. He is the co-founder of the Atlas Obscura, an online guide to the world’s wonders and curiosities, and is also the co-founder of the design competition Sukkah City.
Joshua Foer | Speaker | TED.com