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In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, Jonathan Levi talks about how to become a SuperLearner using speed reading and memory techniques.
Tune in now and learn:
* Why speed reading is not snake oil and Jonathan’s amazing bucket, hose and water metaphor for understanding your memory.
* Why long term memory functionally has no limit and how to maximize what you can place inside your mind.
* The precise meaning of what a “superlearner” is and how to achieve this ability not just in your mind, but in your body too.
* Why you must change how you digest and interact with information in order to improve how you learn and memorize information.
* How to get more done in less time when it comes to learning and memorizing just about anything fast.
* Why improving your mind is like putting advanced cabling into a house.
* How to reduce your resistance to learning new things.
* The bottleneck effect that comes from using Duolingo, Spreeder and other rote repetition programs and how to use your mind to gain an advantage over those who limit themselves to these tools.
* Why the memory tool “chunking” may not be good for learning every single topic and why you need to have multiple tools.
* The relationship between driving manual transmission in your car and using your memory.
* Why adults learn differently and how to make sure that you can fulfill this requirement throughout your life.
* Why Jonathan prefers the term “Memory Temple” rather than “Memory Palace,” “Roman Room,” “House of Memory” or “Method of Loci.”
* Why Jonathan doesn’t use the word “mnemonics” and why it caused all kinds of suffering and even made him resent learning.
* The “kinesiology tape” phenomenon and how it relates to memory competitions and the culture of memory games discussed in Joshua Foer’s Moonwalking With Einstein.
* The Daniel Tammet issue and how it relates to psychics, mentalists and magicians (and why you should never fraudulently represent your advanced memory abilities once you’ve developed them).
* Jonathan’s amazing story of demonstrating exactly how someone who thought she had a bad memory easily memorized a phone number using memory techniques – without even realizing it!
* The two dominant ways to memorize huge strings of numbers and the kind Jonathan relies upon predominantly – including the reason why the Major Method is not his go-to method.
* How to use association to memorize pronunciation (using a fatty example from Russian).
* How Jonathan used Superlearning to solve his knee pain and restoring himself to health.
* SMART goals and why using them will help you become a Superlearner and maximize your time.
Resources Mentioned On The Podcast:
The Adult Learning Theory – Andragogy – of Malcolm Knowles.
About Jonathan Levi:
Jonathan Levi is an experienced entrepreneur and angel investor from Silicon Valley. After successfully selling his Inc 5,000 rated startup in April of 2011, Levi packed up for Israel, to gain experience at Rhodium, a Venture Capital Firm specializing in New Media and Mobile.
While in Israel, Levi enlisted the help of speed-reading expert and university professor Anna Goldentouch, who tutored him in speed-reading, advanced memorization, and more. Levi saw incredible results while earning his MBA from INSEAD, and was overwhelmed with the amount of interest his classmates expressed in acquiring the same skill set.
Since acquiring this superlearning skill, he has become a proficient lifehacker, optimizing and “hacking” such processes as travel, sleep, language learning, and fitness. He’s also managed to improve his ADD and has gone on to give a great TEDx Talk on memory.
6 Responses
There is an awful lot of stuff out there now about improving memory, some of which is helpful, some of which is not. However, all of them demand effort and commitment in order to make a difference. I have completed Jonathan’s speed-reading course and I was well impressed with my own progress even as I went through the course. I went from the normal 250wpm to a comfortable 600wpm in just a short time and can now read the newspaper and other non-fiction (that’s a laugh!) in less than half the time it used to take me. I don’t use the technique for fiction or poetry as the words have more than their immediate meaning, involving imagination, scene-setting and important dialogue, but when I need to, I have the power.
What is really difficult, is reading quickly AND learning. Using memory palaces to place what I want to learn into locations takes time, and reading quickly doesn’t lend itself comfortably to this activity. Perhaps in time, I will be able to combine the two more readily, but that’s something for the future.
Thanks for this comment, Byron. I like what you say about fiction and poetry having more words than their immediate meaning. I just heard an interview with The Amazing Kreskin – he was talking about reading a novel in 12 minutes and I just thought … What’s the pleasure in that? When I read a novel that I’m enjoying, I want it to last as long as possible! 😉
Speedreading is not something I think goes well with learning for the same reasons you attribute to poetry and fiction: “the words have more than their immediate meaning.”
If you’re interested in “slowreading,” check out this Magnetic Memory Method Podcast on How to Memorize a Textbook.
You might also be interested in a book that I’m reading slowly because its language is so delightful: The Sense Of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century by Steven Pinker. Fantastic stuff.
Hello Anthony.
I just wanted to ask you: whats the difference between your Masterclass and Udemy Courses? And more drastically: Whats the difference between your Masterclass and Become a Super Learner Masterclass? Do you recommend taking both? If so, should I take 1 first and then the other? Thank you for your answer in advance.
Thanks for this question, Rodrigo.
I definitely recommend that you take both and for a full answer, have created this video called Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass Or SuperLearner Academy?
Hope it helps answer your questions and look forward to seeing some of your Magnetic Memory Method Memory Palaces soon! 🙂
HI Anthony,
i just heard your amazing interview on Kirill’s Super Data Science podcast – but Kirill didn’t ask you the one question i was hoping he would ask on the memory palace where you placed the names of folks (Rick, Mary, Susan, Rachel, David, etc in the four corners of your/his apartment. Once you use a room, your home, etc for remembering a set of things, how do you then re-use the same space for another set of things – I would think that could get confusing, and would cause you to mix up different sets of things? Or do you have to keep using new spaces for everything?
Thanks for your post, Vish, and great that you heard the interview.
If you dig into the site and learn about the Ugly Sister Effect, you’ll find out about how to best reuse Memory Palaces.
You will also benefit from the free course and its lessons on effective Memory Palace creation.
Thanks again and looking forward to your next post on the Magnetic Memory Method Blog! 🙂