打造福爾摩斯般的記憶力

閱讀暖身

美國醫學生慕蘭去年榮獲「世界記憶冠軍」，他的記憶力原本很差，直到讀了一本介紹古老記憶法的書籍，他如法炮製書中的「記憶宮殿」，居然獲得過目不忘的驚人本領。進入本文前，請先想想如何表達以下單字：
(A) 快轉
(B) 高手
(C) 智力

If you had told Alex Mullen a few years ago that he was capable of memorizing a whole pack of cards in 21.5 seconds, he would have said you were (1) asking for the moon. His memory wasn't anything special – “below average” even. (A) Fast-forward to today and Mullen, a medical student at the University of Mississippi, has just been crowned the World Memory Champion.
假使幾年前告訴艾力克斯•慕蘭，他能在21.5秒內記得一整副撲克牌，他一定會說這是妄想。當時他的記憶力一點都不出色，可說在水準以下。將時間快轉到今天，在密西西比大學就讀醫學院的慕蘭，贏得了「世界記憶冠軍」的頭銜。

Mullen attributes his mnemonic success to a book called Moonwalking with Einstein, which depicts how a group of people trained their memory using- ancient techniques. “I definitely didn't have a great natural memory,” he said, “but in 2013, I started training using the techniques that Foer had talked about.”
慕蘭將自己的記憶力歸功於《與愛因斯坦月球漫步》，該書描述人們如何使用古老方法來訓練記憶力。他表示：「我鐵定沒有記憶天分，但是在2013年，我開始使用佛爾提到的方法來訓練。」

According to Mullen, anyone can enhance his or her memory significantly. “You just have to create a memory palace,” he says. For those of you who aren't familiar with Sherlock Holmes, a memory palace is an image in your mind's eye of a physical location that you know well. Perhaps it's your house or your route to work. To remember many items, be it cards or groceries, you just walk through your memory palace and drop off an image of each item at specific places along the route.
慕蘭認為，任何人皆能大幅增強記憶力。他說：「你必須營造一座記憶宮殿。」如果你不熟諳福爾摩斯的故事，記憶宮殿指的是你心目中極熟悉地點的一個意象，也許是你的房子，抑或你上班的路途。為了要記憶許多項目，無論是撲克牌或雜貨，你開始穿越你的記憶宮殿，一路上將每個項目的影像放到特定位置。

British researchers scanned the brains of 10 memory (B) aces. They hoped to identify whether these super-memorizers had any structural brain differences that predisposed them to have such a powerful memory. The tests could not establish any difference in (C) intellect, nor any structural change in their brains. They were better at remembering purely because they were walking around their memory palaces.
英國研究人員已掃描10位記憶高手的腦部，盼能發現他們是否具有與凡人相異的腦部結構，導致他們記憶力如此強大。這些測試沒有找到任何智力上的差異，也未發現任何腦部結構的變化。他們之所以擅長記憶，全因為能夠造訪自己的記憶宮殿。

The gift of powerful memory is nothing special – anyone can learn how to do it to a fairly decent standard. It's like learning to ride a bike. It seems difficult and impressive if you haven't tried it, but with a bit of practice, anyone can (2) get the hang of it.
強大記憶力的天賦，其實極為尋常，任何人皆能大幅增進記憶力。這就像學騎腳踏車。在你未嘗試之前，似乎困難重重、令人嘖嘖稱奇，但只要有點耐心，就可精通它。

口語詞彙:

1. Ask for the moon  痴心妄想
如果有人想要摘下月亮，便是在「痴心妄想」。
Tom wished Boss would double his salary next month, I told him frankly that he was asking for the moon. 湯姆期盼老闆下個月將他的薪水加倍，我坦白告訴他，簡直是在作白日夢。 

2. Get the hang of something得心應手
本片語常指學習新事物一段時間後，逐漸得心應手，抓到訣竅。
After two weeks of using this word-processing software, I think I’ve finally gotten the hang of it. 使用這套文字處理軟體兩星期後，我想我終於得心應手了。

參考資料：BBC

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