On May 27, H.E. Tuvia Israeli, Ambassador of
Israel invited CQ members to Israel Culture Center for a special lecture "Gifts
for the Mind" by Dr. Eran Katz, a brain specialist.
It was rainy day,
but many members came to listen to the lecture. After welcome address by H.E.
Tuvia Israeli, Ambassador of Israel and Choi Jungwha, president of CICI, the
lecture started.
First, Eran Katz, proved his memory skills by
remembering 20 random words which was chosen by audience and they were amazed by
his skill.
And, he explained what people usually remember or not. He
taught his 'association memory skill' and audience tried it with him. His
lecture was very humorous and had a lot of participations of audience.
After the lecture, embassy of Israel prepared a special Israeli and Korean
dinner. CQ members had a chance to talk to Dr. Eran Katz and took photos with
him
We would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Eran Katz who gave a
wonderful lecture and thank you H.E. Tuvia Israeli, Ambassador of Israel for
giving such an opportunity.
For more photos, please click the link below
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/112210481839541612830/albums/5882862487085139601
Eran
Kats's Lecture
"Gifts for the Mind"
Amazing brain skills we didn't know we
have
People only remember what they are interested in. We choose to
remember or not. We don't know what picture is in the bill they see every day or
don't remember famous logo because we are not interested in. Our brain is like a
computer, so, to remember, you have to press 'save' button by showing interest
and paying attention.
We cannot multitask. So, we have to focus on the
target and task and ignore distraction. We focus on something when it is
interesting, unusual or new. Imagination is stronger than logic. We have to
create association with imagination to remember something.
For example,
let's say we have to remember 10 words; bed, fish, carpet, dress, dog, car, TV,
flower pot, cigarette, telephone. If you associate 2 words it will make much
easier to remember the random words. Let's make sentences. "There is a fish on
the bed. the fish is covered with carpet. the carpet is a dress, dog wear the
dress and the god is driving a car. while he is driving, there was a TV on the
street. It was used as a flower pot, inside of the pot there were cigarettes,
and the cigarettes were falling from phone."
Memory is not biological.
When we were young, we ask questions about everything. However, when we grow up,
we don't question anymore. We need enthusiasm to remember better. If you are
enthusiastic, not only you remember better, but your life becomes better.
Israeli academy, yeshiva, gives enthusiasm to students with debate. Also,
walking and moving helps to refresh your mind. It gives oxygen to your brain and
helps you remember better. Walking makes your memory twice better and it also
helps with ADHD.
Artificial incentive helps too. For example, there are
match makers in Israel. And match makers consider how smart the person is to
match others. The most smart person in yeshiva get a chance to merry the most
beautiful and rich.
Organizing helps to remember better. Memorizing
abbreviation, and classification will improve your memory. When you memorize
your passwords, give a meaning to the each word and turn it into a
sentence.
Most people are afraid of presentation because they are afraid
of forgetting what they have to say in the presentation. We don't forget 'where'
is our knees. Like this, if we associate things with space (where), we remember
better. People remember visual things better than anything. To do presentation,
all you have to do is know your stuff and have key words. And each key word
associates with stuff in the room.
We need to erase previous knowledge
because sometimes it can be handicap. Brain tends to do fixed in a certain
pattern. We have to change the way of thinking and re-format things that we do
not need or failures we have made.
Last, to learn a new language;
talk, speak, make mistakes. You only need 1000 words to understand 75% of any
language in the world. If you know 1000 words in some language we will
communicate pretty good.
Last, we don't need to remember or memorize
everything. You have to move on from mistakes and keep being
enthusiastic
Q&A
1. Didier Beltoise : I am learning Korean
and it is hard to memorize Korean words. How can I make it easy?
A : If
you use 'association' it will help. For example, Anyoung (hello in Korean)
sounds like 'onion' so I remember onion. Also, sarang (love) sounds similar with
an Israeli singer, so I could remember. It is not a perfect way, but still
helps.
2. Joseph Yang : Does 'photographic memory' exist? how can I
remember numbers better?
A : First, it is Ok to use a device like smart
phone to remember because we cannot multitask. And when you try to remember,
divide by ideas it will helps. There is no 'photographic memory', but some
people memorize thing by visual. And anybody can develop this memory
skill.
3. Christophe Piganiol : You said people cannot multitask, but I
think women can do. What do you think?
A : I think women can jump from
task to other task and still concentrate well. Physically, we can do multitask,
but mentally, we cannot.
4. Eugenia Bellova : Is there anybody who is
good at memorizing in your family? How are your two daughters?
A : Not
in my family, but my wife of course is smarter than me. There is a saying in
China 'When student is ready teacher appears'. Asking yourself is the best way
to learn. When my daughters were ready to learn I taught them about the memory
skills.
5. Kim Miyoung, Secretary of Israeli ambassador : Have you ever
done IQ test?
A : No, I don't think you need high IQ to memorize well.
It is not relevance with memory.