Thursday, May 29, 2008
If you're out of your 20s, it's happened to you: Moving from one room of your home to another, you completely forget why you went to the second room. Or you put down your glasses, and now you can't find them ... because you can't see without your glasses. Or, and this one really hurts, you start to introduce your fiance to a friend you've known for 30 years, only you suddenly can't remember her name.
Martha Weinman Lear, a seasoned magazine journalist, talked to dozens of memory specialists, physicians and others for this book. Their conclusion: It's annoying, but it's perfectly normal, and you might as well get used to it.
As she says about those "tip of the tongue" episodes in the introduction to "Where Did I Leave My Glasses?", "If you are not yet plagued by such moments, you shouldn't be reading this book. It is not for you. Yet."
For those of us who very much are ready for this book, it's a godsend of wisdom, humor and anecdotes.
It's also full of helpful advice, such as remembering (!) that, survival-wise, we are actually biologically programmed to forget (prioritization is essential in the urban jungle).
She also discusses the two most important actions for optimal memory: repetition and association. OK, you're going to the bookstore now. The author's name is Lear. Lear. Lear. As in "leer," how you look when searching for your glasses.
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