Memory expert.

Over the winter school break, I also read a book about a Russian memory expert, "S."

The Mind of a Mnemonist
By: A.R. Luria

It was a translation of a book from a Russian psychologist who studied this mnemonist who made a living performing feats of memory. He would get paid to put on shows where people just read off a list of words or nonsense syllables, and S. would repeat them back. Or study a chart of numbers. Or recall lines from Dante's Inferno in Italian, a language he did not know, after hearing them recited once.

S.'s method (he has a real name that I forget -- it's in a Psychology textbook somewhere) was synethestic in nature -- he would form a little short story out of images that he saw from each word or number. Anything he heard, he could either taste or see. Voices were metallic. Pitches were lengths of silver, or white, or orange.

It's a fascinating take. Just imagine processing the world this way -- as a kid, S. could imagine that he actually went to school, and think that he did, when he was still in bed. He just pictured it. He could raise or lower his body temperature by envisioning himself out in the cold or in extreme heat. He could raise and lower his heartbeat too.

There were sad parts -- he had trouble getting the general meaning of things. And he always felt like something great was going to happen to him, or he would do something great. He seemed to live in a haze most of his life.

Very interesting read.

8/10 stars.

Choices, choices, so many choices.

I read a book on choices. It was called:

The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less
By: Barry Schwartz

Great title. I thought it should have included a ghost or something.

It was a fun read -- a fast read. Much of the things I read I knew about already. We have too many choices available nowadays. Size of jeans, comfort fit, boot fit, relaxed. Stonewash, faded, colored. Every product comes in different forms.

His idea was that this growing number of choices made people unhappy and unfulfilled, because they always felt like they could find and obtain something better than what they had. Since there are so many choices, it's up to the individual to make the right decision, and afterwards, if things go wrong, we can always blame ourselves for not picking better.

He used real-world examples from shopping marts, employers (health insurance, 401k enrollment), and other situations where we're faced with an ungodly number of choices.

It was good to read through things and realize that everyone is swamped with decisions all the time. But it wasn't that successful in suggesting things to do about it. It's more of a "be aware" book.

6/10 stars.

Suckdog Millionaire.

Top Ten Reasons Not To See Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire


10) It's predictable.
9) It's cheesy.
8) It's boring.
7) Bad acting.
6) Bad directing.
5) Bad story.
4) Bad cuts/shots/et al.
3) It's actually worse than watching a real episode of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"
2) The lesson is to pursue your ideal woman, no matter how much of a bitch she is.
1) 20 Million Rupees, which would technically make you a rupee millionaire, translates to just over $400,000. It should have been called "Suckdog Thousandaire."