Charan Ranganath

But it's like we did this study of attention and working memory and expertise. And one of the things that surprised us were the biggest effects as people became experts in identifying these different kinds of just crazy objects that we made up.

But it's like we did this study of attention and working memory and expertise. And one of the things that surprised us were the biggest effects as people became experts in identifying these different kinds of just crazy objects that we made up.

But it's like we did this study of attention and working memory and expertise. And one of the things that surprised us were the biggest effects as people became experts in identifying these different kinds of just crazy objects that we made up.

As they developed this expertise of being able to identify what made them different from each other and what made them unique, we were actually seeing massive increases in activity in the prefrontal cortex. And this fits with some of the studies of chess experts and so forth, that it's not so much that you learn the patterns passively, you learn what to look for.

As they developed this expertise of being able to identify what made them different from each other and what made them unique, we were actually seeing massive increases in activity in the prefrontal cortex. And this fits with some of the studies of chess experts and so forth, that it's not so much that you learn the patterns passively, you learn what to look for.

As they developed this expertise of being able to identify what made them different from each other and what made them unique, we were actually seeing massive increases in activity in the prefrontal cortex. And this fits with some of the studies of chess experts and so forth, that it's not so much that you learn the patterns passively, you learn what to look for.

You learn what's important, what's not, right? And you can see this in any kind of expert professional athlete. They're looking three steps ahead of where they're supposed to be. So that's a kind of a training of attention. And those are also what you'd call expert memory skills. So if you take the memory athletes, I know that's something we're both interested in.

You learn what's important, what's not, right? And you can see this in any kind of expert professional athlete. They're looking three steps ahead of where they're supposed to be. So that's a kind of a training of attention. And those are also what you'd call expert memory skills. So if you take the memory athletes, I know that's something we're both interested in.

You learn what's important, what's not, right? And you can see this in any kind of expert professional athlete. They're looking three steps ahead of where they're supposed to be. So that's a kind of a training of attention. And those are also what you'd call expert memory skills. So if you take the memory athletes, I know that's something we're both interested in.

So these are people who train in these competitions and they'll memorize like a deck of cards in like a really short amount of time. There's a great memory athlete, her name I think is pronounced Yenya Wintersoul. So I think she's got like a giant Instagram following. And so she had this YouTube video that went viral where she had memorized an entire IKEA catalog, right?

So these are people who train in these competitions and they'll memorize like a deck of cards in like a really short amount of time. There's a great memory athlete, her name I think is pronounced Yenya Wintersoul. So I think she's got like a giant Instagram following. And so she had this YouTube video that went viral where she had memorized an entire IKEA catalog, right?

So these are people who train in these competitions and they'll memorize like a deck of cards in like a really short amount of time. There's a great memory athlete, her name I think is pronounced Yenya Wintersoul. So I think she's got like a giant Instagram following. And so she had this YouTube video that went viral where she had memorized an entire IKEA catalog, right?

And so how do people do this? By all accounts, from people who become memory athletes, they weren't born with some extraordinary memory, but they practice strategies over and over and over again. The strategy that they use for memorizing a particular thing, it can become automatic and you can just deploy it in an instant, right?

And so how do people do this? By all accounts, from people who become memory athletes, they weren't born with some extraordinary memory, but they practice strategies over and over and over again. The strategy that they use for memorizing a particular thing, it can become automatic and you can just deploy it in an instant, right?

And so how do people do this? By all accounts, from people who become memory athletes, they weren't born with some extraordinary memory, but they practice strategies over and over and over again. The strategy that they use for memorizing a particular thing, it can become automatic and you can just deploy it in an instant, right?

So again, it's not necessarily going to, one strategy for learning the order of a deck of cards might not help you for something else that you need, like, you know, remembering your way around Austin, Texas. But it's going to be these, whatever you're interested in, you can optimize for that. And that's just a natural byproduct of expertise.

So again, it's not necessarily going to, one strategy for learning the order of a deck of cards might not help you for something else that you need, like, you know, remembering your way around Austin, Texas. But it's going to be these, whatever you're interested in, you can optimize for that. And that's just a natural byproduct of expertise.

So again, it's not necessarily going to, one strategy for learning the order of a deck of cards might not help you for something else that you need, like, you know, remembering your way around Austin, Texas. But it's going to be these, whatever you're interested in, you can optimize for that. And that's just a natural byproduct of expertise.

Oh, yeah. Okay, we can come back to this. But yeah, go on.

Oh, yeah. Okay, we can come back to this. But yeah, go on.