We would all like to have an elephant memory.
We would all like to know the birthday dates of our loved ones.
Do not forget our diaries,
this famous shopping list.
Even better: do not need it anymore.
We are all worried about these everyday forgetfulness.
I imagine that some of you have already experienced this moment when, on a parking lot,
we do not remember where we parked his car.
I guess I’m not the only one who has heard:
“Mom, you forgot my football boots. “
Or, to no longer be able to give the name of that person
who is waving me across the street.
So, to reassure us, we use lots of digital tools:
phones,
tablets,
true memory prostheses.
So, we take them everywhere.
We see it at school,
we see in the restaurant,
and we also see them in TEDx rooms.
And these tools, we envy them,
because they are able to remember everything.
I am a researcher at the cognitive mechanisms study laboratory,
and I would like to reconcile you with your memory.
I would like to explain that oblivion is necessary,
that he is natural.
So, how does it work?
To explain how it works,
if you agree,
I would like to submit a few small exercises.
To begin,
we will put ourselves in very special conditions,
since to do these exercises,
you will not have the right to write down anything,
not on paper or on your phones.
We will try to do that from memory.
To begin, I would like you to listen carefully
the series of numbers that I will give you
and try to repeat them, after me, in the same order,
and at the same speed as me.
Are you ready?
Audience: Yes.
six, four, three, nine.
Audience: six, four, three, nine.
It works well.
Another :
eight, five, seven, three, two, eight.
Audience: eight, five, seven, three, two, eight.
There are finally a lot of elephants.
We continue.
One, two, zero, five,
one, nine, seven, three.
Audience: One, two, zero, five, one …
(Laughter)
Public: nine, seven, three.
Finally, not that much.
(Laughter)
This series, it is much more complicated.
The reason, it is obvious:
there were too many numbers in this series.
This memory that we have just solicited is called our short-term memory.
This memory will allow us to remember
little information, on average seven,
and will allow us to keep them for a few seconds,
no more than 30 seconds,
after which, she disappears,
and it naturally fades.
It would have been easier
that I tell you instead of this last series,
One, two, zero, five, one, nine, seven, three.
that it was May 12, 1973.
This system,
it is done to prevent us from memorizing everything.
There would be no sense in learning everything.
The first set of numbers I gave you,
the one you’ve all managed to report to me,
do you remember?
There is someone. Thank you Madam.
This series of figures, there was no point in retaining it.
However, if I told you that it was the code to register
on your tax slip for not paying taxes this year,
(Laughter)
things would have been distinctly different.
(Laughter)
You would have taken the time to memorize them.
Because if we wish that this information does not disappear in 30 sec,
we must produce a cognitive effort.
This cognitive effort is what we call
encoding in long-term memory.
What is encoding?
It’s a way of going beyond the limits of our short-term memory,
to get the information into our long-term memory.
This long-term memory is unlimited in storage time.
You have memories that are 10, 20, 30, even 40 years old.
So you are all able to finish this list of conjunctions,
but, where and so.
Pubic: Now, neither, because.
Even if you do not remember anymore that these are conjunctions of coordination,
this sentence is in your memory since your childhood.
And this long-term memory,
it is also unlimited in the amount of information it can contain:
sounds, smells,
images,
the color of your first car,
a haircut,
where we were on September 11, 2001
when we were told of the New York bombings.
An infinite amount of information more or less important.
No phone, as smart as it is,
could not store as much information.
So, let’s try to work our memory in the long run.
We will enjoy this magnificent theater,
and look at the ceiling above you.
Look at him carefully.
We will try to encode
this magnificent fresco painted all up there,
asking us what these characters do,
and what they think.
It’s a delicious game when you find yourself on the terrace of a café,
and we look at people in the street:
“But where are they going?
What are they thinking? “
Focus on them,
that’s what we’re going to do with these different characters.
We will zoom in on some of these effects.
You can see Apollo,
who comes out of the sun on his chariot, pulled by three magnificent crazy horses.
Put yourself in his place.
What can he think of at this moment?
Beside, we see Dante, dressed in red, sitting,
he seems to be questioning himself.
One could imagine that he is preparing
the journey of the character of his work, the Divine Comedy.
Look at it well.
A little higher, we have four little angels,
who seem to bicker for an object that we do not see well.
We could imagine
whether it is a bottle of water from the mountains of Auvergne.
And finally, we have another Apollo,
who is sitting proudly on his cloud,
while an angel was bringing him a laurel wreath.
Do you imagine what he is thinking at this moment?
The painter who made this work, up there, is called Jules Toulot.
Take a moment to try to memorize his name.
To encode information,
it’s not enough to watch or listen,
you have to pay attention to these things.
Attention is an essential element of our memory.
This is the basis of our encoding.
Do you all know the bonnet game?
It’s a street game where you are promised money
if you manage to find a hidden room under a cup.
You all think it’s a scam.
Well, I’d like to show you
that if you were very attentive,
you could thwart this trick.
I’ll let you watch this video.
Be careful where the room is.
Do not let go of this room with your eyes.
We slowed the movements so that it was easier,
but do not be distracted.
Did you all have the room?
Perfect.
You have been very attentive.
Maybe even a little too much.
Because by focusing your attention on this cup,
you have not seen
another cup had been replaced by a pepper of the same color,
(Laughter)
and that this pepper has been moved on the table for several seconds,
without your knowledge.
Because the attention is that:
when we focus on one thing,
we can not wear it on something else at the same time.
And if we want to encode correctly,
all our attention must be available.
So, with all these tips,
we will now try to memorize twelve words,
much more than your short-term memory.
Pay attention to each of these words.
Are you ready ?
Pond,
rain ,
estuary,
cascade,
confluence,
River,
torrent,
stream,
channel,
lake,
pond
and ocean.
You have them all?
So, keep them in your memory.
Once encoded, unfortunately, the information can still be erased.
If we really want to keep them in our long-term memory,
they must be consolidated.
A way to consolidate them,
it’s going to be repeating what we’ve learned, revising.
In other words, encode them repeatedly.
And at each repetition, our memory will be strengthened,
it will be consolidated:
six, four, three, nine,
six, four, three, nine,
six, four, three, nine.
But there is something else that is essential for consolidation,
it’s sleep.
When we sleep, our brain reactivates what we have learned.
A bit as if we revisions, but this time, without any effort.
This sleeping brain will sort the newly encoded information.
He will put away those who are important
and erase those that are useless.
You heard that it was good to review his lessons
in the evening before going to bed.
Well, we have recently highlighted
that the ideal configuration was to interpose sleep
between the learning sessions.
So, do not advise your children to sleep in class.
(Laughter)
But we were able to show
that indeed, it was good to revise the evening,
but, only to see his lesson again in the morning, at sunrise,
we could remember it much longer.
So sleep offers us a double advantage:
it will allow us to relearn faster,
and hold back longer.
In other words,
it’s working less to retain more.
So, after doing a careful encoding,
consolidated storage by a good night’s sleep,
retrieval of information,
this last stage of memorization, will be much easier.
Do you remember the twelve words we saw earlier?
So, let’s do it a little more simply.
How many of you remember the word “river”?
Was he in the list? Show me, raise your hands.
Very good.
Was there the word “mountain”?
Audience: No
No.
The word “rain”?
Public: Yes
Raise your hand. OK.
Was there the word “lake”?
Audience: Yes.
Yes
Unicorn?
Audience: No
Conifer?
Audience: No
River?
Audience: Yes. No. No.
(Laughter)
You do not all agree.
Indeed, “river” was not there.
And, memory is that too.
Memory is not a perfect reproduction of reality,
it is rather a reconstruction.
A memory is not a photograph,
but that’s the interpretation of this photograph,
that we do according to our emotions,
of our knowledge and also of our motivation.
I’m sure, this afternoon,
each of you will remember it.
But it will be a singular memory,
perfectly different from that of your neighbors.
Let’s go back to this magnificent ceiling – do not look up.
Could you tell what was the color of the horses pulling Apollo’s chariot?
Public: White.
White.
Do you remember who wrote “The Divine Comedy”?
Public: Dante
How many angels were fighting for this bottle of water from the Alps?
(Hubbub)
I had spoken of Auvergne.
Do you remember the name of the painter?
Public: Toulot.
Jules Toulot.
I’m sure there are some who have selected the four-digit series,
which is useless.
(Laughter)
So, in the end, what is memory?
Well, these are all the moments that we knew how to seize,
all the information we have been able to focus on,
those that have marked us.
When you are at the terrace of a cafe,
eyes on your cell phones,
think back to your memory.
Put down your phone and look around.
Ask yourself:
“Where are these people going?
What are they thinking? “
Take the time to pay attention to what you are going through,
to give him a chance to integrate your memory,
and after that, sleep!
(Applause)
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