I learned a system for remembering everything

Imagine being able to pick up any book, read it, and remember almost everything from it. This kind of superpower memory recall might feel like fiction, but there are people in the real world that seem to carry an incredible ability to hold on to information. And I'm definitely not one of them. I've read hundreds of books, blogs, and newsletters, but my ability to recall any of it is terrible. So I decided to finally look into this blind spot to learn about how the smartest people in the world remember information, and uncover their systems so I can use them for myself. This video is brought to you by Squarespace. I'll talk more about them later in the video. If I were to show you a nonfiction book that you've read over the past year, whether it was for school, work, or your own personal development, how likely are you to be able to remember five facts from the book? How well could you explain the book to someone else? All right, let me give this a try for myself. Steel like an artist. Being creative means getting inspired by other people, and you should steal like an artist. It's really a book about. I just read this book, so this one's a little bit unfair. What else was it? What else was in this book? Great ideas are really simple and clear. I think that's all I got. I can't even remember one of the 48 Laws. I just read it! I just read this book a month ago! There's not much of a point.

想象一下能够拿起任何一本书，阅读并几乎记住所有内容的情景。这种超级记忆能力可能听起来像小说情节，但现实中确实有人展现出惊人的信息记忆能力。然而，我肯定不属于这种人。我已经读了数百本书、博客和新闻简报，但我的记忆力很糟糕。因此，我决定深入研究这一盲点，学习世界上最聪明的人是如何记住信息的，并找到他们的方法以便自己使用。本视频由Squarespace赞助，关于他们的信息我会在后面的视频中提到。假如我给你看一本过去一年内你读过的非小说类书籍，无论是为了学校、工作还是个人发展，你有多大可能能记住书中的五个事实？你能多好地向别人解释这本书的内容？好吧，让我自己来试试。《像艺术家一样偷窃》。创意意味着从其他人那里获得灵感，你应该像艺术家一样偷窃。这实际上就是这本书的主要内容。我刚读完这本书，所以这有点不公平。书里还有什么？还有哪些内容呢？伟大的创意其实都很简单和清晰。我想这就是我全部的记忆了。我甚至记不住《48条法则》中的一条。我才刚刚一个月前读过！这真是毫无意义。

Of reading nonfiction books, particularly books about personal development, if you're not actually going to absorb and implement the insights. But remembering everything might be a bit of a stretch for the average person. After some research, I discovered that our ability to remember things varies wildly from person to person. Some have terrible memories, others exceptional, and even others have photographic memories. As you might have guessed, the average memory is body, messy, and often unreliable. It's easier for us to remember events that provide deviation from our typical sensory experience. Like getting hit in the face with a ball. That interesting thing you learned from that self-help book? Not so much. But my question is, can we change that? I knew exactly who I needed to speak with. I read online that you've read over 3000 books. Is that true? I don't know. I think it's probably bad form to count, you know, like with romantic partners. I don't know about you, but that number. well.

阅读非小说类书籍，特别是关于个人发展的书籍，如果你不真正吸收和实施其中的见解，那意义不大。不过，对于普通人来说，记住所有内容可能有点困难。经过一番研究，我发现我们的记忆能力在不同人之间差异很大。有些人记忆力很差，有些人记忆力特别好，还有一些人有摄影记忆。正如你可能猜到的，普通人的记忆通常是模糊的、混乱的且经常不可靠。我们更容易记住那些与日常感官体验有所不同的事件，比如被球砸到脸上。而那些从自助书中学到的有趣知识则不太容易记住。但我的问题是，我们能改变这一切吗？我知道我应该找谁交谈。我在网上看到你读过超过3000本书，这是真的吗？我不知道。我觉得统计这种事可能不太好，就像数浪漫伴侣一样。我不知道你怎么想，但这个数字让我有点……

It wouldn't take me very long to add up. Ryan Holiday is the international best-selling author of great books like The Obstacle Is The Way, and Ego Is The Enemy. And while I can't remember much of what I read in these books, I do remember them being really good. Ryan, thanks so much for being here. One of the things that I was struck by when I first interviewed Ryan back in 2019 was his memory recall. He pulled quotes and stories effortlessly from the books that he's read over the years. Eyes and Hour he had this line he said, William James talked about this. I have a quote in the intro from Blaise Pascal. Buddha and Marcus Aurelius and Seneca and Confucius, and I seriously needed to know his secret. So I jumped on a video call with him so we could get to the bottom of it. One of the main reasons why I wanted to chat with you is because I have this problem where I read a nonfiction. .book and then I completely forget about everything. Like I can look at that book and be like, I don't remember one or two things from this book. How can we get better at remembering what we read and putting into practice what we read? First up, I'd be a little kind to yourself. Having one or two things that you take from a book, if those are important things that could change your life, you know, you paid $11 for this book. Like, is it so bad that you only got two life-changing things from it? Right? So like, I think sometimes people are like, I don't have perfect recall of the book. I mean, the book was supposed to take you on a journey and leave you with something.

这段英文翻译成中文大意如下： 我很快就能加起来。瑞安·霍乐迪是国际畅销书的作者，写过《障碍即是道路》和《自我即敌》。虽然我对这些书的具体内容记不太清了，但我记得它们非常好。瑞安，非常感谢你来到这里。2019年我第一次采访瑞安时，他的记忆力给我留下了深刻的印象。他能轻松地引用和讲述他多年来读过书中的故事。例如，他在"眼睛与小时"中提到威廉·詹姆斯，我还在前言里引用了布莱兹·帕斯卡尔的话、佛陀、马可·奥勒留、塞内卡和孔子的话。我非常想知道他的秘诀。所以我安排了一次视频通话，希望能探个究竟。我想与你聊天的主要原因之一是我有这个问题：我读了一本非小说书籍，然后彻底忘记了书中的一切。就好像我看着那本书，里面的内容也就只记得一两件。我该如何提高对所读内容的记忆，并将之应用于实践呢？首先，要对自己宽容些。如果你从书中收获了一两件重要的东西，这些东西能改变你的生活，你花11美元买了这本书，那么只得到两件改变生活的事情难道有那么糟糕吗？有时候人们会觉得自己没能完全记住这本书的内容，但这本书的目的在于带你踏上一段旅程，并让你有所收获。

I started in publishing as a research assistant. I worked for this amazing author named Robert Greene and he showed me a way of reading that I practiced to this day that I think could be valuable, which is basically as I read a book. .I fold pages as I'm reading and then I make notes to myself. I'm highlighting the things that I'm liking and then what I do as a writer, because I want to use a lot of this information, is I then transfer the stuff that I really liked or that really impacted me and I put them on note cards. And so I just write the thought that I had that it inspired, right? Write down the story and then I sort those note cards by theme. So I'm kind of creating like an exterior brain that organizes the stuff that I took from the books. So I decided to put Ryan's system to the test and try it out for myself. And what better book to start with than Courage is Calling. That's Ryan's latest book, by the way. All right, so I've got my tools here, highlighter, hen, my post-it bookmarks here, and a stack of note cards. And of course, my book. Let's see how this works.

我从事出版工作是从一名研究助理开始的。我曾为一位名叫罗伯特·格林的优秀作家工作，他教给我一种阅读的方法，我至今仍在使用，并认为这很有价值。具体来说，就是在读书的过程中，我会折叠书页，并给自己做一些笔记。我会标记出我喜欢的内容。作为作家，因为我希望能利用到这些信息，所以我会把那些我真正喜欢的或对我影响深刻的内容转写到笔记卡上。我写下它们给我的启发或故事，然后按主题对这些卡片进行分类。这样我就创建了一个类似外部大脑的东西来整理我从书中获得的信息。所以我决定尝试一下瑞安的方法，看看效果如何。我挑选的书是《勇气召唤》，这是瑞安的新书。好了，我现在准备好了工具：荧光笔、钢笔、便利贴书签以及一叠笔记卡。当然，还有我的书。让我们看看这个方法的效果如何。

So when you really break down Ryan's system, there are three main parts. First, take notes while you read. Second, revisit and revise your notes when you're finished with a book. And third, categorize and file your notes. The reason why this kind of system is so effective at helping us retain more of what we read comes down to how our brains process information. Over time, we've developed a sorting process to help us determine what information to hold on to in our explicit memory. That's the type of long-term memory that's concerned with recollection of facts and events. Thanks to what's known as heuristic memory processing, we tend to prioritize information that is frequently used, recently used, or likely to be needed to make decisions. So becoming a better learner is all about putting in the work. Reading, taking notes, studying, and making use of the information that you're taking in.

当你仔细分析瑞恩的方法时，会发现它有三个主要部分。首先，在阅读时做笔记。其次，读完一本书后，重温并修改你的笔记。最后，将笔记分类并整理归档。这种方法之所以能有效地帮助我们记住更多所读内容，是因为它符合我们大脑处理信息的方式。长期以来，我们发展出了一种排序过程，帮助我们判断哪些信息应该保存在显性记忆中。这种记忆类型与回忆事实和事件有关。由于启发式记忆处理的缘故，我们倾向于优先记住经常使用、最近使用或可能需要用于决策的信息。因此，成为更好的学习者需要付出努力。这包括阅读、做笔记、学习，以及运用你所吸收的信息。

In other words, having a system like Ryan's. And while Ryan said that he enjoys audiobooks and ebooks, he thinks that there's an advantage to going analog. I do tend to find that people who are like, oh, I listened to a lot of audiobooks or I listened to, I read a lot of ebooks, the recall's not there. They're like, I do my highlights, but they just go somewhere on my computer. I think there is something about getting away from the screen, sitting down, and engaging deeply with the world in front of you. All right, so I have completely finished reading, courage, and calling, and I have taken extensive notes throughout. So I am a slow reader in this process of taking thorough notes throughout the entire book. Definitely slowed me down even more, probably by 30 or 40%. But the idea is that hopefully this will make these memories and ideas just a little bit more sticky. Now I need to go through this entire book and take all of my notes, all of the best notes that I've taken, and put them down onto these new cards.

换句话说，像瑞恩那样有一个系统。尽管瑞恩说他喜欢有声书和电子书，但他认为使用传统纸质书会有一些优势。我常常发现，那些说自己听了很多有声书或者读了很多电子书的人，往往不太能记住内容。他们做了一些重点标记，但那些标记只是存到了电脑里。我认为远离屏幕，坐下来专注于眼前的世界是很重要的。好了，我已经完整地读完了《勇气与呼唤》，并且在整个过程中做了详尽的笔记。这个过程让我读书的速度变得更慢，可能慢了30%到40%。但这样做的目的是希望能让这些记忆和想法更加牢固。现在，我需要把整本书通读一遍，挑选出所有最好和最详尽的笔记，然后把它们写到新的卡片上。

So this video is sponsored by my friends over at Squarespace. I've been using Squarespace for nearly a decade for one main reason. They make it insanely easy for me to bring my ideas to life. Let me show you what I mean. Let's say that you've got an idea for a website where you teach people how to improve their memory. You start off by going to squarespace.com to grab your new domain name. Matt remembers everything.com. Next you browse through dozens of beautifully designed templates to find the one that feels the most like you. And then the fun part begins. With a few clicks, you can add a hero image to your home page. You can start your very own newsletter and outline your core business offerings. You could even start doing online coaching and earn money through your very own e-commerce store. You could call them memory mentorships. You know that's actually a really good idea. Let me write that down. With Squarespace you can scale your business with detailed analytics, scheduled posts, and so much more. It's never been easier to build a website to share your special gift with the world. Visit squarespace.com today for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, go to squarespace.com slash matt davella to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. When you support Squarespace by clicking the link in the description down below this video, you're also supporting my channel. So thanks for considering.

这段视频由我的朋友Squarespace赞助。我使用Squarespace已有近十年，主要原因是它让我的创意实现变得特别简单。让我给你举个例子。假设你有一个教人们提高记忆力的网站的想法。你首先去squarespace.com获取一个新的域名，比如"Matt记得一切.com"。接下来，你可以浏览几十个精美设计的模板，找到最能代表你的那个。然后，精彩的部分就开始了。只需点击几下，你就可以在网站首页添加一个醒目的图片，启动自己的新闻通讯，并概述核心业务服务。你甚至可以开始在线辅导，通过自己的电子商务商店赚钱，可以叫它们“记忆指导”。这其实是个很好的主意，我得把它记下来。使用Squarespace，你还可以通过详细分析、定时发布等功能扩大业务规模。建立一个网站来向世界分享你的特别才能从未如此简单。立即访问squarespace.com，享受免费试用。当你准备好发布时，访问squarespace.com/mattdavella，可以享受首个网站或域名购买10%的折扣。当你点击视频下方描述中的链接支持Squarespace时，也在支持我的频道。所以，非常感谢你的考虑。

So now that I've gotten two thirds of the way into this note-taking experiment, it's become clear that this is a very slow and methodical process. If you're anything like me, this can make you feel a bit antsy. But what I continue to remind myself is that this isn't about becoming superhuman and devouring books in a day. It's about taking the time to digest the information, think critically about it, and to try to find ways to reuse and repurpose what I'm learning. And really, more importantly, to actually enjoy the process. Reading is a pleasurable activity. I enjoy doing it. And so you would never hear someone be like, dude, I have the fastest sex, you would not believe it, right? Or like, you should see how fast I can scarf down food at this fancy restaurant. I'm having a conversation with Ernest Hemingway or Marcus Aurelius or Doris Kern's Good Win. These are like the best people in the world at what they do. I want to enjoy that. Like, I'm going to take my time doing it.

所以，当我已经完成了这个记录笔记实验的三分之二时，很明显这是一种非常缓慢且有条不紊的过程。如果你像我一样，这可能会让你感到有些急躁。但我不断提醒自己，这不是为了成为超人并在一天之内吞下书本。这是为了花时间消化信息，批判性地思考，并努力寻找方法去重用和再利用我所学到的东西。而更重要的是，实际上享受这个过程。阅读是一件令人愉快的事情，我喜欢这样做。所以你绝不会听到有人说：“伙计，我的性爱速度超快，你简直不敢相信，对吧？”或者说：“你应该看看我在这家高级餐厅里吃东西有多快。”我是在和欧内斯特·海明威、马可·奥勒留或者多丽丝·库恩斯·古德温对话。他们都是在各自领域中最优秀的人。我想好好享受这一切。所以我要慢慢来细细品味。

So I have finished taking the best ideas, note stories and quotes from this book and put them down onto about 20 to 30 note cards. And now is the point in the process where I need to go through and organize all this. One thing that I've realized from this process is that you don't remember things by accident, which means I need to systematize and organize all of these notes into different buckets, categories and themes. It's probably too early to tell whether this system will improve my memory in the long run. I have a feeling I'm still going to be on the goldfish end of the memory scale. But I've learned something even more important over the past few weeks of following this system. You actually can't remember everything you want to. You just need to store it outside of your brain.

我已经把这本书中最好的想法、故事和名言摘录下来，整理成大约 20 到 30 张卡片。现在，我需要把这些内容进行分类和组织。在这个过程中，我意识到记忆不是偶然发生的，这意味着我需要将所有的笔记系统化，分成不同的桶、类别和主题。目前还很难说这个系统能否在长期内提高我的记忆力。我感觉我的记忆力可能仍然像金鱼那样短暂。但在过去的几周里，通过执行这个系统，我学到了一件更重要的事情：实际上你不能记住所有想要记住的事情，所以需要把它们存放在头脑之外。

Oh, and if you're wondering whether I'll keep this up myself, maybe, but I don't know if it'll look exactly like this. I don't know how many boxes of note cards I can have at my place and still keep my sanity. How many boxes of note cards do you have? Well, at least one for every single book that I've written, but I'm looking, I have one, two, three, four, five, six, I have seven in my office right now. My system is an amalgamation combination of Robert Greene's and yours can be your own spin on mine. Whether you decide to follow an analog system like Ryan's or Go Digital, the important thing is to just get started. You're better off starting imperfectly than being paralyzed by the hope or the delusion of perfection. My system has evolved over the years. It will continue to evolve. Maybe there's some version in the future where it does become digital. But right now, this is what works for me. And the main thing is that I'm doing it always and I'm getting better as I go.

哦，如果你想知道我会不会继续这样做，也许会吧，但我不确定最终会不会完全一样。我不知道在我还能保持理智的情况下，我能在家里存放多少盒卡片。你有多少盒卡片呢？嗯，至少我写的每一本书都有一盒，但我现在办公室里有七盒。我的系统是结合了罗伯特·格林的方法，你可以在此基础上加以改进。无论你选择像瑞安那样使用纸质系统还是转向数字化，重要的是要开始行动。与其被追求完美的希望或错觉所困，不如不完美地开始。我的系统多年来一直在演变，并将继续发展。也许将来会有一个数字化的版本，但目前，这对我来说很有效。关键是我一直在做，并在过程中不断提高。

Thanks so much for watching this video. If you liked it, don't forget to hit subscribe and especially that little notification bell. So you get future videos from me. That way, you don't have to work too hard to remember to watch my videos later. By the way, my exploration into memory and learning is only just beginning. Stay tuned in a couple weeks for a new video about how to build a second brain by taking all the information we consume and putting it into an intelligent digital system. It's the complete ecosystem of apps that you use to manage information. Thanks for watching and I'll catch you next time.

非常感谢你观看这个视频。如果你喜欢的话，别忘了点击订阅，特别是那个小小的通知铃铛。这样你就能收到我未来的视频了，不用费心去记得之后来看我的视频。此外，我在记忆和学习方面的探索才刚刚开始。请继续关注，几周后我会发布一个新视频，讲述如何通过建立一个“第二大脑”来整合我们接收的信息，并将其放入一个智能的数字系统中。这是一个完整的信息管理应用生态系统。感谢你的观看，我们下次见！