Sunday, August 24, 2014

How to Memorize a Deck of Cards in 60 seconds


To become a Grand Master of Memory -- fewer than 100 in the world can claim that title -- you need to satisfy each of the following in competitions approved by the World Memory Sport Council:
  • Memorize the order of 10 decks of cards in 60 minutes.
  • Memorize 1,000 random digits in 60 minutes.
  • Memorize the order of one deck of cards in less than two minutes.
Ed Cooke first hit this trifecta when he was 23. He later came to international attention when he coached journalist Joshua Foer from ground zero to U.S. Memory Champion in one year, a feat chronicled by Foer in the best-sellerMoonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything.

To win that championship, Foer had to memorize 120 random digits in five minutes, successfully commit to memory the first and last names of 156 strangers within 15 minutes, and (last but not least) memorize a shuffled deck of cards in less than two minutes.

Ed has memorized a shuffled deck of cards in competition in 43 seconds. Of all memory feats, none is a more compressed act of mental athleticism.


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