Speaker 1: My name is Eran Katz. I'm a memory expert and a brain enthusiast. I also like to consider myself a collector of knowledge. However, I noticed that I tend to expand my knowledge in specific areas while investing less time in exploring new ones. So recently I decided to conduct a little experiment. To watch six lectures on YouTube, three that were in my line of interest, for example, American history, experimental psychology, ships, and three lectures that did not relate to me at all. One of them was how to iron a Scottish kilt. You know, those skirts some men wear in Scotland and Ireland. I was curious to see if I can take a talk that is not my cup of tea and find a way to make it interesting. In other words, how can I make the best out of every talk that I hear? Now, of course, there's no such thing as boring or interesting. It's totally subjective. But there are studies that show that we are attracted to what we see as important. These are the things that interest us. They grab our attention because they are related to our inner world and our concerns. That is the reason why we will be able to detect our name even if it's mentioned all the way across a noisy room in what is known as the cocktail party effect discovered by Colin Cherry in 1953. So basically what is boring for me can be interesting for someone else. The speaker himself, for example, who talks about that subject. And I remember looking at that guy on YouTube thinking to myself, why in the world would he talk about this subject of how to iron a Scottish kilt? He looks normal. Well, maybe there's a bigger issue here. Scottish history, culture, fashion. In every lecture, there is at least one single idea that we can use and that can trigger our interest. I also like to ask myself, what's in it for me? How can I benefit from a certain lecture? Perhaps there's a tip that can help solve a problem, reach a goal. I personally like to collect anecdotes because I enjoy seeing people's reaction. You know, their surprise, their smile. Did you know, for example, that half an hour of ironing burns 75 calories? And that opening and closing an iron board burns even more calories? Anyhow, a week later, I discovered something even more interesting. I decided to test my memory and try to recall what I remember. Surprisingly, I remembered more from those lectures that initially did not relate to me. Why? Because we actually remember better the unusual, the extraordinary, the surprise. So if you're sitting in a lecture that you think does not relate to you, be happy because that's exactly where you're going to find the gold. In new places, unexplored terrains, unknown destinations. Not necessarily the old familiar ones. Now, how shall we remember facts, anecdotes, weeks later? The idea is to take key points and link them to locations. It's called the method of loci. Let's say, for example, you want to remember from my talk that ironing burns calories, that we can find gold in new topics, and the importance of choosing key words. Take these words, iron, gold, key, link them to locations. For example, this beautiful venue, let's choose three locations, the ceiling, myself, and perhaps the screen behind me. Now I would like to kindly ask you to look at the ceiling and imagine ironing the ceiling burning calories, okay? Now please look back at me and imagine me talking and talking while throwing gold coins at you. And that we take a key and we rip the screen behind us. Next week, test your memory. Go over the locations, you'll see they'll remind you of the main ideas and main facts. Those linked to the ceiling? And I remind you of? And we rip the screen with a? Very good. Finally, please remember that we are the masters of our joy, boredom, and interest. We can enjoy every lecture that we hear, every new person that we meet, every article that we read, and we sure can enjoy unexplored, unknown destinations. And now, if you'll excuse me, I would like to go and iron some clothes. Thank you very much. Thank you.