S5 E8: How to improve your memory and cognitive ability with World Record Holder Dave Farrow

Dave Faro discusses how childhood diagnoses of ADHD and dyslexia led him to develop brain training methods aimed at practical learning rather than “memory athlete” competition, including inventing five techniques and a “memory modes” syllabus tested in a double-blind study at McGill University. He explains that mnemonics work by making information feel novel, and argues people differ in what triggers novelty (action, exaggeration, personalisation, oddity, fantastical), with “teacher bias” causing mismatches. Faro recounts his Guinness records memorising 59 shuffled decks (3,068 cards) using…