The Seven Sins of Memory by Daniel Schacter, Houghton Mifflin, $24,
ISBN 0618040196
TATIANA COOLEY was the US National Memory Champion in 1999. Memorising lists
of numbers and reams of poetry were a piece of cake, but when it came to
remembering to buy the milk, she relied on Post-it notes. Her amazing memory
wasn’t infallible in everyday life.
In The Seven Sins of Memory Daniel Schacter uses Cooley’s case to
highlight the difference between two distinct types of memory or, rather,
forgetfulness: transience and absent-mindedness. Cooley had conquered the fading
of memory over time, but failed to deal with…
