If you’re skeptical about claims around “super power memory,” I don’t blame you.
It’s a big promise, after all. And the people behind books like How to Develop a Super Power Memory know how to market.
In fact, Harry Lorayne is one of the most successful memory trainers in history. And a lot of that success comes from the fact that sales copy for some of his books was written by marketing legend Eugene Schwartz.
He was also very good as a magician who marketed his own books on the mastery of sleight of hand.
The question is…
Who was Harry Lorayne and is How to Develop a Super Power Memory any good? Will it really give you a “super power” memory?
And what does that term even mean?
Well, as a mnemonist and author of over a dozen bestselling memory improvement books, I can tell you that Lorayne was a great educator and yes, the book is good.
But there are some nuances and details from my experience with his memory books I think you’ll appreciate before deciding to spend any time on it.
Who Was Harry Lorayne?
Simply put, Harry Loryane is a memory expert and a legend.
He not only took the world by storm with his memory books and appearances on The Tonight Show.
He’s also a very successful magician. He’s performed magic for years, including in his 80s.
But he also wrote and published many books on magic, including a legendary Apocalypse, from which he recently made a condensed volume of his writings.
In terms of memory, no end of people have attributed their success with mastering the basics of memory techniques thanks to reading his books.
All of which is to say Harry Lorayne was definitely legit. He knew his stuff and you can read a more complete profile I’ve prepared about him and his career here.
How to Develop a Super Power Memory Review: What You Need to Know
The first thing you need to know is that Lorayne focuses on the basics of mnemonic strategies used for learning. Whether it’s remember names or passing exams, making sure you remember these kinds of information was his focus.
The second thing you should know is that Lorayne was, somewhat strangely, not a fan of the Memory Palace technique. He went so far as to speak against using it.
Many people, including his fellow magicians in Genii Magazine, have remarked on this strange habit, and I must admit that it’s a little odd.
By the same token, Lorayne was a showman. The fact that he was both a magician and excellent at sales made him unique and different in the field of memory improvement. Having interviewed him many years ago, I’m sure he knew full well just how unique he was on the market.
I’m also sure he knew that when he memorized and recalled the names of hundreds of people in a room that there’s no way he wasn’t using spatial memory to pull off such demonstrations.
The third thing you should know is that many of Lorayne’s books rehash previous books. Publishers establish a basic formula and when a certain title and cover stops drawing sales, they keep the revenue flowing by rearranging the tried and true material.
Thus, this memory book is not substantially different from other books on memory improvement by Harry Loryane. If you own another of his titles, you probably already have this one, even if there may be small differences.
The one exception is Lorayne’s Ageless Memory. He wrote this book during his own elder years and brings a unique perspective as a result, especially given his long career as a memory expert.
Personally, I think Ageless Memory is much better than How to Develop a Super Power Memory. By the same token, I always find a little something in each of his books. I’m sure you will too.
Who Exactly Will Super Power Memory Help?
This book will help you if you’re:
- New to memory techniques
- A student who wants a competitive edge on your exams
- A driven business professional who wants to stand out
- Someone interested in a general introduction to memory training
By “general introduction,” I mean that you won’t learn anything substantial about the history of memory techniques like you will from people like Eran Katz and Lynne Kelly.
You definitely won’t learn more advanced techniques, like Giordano Bruno’s “infinite Memory Palace” concept.
And that’s perfectly okay. Just keep in mind that most of these general memory techniques are now covered freely on the Internet.
What This Book Covers
I wouldn’t exactly say that “super power” is the right term for what you’ll learn from this book – but it’s certainly close.
The techniques you’ll learn include:
- Linking
- Memory pegs (only one approach)
- Improving observation skills
- Remembering names
- Speeches
- Language learning (only a few pages so really talking about memorizing vocabulary)
- Telephone numbers
- General study tips and habits
- Forming positive habits around your memory while reducing the bad
What You Will Be Able To Do After Reading This Book
Provided that you put the memory techniques into action, after completing this book, you’ll be able to remember words, names, numbers and deliver a speech from memory.
If you practice the techniques frequently, you should also find your focus and concentration improving.
Although your vocabulary will increase if you use the basic techniques to help with learning vocabulary, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to learn a language based on the suggestions in this book.
The claims in this area are a bit exaggerated and I never heard Lorayne speak a foreign language while he was alive.
Maybe he did, but I just haven’t come across an example.
In fact, it was my disappointment at how little the book covers on language learning that inspired me to look deeper into the memory tradition and create what is now the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass.
Pros and Cons of this Harry Loryane Book
Overall, I cannot think of a single con to reading this book. Even if most of its information is available freely online, there’s nothing like having a physical book and working with its exercises in a dedicated manner.
It has a number of exercises and tests that can help you learn the skills and assure yourself that you’re doing them well.
That said, one of the cons is that the tests included in the book are not particularly rigorous. I mean, who in their everyday life has to memorize a list of words like: horse, pencil, perfume, book, etc.?
Of course, as a beginner, memorizing a simple list like that for practice can help you prove the concept behind mnemonics to yourself. But this kind of testing structure has dated the book. And these days you can test yourself using online softwar built by and for memory competitors for free.
Do Lorayne’s Memory Training Tips Reflect Contemporary Neuroscience?
In a word, yes.
In fact, it’s amazing how long it has taken memory science to catch up to the techniques Lorayne taught throughout his career.
There’s actually a fascinating fact about him reported in his New York Times obituary that tells us a lot about the depth of his discipline when it comes to memory training:
Before every performance, Mr. Lorayne, out of sight in the wings, would discreetly check to make sure his trousers were zipped.
It was not merely a question of propriety, but also of credibility. For the man often billed as the world’s foremost memory expert to face an audience with fly unheeded, he explained, would be the poorest professional advertisement of all.
In addition to showing just how much Lorayne cared about marketing his memory skills, it also shows his dedication to what scientists call deliberate practice and procedural memory. By repeating this process in a dedicated manner before stepping on stage, he was giving himself more memory power every time.
More than that, making sure to complete such career-saving habits literally rewires the brain. Learning to reliably perform such checks involves neurogenesis as well according to this study. That is literally the formation of new neuronal connections, which may help explain why Lorayne not only lived to such a ripe old age.
He truly was proof of concept of his teaching as you can see in this demonstration of both his procedural memory and magical skills:
Should You Read How to Develop a Super Power Memory?
I don’t see why not.
But it is a shame that it doesn’t include anything about the Memory Palace technique.
Although it will help you grasp the basics of association through visualization, keep in mind that it was written before people put much thought into issues like aphantasia.
Overall, you should consider this a very general memory training book directed at a general audience.
If you’d like more targeted and specific memory training that does cover the Memory Palace, get my FREE Memory Improvement Kit now:
I’m a big fan of Harry Lorayne and packed a ton of what I’ve learned from him and many other memory teachers into what I offer freely online.
And at the end of the day, the only two critiques I have of Harry Lorayne’s memory teaching are irrelevant.
The man has done us all a huge credit by sharing at scale his introduction to the great memory improvement tradition. Even Tony Buzan told me he went to Harry Lorayne to learn more about the techniques at the beginning of his own career.
(If you’re not familiar with Buzan, he co-founded the World Memory Championships and wrote many books about mind mapping like Mind Map Mastery.)
Succinctly put, if Lorayne is good enough for Buzan, he’s good enough for you too.
Better than good, actually. Lorayne is an excellent writer and probably no clearer descriptions of the basics exist.
But if you’ve already start dipping your toes into memory training and don’t find anything new, at least take heart that you’re reading one of the best mnemonists who ever lived. If nothing else, studying how he wrote his books could start you on the journey towards becoming a mnemonist yourself.
That’s what happened to me, after all. Even if I was lucky enough to receive his mentorship over the phone many years ago, you can still learn a lot from him. Including from this book.
