No room to remember anything else? Think again

Mar 7, 2017

This article is published in collaboration with Business Insider.

Plaster phrenological models of heads, showing different parts of the brain, are seen at an exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in London March 27, 2012. We've pickled it, dessicated it, drilled it, mummified it, chopped it and sliced it over centuries, yet as the most complex entity in the known universe, the human brain remains a mysterious fascination. With samples of Albert Einstein's preserved brain on slides, and specimens from other famous and infamous heads such as the English mathematician Charles Babbage and notorious mass murderer William Burke, an exhibition opening in London this week is seeking to tap into that intrigue. The exhibition Brains: The Mind As Matter runs from March 29 to June 17. REUTERS/Chris Helgren (BRITAIN - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY SOCIETY HEALTH) - RTR2ZYK1

Jennings argued that our memory is continually expanding to make room for the stuff that fascinates us. Image: REUTERS/Chris Helgren

Shana Lebowitz

Strategy Reporter, Business Insider

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If there's one thing most "Jeopardy" champions have in common, it's that they find everything — even the stuff you consider weird and boring — interesting.

That's according to Ken Jennings, who broke records back in 2004 when he won 74 "Jeopardy" games in a row, ultimately walking away with over $2.5 million in prize money.

Jennings explained that having a "wide-ranging curiosity" is key to remembering obscure facts.

In fact, while most people think memory has a limited capacity, Jennings argued that our memory is continually expanding to make room for the stuff that fascinates us.

Here's Jennings:

"People wrongly think there's a [memory] capacity and you can fill it up like a gas tank or an attic. That's not true at all. The complexity can just keep increasing and increasing."

"But what drives it — and this is what people get wrong — is interest, not effort. It's not the number of hours you spend studying; it really is going to be how engaged you are in the thing."

Today, Jennings is a freelance writer; he's written several books for kids and adults and is currently finishing up another. He recently partnered with employee-learning platform Bridge by Instructure to create an online course about memory skills.

On his personal website, Jennings writes:

"I apparently have a pretty good memory for things I'm interested in—like everybody else I guess, but maybe I'm just interested in more subjects than is normal."

As an undergrad, he led Brigham Young University's Quiz Bowl team, and wrote and edited questions for National Academic Quiz Tournaments.

"A lot of people think, 'Oh, I'm not one of these people, with one of these 'Rain Man' type memories that you see on 'Jeopardy," Jennings told Business Insider, referring to the 1988 movie featuring a savant character with an incredible memory.

He went on:

"The people you see on 'Jeopardy' are not savants, either. They are just normal people who are less specialized than us."

"We all get into our little career niches and our little hobby niches, but the people you see on 'Jeopardy' are trivia buffs, which means they think everything's interesting."

"If you can convince yourself of that by having a wide-ranging curiosity, then really you become one of them. That's all it takes."

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