Joseph Smith's Memory

[_why me]

Hmmm. He seems to have had trouble remembering who appeared to him in the grove.

Yea, most fraudsters would have gotten their story straight. Unless of course, if it weren't a fraud.

[_Harold Lee]

Edit to add: It would also be interesting to see if there is a correlation between "visionaries" such as Joseph Smith and Martin Harris and memory (I believe people said Harris also had a fantastic memory when it came to the Bible). The techniques used to become a memory champion seem to align very well with people who have "visions."

I still think that it would be a little difficult to do with a head in a hat. And then he would have to conjure up a vision for the three witnesses and make some tin plates that had the appearance of gold complete with 11 more witnesses. Plus, mary whitmer...he would need a fool to show her the plates and then disappear.

And pray that all would stick to their story. And then we have emma who swore that he couldn't have written the book without her knowing it. But then, she could have been in on the fraud too. Right?

And then we would need to think just what exactly was going through his mind when he was doing all this...why bother? To start a new church. He could have just started a new protestant sect without the Book of Mormon.

Impressive what is that several members of two, three families there?

Where'd they all go after they signed it?

[_CaliforniaKid]

When Joseph dictated Section 132, he said he didn't need the Urim and Thummim because he knew it by heart.

Edit to add: It would also be interesting to see if there is a correlation between "visionaries" such as Joseph Smith and Martin Harris and memory (I believe people said Harris also had a fantastic memory when it came to the Bible). The techniques used to become a memory champion seem to align very well with people who have "visions."

This is a really interesting idea. Put another way, is there a connection between extraordinary memory and vividness of imagination? Makes sense that there would be. The visualization strategy has always seemed impractical to me, because I'm not a very visual/spatial person. I best remember concepts when I organize them logically, not spatially. Suffice to say, my right brain is somewhat lacking.

[_MCB]

Dyslexia Symptoms Adults
Difficulty in processing auditory information

Losing possessions; poor organizational skills

Slow reading; poor comprehension

Difficulty remembering names of people and places
Hesitant speech; difficulty finding appropriate words

Difficulty organizing ideas to write a letter or paper

Poor spelling
Inability to recall numbers in proper sequence

Lowered self-esteem due to past frustrations
May hide their reading problems; many subterfuges

May spell poorly; relies on others

Avoids writing; may not be able to write

Often very competent in oral language

Relies on memory; may have excellent memories
Often has good "people" skills
Often is spatially talented;engineers, architects, designers, artists and craftspeople, mathematicians, physicists, physicians (especially orthopads, surgeons), dentists

May be very good at "reading" people (intuitive)In jobs is often working well below their intellectual capacity

May have difficulty with planning and organization

May have difficulty with time; often too early, late or forgets appointments. Relies on digital watches; cannot tell time

Often entrepreneurs; may have lost one or more businesses they started

http://dyslexiamylife.org/signs_dsy.html

[_lulu]

When Joseph dictated Section 132, he said he didn't need the Urim and Thummim because he knew it by heart.

Edit to add: It would also be interesting to see if there is a correlation between "visionaries" such as Joseph Smith and Martin Harris and memory (I believe people said Harris also had a fantastic memory when it came to the Bible). The techniques used to become a memory champion seem to align very well with people who have "visions."

This is a really interesting idea. Put another way, is there a connection between extraordinary memory and vividness of imagination? Makes sense that there would be. The visualization strategy has always seemed impractical to me, because I'm not a very visual/spatial person. I best remember concepts when I organize them logically, not spatially. Suffice to say, my right brain is somewhat lacking.

Well, its difficult to generalize but not everyone with a photographic memory has good analytical abilities. And maybe a photographic memory isn't exactly the same as being able to memorize quickly long and well. And I realize that some think the memorization component was important to the production of the Book of Mormon.

But what this thread suggests along with a prior statement by CK is that not only did Joseph Smith have a great knowedge of the Bible and an ability to develop a rather thorough biblical hermeneutic, he also had a remarkable ability to memorize. Photographic memory plus good analytical ability. Those are pretty powerful tools, for good or for ill in Joseph Smith's case.

[_MCB]

Strong ability to memorize is not necessarily a component of strong analytical skill. Together, however, they can be powerful, particularly when reading skill is lower than both.

[_Uncle Dale]

. The ability to memorize large amounts of information is learned rather than inherent. If Joseph Smith Sr. knew how to memorize large quantities of text, then there is a strong likelihood that he taught his son the same techniques.

The TED talk also notes that these memorizing techniques have been known since ancient Greece. I wouldn't be surprised if the Smiths knew some of them."

When I lived in South Asia I encountered people who could
recite the great Hindu epics from memory. In one case it took
the reciter two weeks, at a couple of hours a night, to get
through the entire Ramayana.

The meter of the poetry seems to be one big help to such
memorization experts. They get going in their poetry and
recite for hours in something like a sing-song voice.

It's really quite amazing ... but if they get interrupted and
break the cadence of the lengthy recitation, sometimes
that disruption throws them off track.

There are also memory tricks for reciting non-poetic prose,
of course. There is also something like photographic memory.
I met a guy in the Navy who could glance at a newspaper
page... Maybe for thirty seconds... and then read back the
entire contents from memory. But, ask him to repeat the
same trick after an hour's lapse, and about all he could
repeat we're the article headlines and the pictures.

It would be very useful if we could document Smith's abilities,
apart from any conman deceptions he might have used.
Perhaps it is now too late to reconstruct his abilities, however.

UD

[_Darth J]

Hmmm. He seems to have had trouble remembering who appeared to him in the grove.

Yea, most fraudsters would have gotten their story straight. Unless of course, if it weren't a fraud.

That's a new one: telling inconsistent versions of a story is now evidence that you are telling the truth. Whereas telling a consistent story implies that you are making it up.

I'm not convinced that reincarnation is real, but Why Me, you are making me wonder if maybe your presence suggests that Aristotle once again walks among us.

[_lulu]

Strong ability to memorize is not necessarily a component of strong analytical skill. Together, however, they can be powerful, particularly when reading skill is lower than both.

I don't think we've scratched the surface yet on Joseph Smith.

[Guest]

Strong ability to memorize is not necessarily a component of strong analytical skill. Together, however, they can be powerful, particularly when reading skill is lower than both.

Except of course that most of the book was not memorized. It was either translated or written with a head in a hat. Hard to do with a head in a hat... but you can try.

What would joseph be memorizing...the book of jacob? Moroni?