The Mentalist

Patrick Jane:
For memory to be useful it has to be as accurate and as fast as a camera. How many animals did you get Lisbon?

Teresa Lisbon:
Around 30.

Patrick Jane:
And you got them from Linda's office?

Teresa Lisbon:
Yes I did.

Patrick Jane:
All of the animals came from Linda's office, and that is a place that I have never been. And in a moment, I will turn around and look behind me and just for a few seconds, and I will memorize every animal on those tables, in order, and then I will show you how to do the same.

Student:
How do we know you didn't already memorize them?

Patrick Jane:
Ah, a skeptic, I should have known, and you're right! There's no reason you should trust me. Paul, would you mind rearranging the animals any way you see fit?

Paul Friedman:
Sure.

Patrick Jane:
Thank you. The human brain, once you get it working right it can be incredibly effective. The mind can do some miraculous things like telling the future.

Student:
Bull!

Patrick Jane:
For that, you can be the one who holds the prediction. Science is about predictions isn't it?

Student:
Predictions based on hard data not fortune telling.

Patrick Jane:
Ah ha, you say tomato, I say science is believing rational thought; in grids, in lists, and classification, which is fine but it's not how the world works and it certainly not how the brain works.

Professor Papadakis:
You're saying people aren't rational.

Patrick Jane:
Well, being rational is a tool, but it's not the only tool we have. Long before we stuffed down knowledge into graphs and charts, we used older and, in some cases, more entertaining ways to remember things. How are we doing there Paul?

Paul Friedman:
I think we're good.

Patrick Jane:
Excellent, now please, I'd like to show you what I'm talking about [whistles] . Lisbon, uh would you mind? Thank you. We can create a memory by building a palace in our minds, we can sing ourselves a song, or tell ourselves a little story. A story of a bully, a grey fox, and a little brave man, a rat, who stood up for his chubby little buddy, the toad, and his friend, egghead. A story of a man in a tuxedo who snaked his way through a crowd to meet a women in a colorful dress; a penguin, cobra, three squirrels, and a parrot. The story of flight; an owl, a bat, a moth, all...