Once upon a time, this idea of having a trained, disciplined, cultivated memory was not nearly so alien as it would seem to us to be today.

Source: "Feats of Memory Anyone Can Do." TED2012. Feb. 2012. Conference Presentation. Additional Information: This quote is from writer Joshua Foer's 2012 TED Talk about techniques people can use to improve their memory. The quote means that in the past, people invested in their memories. Foer goes on to explain that over the last few millennia, we've invented a series of technologies, ranging from the alphabet to the smartphone, that have made it progressively easier for us to externalize our memories. These technologies have made our modern world possible, but they have changed us culturally and cognitively; having little need to memorize things, most of us have forgotten how to. Watch the full TED Talk here: Joshua Foer - Feats of Memory Anyone Can Do