The first iteration of The Monographs was comprehensive yet introductory into the world of thinking about things in the same way that Sherlock Holmes does. This time, we go even deeper. From looking at the practices of Neuroscience that we can use to develop our emotional control and sharpness of our minds when we approach casework to the work on being how to look at someone and figure out what they do for a living which is often billed as a 'holy grail' of sorts in this field.
This second edition will build upon all of the elements from the first including theories application and practice drills. This is so much more than a compendium of riddles and puzzles but a critical thinking course to use with all aspects of your life and the mysteries you take up along the way. Instant memorisation and awareness of the people and things in your surroundings, managing the accuracy of your critical thinking in connection to any biases, reading the face, insights from the animals in someone's life, step by step programs for reading shoes, tattoos, phones, skin, a treatise on criminal profiling elements that you can use in conjunction with this work.
The first iteration of The Monographs was comprehensive yet introductory into the world of thinking about things in the same way that Sherlock Holmes does. This time, we go even deeper. From looking at the practices of Neuroscience that we can use to develop our emotional control and sharpness of our minds when we approach casework to the work on being how to look at someone and figure out what they do for a living which is often billed as a 'holy grail' of sorts in this field.
This second edition will build upon all of the elements from the first including theories application and practice drills. This is so much more than a compendium of riddles and puzzles but a critical thinking course to use with all aspects of your life and the mysteries you take up along the way. Instant memorisation and awareness of the people and things in your surroundings, managing the accuracy of your critical thinking in connection to any biases, reading the face, insights from the animals in someone's life, step by step programs for reading shoes, tattoos, phones, skin, a treatise on criminal profiling elements that you can use in conjunction with this work.
Hello reader! First of all, thank you for taking the time to read this book, for the ones who've been following its progress you'll know it's been made with a labour of love by Ben. Second, to tell you about my connection to its author and the amazing work that he does, which leads to my third point; why you've made a wise decision to purchase the Monographs 2.0!
I met Ben around about a decade ago now, and to call me naive to the world of mentalism when we were introduced would be a gargantuan understatement, bringing to light the elephant in the room here...who the hell am I to help introduce you to his work?! Well, within the years that I have been working with Ben, I've had the pleasure of filming and editing a variety of projects that incorporate his methods on an entertaining platform, during which I learnt that these skills weren't just spectacle assets to his performance as an entertainer, but they could actually be applied to life as a whole. Like what a lot of people would naturally do when meeting someone like Ben, I probed for demonstrations. While he was more than happy to comply, I never thought to ask about the information. What was behind the veil? How did he accomplish such illusion? "Well, observation." You'll be surprised how much of a pause I left after he stated one of the key components to achieving these techniques, mainly because I wasn't actually expecting him to give away the trick! Of course, it obviously wasn't a trick, and this clearly was just the tip of the iceberg. It's funny how your brain expects more elusive solutions. And that's the key realisation to Ben's methods, they're not elusive. They're actually accessible, adaptable and of course do-able! I've witnessed this first hand, whether it be in his deductive experiments, our Web Series 'The Deductionist, or via the content he provides online! The courses he's ran have gone deeper within this (as I'm sure his students will tell you!), and make you wonder how far the rabbit hole really goes (points for the film reference!). Let's talk about the Monographs though, because that's why you're here! A handbook like no other for those wanting to dive into the field of people reading, observation and memorisation. When Ben first told me about its first edition, I was in awe that he'd managed to condense his wisdom into a product that would allow people to learn these skills for themselves! A lot of material we created heavily used these techniques and I knew Ben was already thinking about how he could take it further, ideas were already floating around as he was exploring new ways of applying them to his everyday life. I knew he wanted to ensure that these could work if brought to the table, there was no room to provide something without meaning, he wanted to create something that could be of use to everyone.
And now here we are, a long time coming and I'm sure the works paid off because you now have in your hands not just a great book, but a tool that will help guide you in whatever field your pursuit is in, because it's practically a universal tool! It's also one that I've seen in action. I've seen the benefits of it for Ben and others he's taught. I've seen the profound way it's changed perspective of those who've used the knowledge provided within these very pages. In our web series, you'll see for yourselves how Ben uses these methods himself in a practical and realistic fashion. Yes it's obviously done in a way to entertain and channel his Sherlockian vibe for the show, but it's also meant to enlighten viewers and adjust their ideas of what these skills can look like in the real world compared to the amplified nature of them in other media.
Ben's teachings will challenge you, but in the right way. That's why we challenge ourselves, to benefit from the result. Believe me, you will benefit from the results you gain from the Monographs. So stop hanging around this foreword and move forward (High five for the word play? No? Anyone?) with your journey into The Monographs! You’re in safe hands with Ben's work, it's a process like no other and there's nothing else out there (save for the first edition!) that I've seen go so in depth into these methods. Now, off down the rabbit hole with you!
Adam
The book begins with a beautiful introductory sentence that tells briefly what this book is all about and how it deals with the subject. The author writes, “These are fictional skills as Sherlock wields them by virtue of the fact that he is fictional. To some, this gave the impression that what he could was fictional as well.”
It will not be out of place to mention that this book is based on Sherlockian methodology to explore. Briefly put, it is an interesting manuscript skill development, the real skills that fictional Sherlock Holmes had. The book titled “The Monographs: Becoming Sherlock Holmes,” consists of fifty-four sub-topics on the skills that could be acquired in the real world for inquiry.
Apart from fifty-four brief essays on various skills, techniques, and tips, the book revolves around a few major themes. For instance, first and the most important one is memory development. In the present age of artificial intelligence, the audience may wonder about its relevance and importance. However, the author offers very interesting ways to sharpen and maintain the memory that could help even in daily routine life of human beings.
Another interesting feature of the book is practice. Throughout the book, the author consistently includes various exercises for the reader to practice what is he suggesting by presenting multiple examples and cases. The book appears as a practice guide and is related to our routine life things.
Third, the most important thing or skill that has been emphasized by the author is observation which also involves the discussion of cognition. The author has discussed this phenomenon along with the debate on emotion by focussing on how humane cognitive processes work. The role of emotions and observation in developing memory and related skills to inquire about something at hand. For instance, the skills of associating the numeric with persons, picturing the scenic details, summarizing the details by developing a story about the observatory details, or discussing the top-down method, moving from hypothesis to evidence collection, and bottom-up techniques, by starting with the data at hand and developing a theory or result afterward.
Briefly put, this book serves as a practice guide to explore the domains of human cognition and relevantly places this phenomenon in the age of artificial intelligence. People from the fields of neuroscience, psychology, research, or criminology may take an interest in this book, however, it may not prove as a cup of tea for everyone.