“Little Big Shots” took off in the United States but has since spread throughout the world, getting adaptations in many different countries. The show is a place for children to showcase their talents like singing, dancing, and more. Now, one boy from Australia is drawing attention for his unique gift — an almost supernatural memorizing ability.
The 5-year-old identified only as Rafael appeared on “Little Big Shots Australia” in 2017.
He was a change from the normal musical acts of singing and dancing. And sure, there’s a difference between being good at remembering things and being scarily good at remembering things. Rafael was about to demonstrate that difference.
“Rafael is a student at Shichida’s Chadstone centre in Melbourne,” read the statement from the YouTube video uploaded by Shichida Australia. “This segment proves how early childhood right-brain training and a love of learning can develop problem-solving and memory skills. We can’t wait to see what else Rafael achieves in the future.”
Rafael walked confidently onto the stage and greeted the cameras — and the cheering audience — with a smile and wave.
He looked absolutely adorable in his red bow tie, which the judge immediately complimented him on.
But he wasn’t there to be cute (even though he was). Instead, he was there to showcase his talent, which was his amazing memory. And Rafael had a pretty simple explanation for how he did it — of course, not one that makes sense to the rest of us.
“I just take photos and then send them to my brain, so then I can remember,” he said.
They presented a quick video of Rafael being shown a stack of 50 cards. When he was shown the cards again in order, he was able to say what the next card would be with total accuracy. As cool as that is, that’s not where it ends!
Rafael had been memorizing the periodic table of elements — 118 elements in case you don’t remember your school science classes.
It’s not something most people try to do — or can do. But Rafael proudly told the audience that he had memorized the whole thing in only five days.
The host had him sit blindfolded on a stool while an image of the periodic table was projected onto a screen. Then, they invited members of the audience to call out a number and challenge the little boy to respond with the coordinating element.
Each time a member called out the number, Rafael took a moment to point to his face, as though visualizing the number in his head — “sending pictures to his brain,” as he called it. To no one’s surprise (but everyone’s amazement) he got every single one correct.
Appropriately, the last one he answered from the audience was element 99 — Einsteinium.
Then the host did a quickfire round, holding up flashcards while Rafael, still blindfolded, answered them. But then he tried to pull a trick on him, repeating card 74.
“74?” said Rafael. “You already did that one! Tungsten!”
A photographic memory in children below the age of 6 is actually a bit more common than you’d think.
And it’s not technically called a photographic memory — it’s eidetic memory. This ability involves people being able to hold images in their minds with extraordinary accuracy for a few minutes. However, after that point, the image fades.
But Rafael can remember images long after they’re gone, so it may be that his brain experiences another phenomenon entirely. One thing is for sure — this little Einstein will go far.
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