It seems to be (at least partially) inspired by a book called ‘The Gulf’.
I looked at the Amazon summary, and it does not seem to have any connection with the memory technique. Besides which, it was only published in 2023. Are you perhaps thinking of Robert Heinlein’s 1949 short story “Gulf”? It is about a group of people of great intelligence who have formed a secret society in which they train their genetic gifts further, with the goal of taking over management of the planet before the normies wreck the place with their ever-greater technology. Their methods include memory training with a tachistoscope, a device for turning a light on for a brief flash.
Heinlein didn’t invent the idea of tachistoscope training. He mentions in that story and a couple of others a psychologist called Renshaw who developed the technique, and this Renshaw actually existed. More here, here, and here (paywalled but also sci-hubbed).
ETA: The OP has since been amended.
I looked at the Amazon summary, and it does not seem to have any connection with the memory technique. Besides which, it was only published in 2023. Are you perhaps thinking of Robert Heinlein’s 1949 short story “Gulf”? It is about a group of people of great intelligence who have formed a secret society in which they train their genetic gifts further, with the goal of taking over management of the planet before the normies wreck the place with their ever-greater technology. Their methods include memory training with a tachistoscope, a device for turning a light on for a brief flash.
Heinlein didn’t invent the idea of tachistoscope training. He mentions in that story and a couple of others a psychologist called Renshaw who developed the technique, and this Renshaw actually existed. More here, here, and here (paywalled but also sci-hubbed).
Wow!
Thanks for picking that up, I was in a rush when footnoting. Heinlein’s Gulf is what I intended to place there.
Thanks for those links, I hadn’t even heard of Renshaw. I’ll be editing it into the above.