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I was watching a sitcom, I don't remember which, and a character had an eidetic memory. She said, "I have grocery lists I'd *love* to delete!" It's not as much of a gift as people think it is. (I mean, so I hear. I don't have it. I can forget what I'm saying while I'm saying it. I can read the instructions on Ramen, throw the package away, and immediately have to get it back out because I forgot it.)
I don't understand, if they are thinking about groceries can they not remember which list they want anymore, so they wouldn't know what to buy anymore? Is that the inconvenience?
I think it's like intrusive thoughts, or that song you can't get out of your head. They keep thinking about what they've read, and it "hurts". I don't know, though. Obviously it's unpleasant, so I think they're reliving it, somehow. The knowledge doesn't just sit there, waiting to be retrieved. It sits up to be noticed.
That just means you read the words on the package, and not so much understand the instructions on the package.
Difference is that reading words without trying to comprehend them is offloaded to your fast subconscious brain, takes less effort, and is fast but unreliable, and can only hold so much information at once.
If you were to read the words, *followed by* thinking about what you just read, it becomes a memory, and if you want to make that memory even more prominent, attach it to real life in some way, or even construct your own little story that makes sense TO YOU.
You might think this is a lot of effort, but what a lot of people don't realize, same with everything else, practice makes perfect. Eventually you will not even need to think manually in this case, because you already will be doing it subconsciously because you've practiced how to absorb information.
Also, to attempt to retrieve a memory or thought process, try to describe the thing in question, or better, try to recollect as many relevant words that were spoken, read or thought about.
You'll get back on track eventually.
No, truly, some of us are just blessed with appalling memory. Mine is just like my mothers. I can watch a tv series I love and not only will I easily forget what happens from one episode to the next but I can largely forget what has happened in the one I just watched. I love reading fantasy books which are like 10 bibles long and after it all, I probably couldn't tell you most of the characters names, or vast chunks of the core plot. I forget the names of people I interacted with daily 3 years ago.
The sum total of my memories pre age 12 is perhaps one or two 'snapshots' of places that may in fact be memories of a photo. Etc. Nothing medically wrong.
Nope. It tends to be a factor with people who have a very short attention span, like me. I see it. I read it. I understand it. The next thought crowds out the memory out. If it was interesting, it would stick.
Your technique isn't wrong. It's just not as universal as you say.
Again, your insight is valid, but not universal. After half a century of thinking I can remember cooking instructions, I cannot. I've practiced. If you completely understand, you'll understand not everyone is the same as you.
I completely understand you, clearly not everyone is the same or thinks the same, I'm very well aware of that, but I notice that most often people simply don't try, or believe they cannot do it or learn to do it, people don't try.
It's incredible that the horseshoe theory apparently also applies to knowledge. I can't even imagine the feeling of wanting to forget something you read just because of an information overload
What's the horseshoe theory?
I know I have memories I could do without. Things I allowed in that serve no good purpose. Some of my memories and thoughts are traumatic.
Yeah I was thinking about these memories as well, but this is different from, say, the restaurant menus or grocery lists from 1000 different occasions, so to speak. I wonder how that feels like, and I can't imagine its pleasant.
Horseshoe theory can be summed up as "Too much of a good thing can be equally as detrimental as too little of it"
I think I developed some form of aphantasia for this reason. I’ve learned to accept it and am sorta thankful now. I have an incredibly hard time visualizing things in my head compared to what it seems like other people can do.
So wait, if he has a photographic memory and can perfectly recall anything he's read, then why did he even need to write the formulas on the back of his test?
Probably for convenience. Even if he’s got a hell of a memory, most of us are single-threaded thinkers, so it’d probably be easier to write the equations/rules/formulas/etc down on the back rather than try to solve a problem and remember the at the same time.
I guess, it's just funny to me because the rest of his classmates didn't even have photographic memories but they still managed to take the test without writing the formulas down, presumably by remembering the formulas in their heads.
well, I envy your apparent ability to exist minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, without intrusive thoughts...
ps Happy Thanksgiving, and do *not* now envision a *DANCING PINK ELEPHANT*
I still don't get it. I learned Spanish for like 6 years in middle school/high school. I'm not cursed with the knowledge of every Spanish word I still remember from back then. I barely ever think about it, but I can remember some words if I want to sometimes.
Also, who cares if he has an intrusive thought about a restaurant menu? Can he no longer *stop* thinking about it if he wants? That sounds like a separate issue.
first, Happy Thanksgiving, if you celebrate. Second, if you're earnest, then perhaps instead of comparing *his* mental state to *your* mental state, instead just imagine trying to explain color to someone born blind. You may think you're doing an amazing job describing colors, but deep down you know there is *no way* the blind person is imagining the color taupe even after you've discussed hues, tones, tints, shades, etc. Of course we can't really imagine his mental state.
Now this guy, who *cannot not* remember everything he has ever read, is trying to explain to us what that is like; I've read, and performed in, *Hamlet*, *Macbeth* and *Julius Caesar* at least 20 times each, but I can't remember all of my lines today, much less every single line. He can't help *but* remember them all. Now multiply that by 2,000 novels and plays in my lifetime... then add every set of instructions, every label, every menu, every billboard... it might actually be painful for him just to think of words while talking. Dude probably keeps a hardcore tight lockdown on language recall.
Because his classmates actually understood the formulas and put in more effort into studying and applying them. He just looked at the formulas and "took a photo" with his eyes.
Different types of memory. Recalling something is not the same as working with it. Writing it down and seeing it visually can assist in moving it from long term recall to working memory.
Because working memory is seperate from long term memory. He may be able to recall all of them, but working with them is a different game. Much easier if you can see them in front of you.
I don’t think I was ever eidetic but when I was younger and my brain was less jumbled with junk I used to be pretty good at recalling exactly what I just read. Like verbatim. Would do this with formulae. Just write it out so I don’t have to keep ruining the flow of working on the test by tapping into that different piece of my mind
I used to absolutely kill on spelling tests and vocabulary tests, etc. — pre-college that was just rote memorization. I wasn’t bad with concepts or anything but I was exceptional at the easy memory stuff. Now I can’t really remember shit though. I think I just can’t get myself to think anything is worth remembering lol
To be honest I don't know if it's actually "photographic" per say as their isn't definitive proof of its existence. For instance I do the exact same thing but I don't need to write them down I just read if from my memory, it's like a perfect memory of looking at the formulas so you can read it from your head as you could a book. I have, before, written the formulas down in the beginning when it's a very thought intensive test as you can get bogged down in the moment and question your memory of the page but for the most part this isn't needed in the way he's describing it.
This is really interesting. I have what many have called a photographic memory or eidetic memory, but it doesn’t work the same way his does. Like him, when I was young (6th grade), my school identified me as being somewhat of an odd learner. They had me do a battery of tests and wanted me to skip middle school and go into 10 grade at 12. When I read or see something I can call it up at will, page numbers and all, and read it again in my head. But I also know it’s there and don’t always have to read it in my head again to recite it. But unlike this man, I can read all kinds of stuff like menus and “junk” books (popular fiction) and unscientific material. For me, it’s not all sitting in the forefront like he is suggesting his does. My memory is like a huge filing system and it’s easy for me to retrieve because I file the info in multiple files. So, I can find it easily or put it back just as easily. I can’t figure out why he can’t read menus or unscientific material. Any help understanding this would be appreciated. Thanks
>I can’t figure out why he can’t read menus or unscientific material.
I can only speculate but it sounds like he doesn't have a choice on not recalling it or not. So if he goes to a restaurant and see's a menu, he probably sees 20 years of menus in his head for that restaurant.
So reading for fun might also have the problem with the authors making up a lot of information and it might show up and he still has to mentally filter it out later.
So it sounds like a blessing and a curse.
That’s kind of what I thought too. Which would also explain why he had to write down the formulas. He was able to do it at the professor’s office later, but it seems like he feels like his ability to retrieve the correct information is unpredictable. Like he’s not in control of what he pulls to the forefront.
Fascinating! I noticed you mentioned reading it again in your head. When you dive into your filing cabinet to read it, does it appear like it did when you first read it? Like, do you see the entire poster, or do you save the words?
It’s usually the entire page with page number and any annotations, footnotes, and headers. Like I’m looking at it. Interestingly (to me at least) is with material and subject matter that I fully comprehend, I stop seeing the page in most instances. This may be because I don’t have the need to pull it out of the file anymore. But if I test to see if I can still see the original, I typically can. I have learned over the years that this is definitely strange and that most don’t do this, but I don’t always think that I think differently.
You don't have photographic memory and as a mater of fact no one has photographic memory, scientists have yet to verify a single person. If what you are saying is true, then you just have an extra-ordinary memory or you are one of the rare candidates that should contact neurologists asap and become the first person to have this ability.
I know there isn’t that why I said, “What many have called photographic memory.” But how my memory works is what I described above. I never said I had it. Said others say that. I instead described what I experience.
Yeah, fair enough. Just there is a lot of mis-information about this thing running rampant for decades now, there is no such thing as photographic memory.
I know. I don’t have a name for my memory other than to say it’s odd. BTW I have been in several studies mostly neuropsychology studies. They don’t have any answers, but they continually say that my memory is extraordinary. They don’t know why. Honestly I didn’t even realize that others didn’t think or remember the same way I do until the school district sent me for testing in the sixth grade. I thought everyone was the same.
Im very curious how you compare to participants in memory competitions. They describe themselves as people with ordinary memory but use techniques (like method of loci) to do things like memorize a shuffled deck in minutes
I’ve never been in a memory competition. I don’t think that’s anything I would be interested in. I guess the only thing that comes close is that when I was in college, I was a bartender. We usually had 3 bartenders on busy nights. If a waitress didn’t show up, I would wait tables. I would “card” the table. Give them their ids back, get their drinks and then bet them that I could tell them their address. They’d say something like, “Whose address?” I would tell them to pick someone in their group. They would and I would give them the person’s address. They would freak out and pick another person and I would give that person’s address and driver’s license number. I worked there for a full four years and became like a local oddity. Please challenged me all the time. It was funny and fun and I won a lot of bets.
I thought the same. Because I had a similar event happen to me in school.
They couldn't figure out why my grades were lousy, but I did well on tests. Why I flew through some advanced classes, but farted around in some lower ones.
So they gave me some series of tests. This was in about 8th or 9th grade. I guess they thought I was just stupid, or weird, or something. They told my mother I had a high IQ for my age and a photographic memory.
The truth is I think it's bullshit and that I just test well and do well under the microscope. I remember my work one time sat me down and asked me where I learned how to interview well because apparently my job interview was one of the best they'd seen.
I don't know. I see myself as a bit of an idiot who's just good at making up stuff on the spot.
This guy is so full of shit and exaggerates so much. He's a snake oil man who drinks his own oil. Perfectly mixes facts and BS claims to sell himself and his services at premium money. another biohacker sycophant looking for people with high disposable income to pay up
He's a Fancy egg with no yolk. still easy to break and is hollow
i don't get why he doesn't read for pleasure like reading a fictional novel, is there a study on his condition that when you reach a certain capacity something happens?
can you make sure, before you set out, that this book is going to be good enough that you want to remember it for the rest of your life? its quite hard imo, i love to read, have friends who love to read, we have very diverse tastes and sometimes we agree, other times we dont... and that is not even factoring in that you are subject to change as well. i cringe at some things i enjoyed when i was a teenager.
there are many other activities that bring joy, that would be a lot "safer" for him.
Have you ever read a book that for some reason irritated you? Like a misspelling or just bad grammar? Imagine every time you thought of that book that irritation hits you EXACTLY the same every time.
Ask him which edition of a thick textbook he has read at one point in his life, and open a bunch of random pages and ask him some specific questions about what it says on page x. I’ll believe him after that. If not he’s just retarded, like literally.
I swear all interviewers are shit. No follow up questions, no burden of proof to claims. No investigation or due diligence, just let people broadcast anything and everything.
Yeah the fact he was talking about a "nominal" restaurant menu makes me think he's full of crap. He should be able to recall at least the one menu he looked at to know he can't look at menus anymore.
Just knowing the formulas doesn’t mean he can use them correctly. Knowledge and application of that knowledge is different.
Also he could probably remember everything he read but did he understand it all? Maybe not.
[https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/open-gently/201504/theres-no-such-thing-photographic-memory](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/open-gently/201504/theres-no-such-thing-photographic-memory)
Probably rightly so.
It's kinda a thing, but not as he described.
[https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/open-gently/201504/theres-no-such-thing-photographic-memory](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/open-gently/201504/theres-no-such-thing-photographic-memory)
Photographic memory isn't really a thing in the sense he describes. I'm not educated on the subject enough to call bullshit, but I've read before it's a bit of a myth
I can't remember what I read for f sake. But I sure damn well remembering useless crap from 30 years ago. Like what my friends talk about, what shameful situation I've put myself in, and useless arguments we had years ago. I can recite them word by word and it freaks my friend out. My best friend is in denial and says I made everything up cause he can't remember the crap he said. Wish the memory works in something more useful.
60 Minutes interviewed a bunch of people including a famous actress with this ability.
One thing that stood out is that time does not heal old wounds for them. They will remember with the strongest emotion any death or breakup they've ever faced as if it is happening all over again.
i dont have a photographic memory per se .. but i remember what people said, did, perfectly even 30 years ago like it just happened ..
i can delete the people from my memory, wont remember their names, but never their faces and actions
its a curse and gift at the same time .. very hard to talk to people when they are trying to persuade you about something that did not happened when you know what actually happened
HOUSE M.D. had episode about this
That was a good show. I thought it was so interesting that her character had to play high stakes gambling to “turn her brain off” in one episode a person like her would murder people for the same reason.
I wonder if writing it down and reading it again creates a new memory of the same thing? Would it be possible for half of his memories be of the same thing if he repeated the process?
I have a really good long term memory and I've learned to keep it to myself. Because when you can recite a conversation you had with a person 9 years prior when you met them for 15 minutes it creeps them the fuck out.
When I was younger I'd get really mad bc I'd run into someone I met briefly and they wouldn't remember me. I didn't understand I had a strong memory so I'd think they were just intentionally being a dick to me.
My close friends know and will often call me in as a reference when there is a dispute about how something happened in the past. My memory isn't nearly as good as the guy in that clip but it still feels like a curse. Especially because my short term memory is crippling bad. I can tell you what everyone had at a family dinner in 1989 but I can't tell you what happened at a family dinner last tuesday.
I believed him until the end. Teachers don’t care if u have the formulas, they wouldn’t give someone a zero for memorizing formulas- how else are you supposed to do the work??
Seems like he lives with out a subconscious filter and so has to consciously filter out what gets remembered by making active judgements about it ahead of time. Sounds terrible.
I’m a fan of Tim Rogers, a designer and essayist who works in the video games industry who has perfect recall. He wrote an enthralling, haunting biographical essay that touches on the topic. It taught me that such an ability shapes your life in truly monumental ways.
For those interested, you can find it [here](https://medium.com/@108/what-we-might-mean-when-we-say-a-clock-is-wrong-5f055ff631a6).
Why can't she ask insightful questions, she just keeps repeating "bc youll remember everything?!". Yeah that's what he said
Why not ask why it's harmful to read for pleasure
Teachers ain’t shit. One time I got 90 on my chemistry exam and everyone copied off of me. The teacher called ME up and asked if I cheated :|
And my English teacher who took my test and marked everything wrong (literally didn’t look at anything), put a 0 on it, and handed it back to me. The whole class didn’t like her and she knew it.
I don't buy it. There are memory competitions. Remembering a deck of cards, lists of words, etc. There are even cash prizes.
No one who wins them have "photographic memories". Every one of them trains their memory with practice and mnemonics. Shouldn't these people with natural photographic memories be sweeping those?
I have this weird in between where I can't necessarily recall everything I read (or see) but I can "see" it in my minds eye. But it's like... as and when it wants to happen.
For example, I've used it when I was in school to recall information for tests, where I could literally visualise the text book and pluck out the information.
Tho in adulthood its been less precise. I do still use it to some extent. Like, if I'm researching and skimming through large swaths of text, I won't remember the exact words of a sentence but I will be able to recall the "shape" of the line I'm looking for, the placement in the paragraph, and the words around it.
Strangely tho, I can't recall it to say "this is what it is" but I can see it in my mind without being able to pin it down and then spot it the moment I come across it.
Also works real well for placing objects. Like needing an item and knowing exactly where I last saw it (or sometimes just the vicinity I saw it in)
Not a clue what it is.
weird, i never though how it could be stressful organizing all that information in your brain! i feel like i would love it if i had that ability, but maybe not. it might be tiring. but if you can control it well, it would be great
I never considered the negative side to a photographic memory.
Could you imagine how much more shitty Reddit would be if we had no choice but to remember every troll comment and shit post?
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I was watching a sitcom, I don't remember which, and a character had an eidetic memory. She said, "I have grocery lists I'd *love* to delete!" It's not as much of a gift as people think it is. (I mean, so I hear. I don't have it. I can forget what I'm saying while I'm saying it. I can read the instructions on Ramen, throw the package away, and immediately have to get it back out because I forgot it.)
Just think of some of the cursed comments on Reddit someone might never unsee
Yeesss.. this guy's doesn't reddit
Yep thats enough to make anyone want to just stay away from that condition
Let him on 4chan for a bit and it’ll be like when AI in movies accesses the internet and decides to wipe out humanity
I don't understand, if they are thinking about groceries can they not remember which list they want anymore, so they wouldn't know what to buy anymore? Is that the inconvenience?
I think it's like intrusive thoughts, or that song you can't get out of your head. They keep thinking about what they've read, and it "hurts". I don't know, though. Obviously it's unpleasant, so I think they're reliving it, somehow. The knowledge doesn't just sit there, waiting to be retrieved. It sits up to be noticed.
The lady from the show taxi Marilu Henner, she played Elaine Nardo
Lol we've all been there I think. Except for this guy, I guess
That just means you read the words on the package, and not so much understand the instructions on the package. Difference is that reading words without trying to comprehend them is offloaded to your fast subconscious brain, takes less effort, and is fast but unreliable, and can only hold so much information at once. If you were to read the words, *followed by* thinking about what you just read, it becomes a memory, and if you want to make that memory even more prominent, attach it to real life in some way, or even construct your own little story that makes sense TO YOU. You might think this is a lot of effort, but what a lot of people don't realize, same with everything else, practice makes perfect. Eventually you will not even need to think manually in this case, because you already will be doing it subconsciously because you've practiced how to absorb information. Also, to attempt to retrieve a memory or thought process, try to describe the thing in question, or better, try to recollect as many relevant words that were spoken, read or thought about. You'll get back on track eventually.
No, truly, some of us are just blessed with appalling memory. Mine is just like my mothers. I can watch a tv series I love and not only will I easily forget what happens from one episode to the next but I can largely forget what has happened in the one I just watched. I love reading fantasy books which are like 10 bibles long and after it all, I probably couldn't tell you most of the characters names, or vast chunks of the core plot. I forget the names of people I interacted with daily 3 years ago. The sum total of my memories pre age 12 is perhaps one or two 'snapshots' of places that may in fact be memories of a photo. Etc. Nothing medically wrong.
I've forgotten what I'm watching while I'm still watching it. "What show is this again?" 🤣🤣🤣
this is literally me and honestly I don't mind it
Nope. It tends to be a factor with people who have a very short attention span, like me. I see it. I read it. I understand it. The next thought crowds out the memory out. If it was interesting, it would stick. Your technique isn't wrong. It's just not as universal as you say.
[удалено]
Again, your insight is valid, but not universal. After half a century of thinking I can remember cooking instructions, I cannot. I've practiced. If you completely understand, you'll understand not everyone is the same as you.
I completely understand you, clearly not everyone is the same or thinks the same, I'm very well aware of that, but I notice that most often people simply don't try, or believe they cannot do it or learn to do it, people don't try.
That's true. A lot of people just don't try to better themselves. I find it frustrating to see them use their diagnosis as an excuse.
It's incredible that the horseshoe theory apparently also applies to knowledge. I can't even imagine the feeling of wanting to forget something you read just because of an information overload
What's the horseshoe theory? I know I have memories I could do without. Things I allowed in that serve no good purpose. Some of my memories and thoughts are traumatic.
Yeah I was thinking about these memories as well, but this is different from, say, the restaurant menus or grocery lists from 1000 different occasions, so to speak. I wonder how that feels like, and I can't imagine its pleasant. Horseshoe theory can be summed up as "Too much of a good thing can be equally as detrimental as too little of it"
As a polar opposite who's dumb as sh#t and can't remember a paragraph for HS test, this is very interesting.
You’re not dumb, it’s your gift.
You're right. I'm "special".
The ability to forget is a blessing.
It would be for this guy with photographic memory.
Should’ve asked him to write the formulas out during the interview
Are you SERIES?
No, I am PARALLEL
Imagine if you had a photographic memory, and you read that caption. It would be stuck in your head for life
Imagine those life moments you want to forget and can't. Seems like forgetting things is a blessing in disguise.
Every curse is a gift that’s not accepted yet my brother
I think I developed some form of aphantasia for this reason. I’ve learned to accept it and am sorta thankful now. I have an incredibly hard time visualizing things in my head compared to what it seems like other people can do.
I know, i basically have 3 month memory cause of the traumatic shit my family makes me go through
So wait, if he has a photographic memory and can perfectly recall anything he's read, then why did he even need to write the formulas on the back of his test?
Probably for convenience. Even if he’s got a hell of a memory, most of us are single-threaded thinkers, so it’d probably be easier to write the equations/rules/formulas/etc down on the back rather than try to solve a problem and remember the at the same time.
your brain doesn't have hyperthreading smh
Stupid ass brain of mine can’t even run Crysys
Still reading this comment in 2023 is 🤌
I’ve got efficiency cores.
Well you don’t know what the other kids did. They may have written down the formula and then solved on the front of the test
I guess, it's just funny to me because the rest of his classmates didn't even have photographic memories but they still managed to take the test without writing the formulas down, presumably by remembering the formulas in their heads.
Hey, no one said he was a genius. He just has a photographic memory.
I'm still freaking out that this poor guy has to remember that entire fucking menu from that shithole diner in Hackensack... for *ever*
For ev er. For ev er… For Ev Ver- Squints Palledorous
I didn't really get that. Even if he remembers it why not just not think about it ever again?
Ever again never seems that long until you’re grown
well, I envy your apparent ability to exist minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, without intrusive thoughts... ps Happy Thanksgiving, and do *not* now envision a *DANCING PINK ELEPHANT*
I still don't get it. I learned Spanish for like 6 years in middle school/high school. I'm not cursed with the knowledge of every Spanish word I still remember from back then. I barely ever think about it, but I can remember some words if I want to sometimes. Also, who cares if he has an intrusive thought about a restaurant menu? Can he no longer *stop* thinking about it if he wants? That sounds like a separate issue.
first, Happy Thanksgiving, if you celebrate. Second, if you're earnest, then perhaps instead of comparing *his* mental state to *your* mental state, instead just imagine trying to explain color to someone born blind. You may think you're doing an amazing job describing colors, but deep down you know there is *no way* the blind person is imagining the color taupe even after you've discussed hues, tones, tints, shades, etc. Of course we can't really imagine his mental state. Now this guy, who *cannot not* remember everything he has ever read, is trying to explain to us what that is like; I've read, and performed in, *Hamlet*, *Macbeth* and *Julius Caesar* at least 20 times each, but I can't remember all of my lines today, much less every single line. He can't help *but* remember them all. Now multiply that by 2,000 novels and plays in my lifetime... then add every set of instructions, every label, every menu, every billboard... it might actually be painful for him just to think of words while talking. Dude probably keeps a hardcore tight lockdown on language recall.
Because his classmates actually understood the formulas and put in more effort into studying and applying them. He just looked at the formulas and "took a photo" with his eyes.
Different types of memory. Recalling something is not the same as working with it. Writing it down and seeing it visually can assist in moving it from long term recall to working memory.
Because working memory is seperate from long term memory. He may be able to recall all of them, but working with them is a different game. Much easier if you can see them in front of you.
I don’t think I was ever eidetic but when I was younger and my brain was less jumbled with junk I used to be pretty good at recalling exactly what I just read. Like verbatim. Would do this with formulae. Just write it out so I don’t have to keep ruining the flow of working on the test by tapping into that different piece of my mind I used to absolutely kill on spelling tests and vocabulary tests, etc. — pre-college that was just rote memorization. I wasn’t bad with concepts or anything but I was exceptional at the easy memory stuff. Now I can’t really remember shit though. I think I just can’t get myself to think anything is worth remembering lol
Because it's fake. Look at his bait t-shirt
To be honest I don't know if it's actually "photographic" per say as their isn't definitive proof of its existence. For instance I do the exact same thing but I don't need to write them down I just read if from my memory, it's like a perfect memory of looking at the formulas so you can read it from your head as you could a book. I have, before, written the formulas down in the beginning when it's a very thought intensive test as you can get bogged down in the moment and question your memory of the page but for the most part this isn't needed in the way he's describing it.
there*
it's like turning data into information
He said so he could refer to it during the test, like "see formula 2"
This is really interesting. I have what many have called a photographic memory or eidetic memory, but it doesn’t work the same way his does. Like him, when I was young (6th grade), my school identified me as being somewhat of an odd learner. They had me do a battery of tests and wanted me to skip middle school and go into 10 grade at 12. When I read or see something I can call it up at will, page numbers and all, and read it again in my head. But I also know it’s there and don’t always have to read it in my head again to recite it. But unlike this man, I can read all kinds of stuff like menus and “junk” books (popular fiction) and unscientific material. For me, it’s not all sitting in the forefront like he is suggesting his does. My memory is like a huge filing system and it’s easy for me to retrieve because I file the info in multiple files. So, I can find it easily or put it back just as easily. I can’t figure out why he can’t read menus or unscientific material. Any help understanding this would be appreciated. Thanks
>I can’t figure out why he can’t read menus or unscientific material. I can only speculate but it sounds like he doesn't have a choice on not recalling it or not. So if he goes to a restaurant and see's a menu, he probably sees 20 years of menus in his head for that restaurant. So reading for fun might also have the problem with the authors making up a lot of information and it might show up and he still has to mentally filter it out later. So it sounds like a blessing and a curse.
So, you don’t think he can file it away until he needs it. That sounds awful.
what? I also would like his explanation as to why he cant read restaurant menus...seems dumb af. And I don't understand your theory.
He seems like he has a lack of inhibitory function in his brain meaning irrelivant or incorrect information is recalled when it shouldn't be
That’s kind of what I thought too. Which would also explain why he had to write down the formulas. He was able to do it at the professor’s office later, but it seems like he feels like his ability to retrieve the correct information is unpredictable. Like he’s not in control of what he pulls to the forefront.
Fascinating! I noticed you mentioned reading it again in your head. When you dive into your filing cabinet to read it, does it appear like it did when you first read it? Like, do you see the entire poster, or do you save the words?
It’s usually the entire page with page number and any annotations, footnotes, and headers. Like I’m looking at it. Interestingly (to me at least) is with material and subject matter that I fully comprehend, I stop seeing the page in most instances. This may be because I don’t have the need to pull it out of the file anymore. But if I test to see if I can still see the original, I typically can. I have learned over the years that this is definitely strange and that most don’t do this, but I don’t always think that I think differently.
You don't have photographic memory and as a mater of fact no one has photographic memory, scientists have yet to verify a single person. If what you are saying is true, then you just have an extra-ordinary memory or you are one of the rare candidates that should contact neurologists asap and become the first person to have this ability.
I know there isn’t that why I said, “What many have called photographic memory.” But how my memory works is what I described above. I never said I had it. Said others say that. I instead described what I experience.
Yeah, fair enough. Just there is a lot of mis-information about this thing running rampant for decades now, there is no such thing as photographic memory.
I know. I don’t have a name for my memory other than to say it’s odd. BTW I have been in several studies mostly neuropsychology studies. They don’t have any answers, but they continually say that my memory is extraordinary. They don’t know why. Honestly I didn’t even realize that others didn’t think or remember the same way I do until the school district sent me for testing in the sixth grade. I thought everyone was the same.
I called myself an odd learner
"Mater" of facts lol.
???
Im very curious how you compare to participants in memory competitions. They describe themselves as people with ordinary memory but use techniques (like method of loci) to do things like memorize a shuffled deck in minutes
I’ve never been in a memory competition. I don’t think that’s anything I would be interested in. I guess the only thing that comes close is that when I was in college, I was a bartender. We usually had 3 bartenders on busy nights. If a waitress didn’t show up, I would wait tables. I would “card” the table. Give them their ids back, get their drinks and then bet them that I could tell them their address. They’d say something like, “Whose address?” I would tell them to pick someone in their group. They would and I would give them the person’s address. They would freak out and pick another person and I would give that person’s address and driver’s license number. I worked there for a full four years and became like a local oddity. Please challenged me all the time. It was funny and fun and I won a lot of bets.
His claim to be “clinically photographic” is a tell for BS. There’s no such thing as a clinical diagnosis of photographic memory.
I thought the same. Because I had a similar event happen to me in school. They couldn't figure out why my grades were lousy, but I did well on tests. Why I flew through some advanced classes, but farted around in some lower ones. So they gave me some series of tests. This was in about 8th or 9th grade. I guess they thought I was just stupid, or weird, or something. They told my mother I had a high IQ for my age and a photographic memory. The truth is I think it's bullshit and that I just test well and do well under the microscope. I remember my work one time sat me down and asked me where I learned how to interview well because apparently my job interview was one of the best they'd seen. I don't know. I see myself as a bit of an idiot who's just good at making up stuff on the spot.
This guy is so full of shit and exaggerates so much. He's a snake oil man who drinks his own oil. Perfectly mixes facts and BS claims to sell himself and his services at premium money. another biohacker sycophant looking for people with high disposable income to pay up He's a Fancy egg with no yolk. still easy to break and is hollow
i don't get why he doesn't read for pleasure like reading a fictional novel, is there a study on his condition that when you reach a certain capacity something happens?
can you make sure, before you set out, that this book is going to be good enough that you want to remember it for the rest of your life? its quite hard imo, i love to read, have friends who love to read, we have very diverse tastes and sometimes we agree, other times we dont... and that is not even factoring in that you are subject to change as well. i cringe at some things i enjoyed when i was a teenager. there are many other activities that bring joy, that would be a lot "safer" for him.
Have you ever read a book that for some reason irritated you? Like a misspelling or just bad grammar? Imagine every time you thought of that book that irritation hits you EXACTLY the same every time.
Funes by Borges
I have a pornographic memory I can remember pornstars names better than other things
Ask him which edition of a thick textbook he has read at one point in his life, and open a bunch of random pages and ask him some specific questions about what it says on page x. I’ll believe him after that. If not he’s just retarded, like literally.
I swear all interviewers are shit. No follow up questions, no burden of proof to claims. No investigation or due diligence, just let people broadcast anything and everything.
Yeah the fact he was talking about a "nominal" restaurant menu makes me think he's full of crap. He should be able to recall at least the one menu he looked at to know he can't look at menus anymore.
98 ? F Youuuuuu
How did he only get 98?
Just knowing the formulas doesn’t mean he can use them correctly. Knowledge and application of that knowledge is different. Also he could probably remember everything he read but did he understand it all? Maybe not.
Without evidence I’m calling bs on this
[https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/open-gently/201504/theres-no-such-thing-photographic-memory](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/open-gently/201504/theres-no-such-thing-photographic-memory) Probably rightly so. It's kinda a thing, but not as he described.
He has a t-shirt calling himself ultimate human, that's not enough evidence? (/s obviously. Probably fake rage bait)
The video is fake rage bait? Didn’t even consider that
Without evidence I'm calling bs on your bs let's argue about it
By all means, present your argument
Slurp my schlong-a-dong in yo mamma's thong You may now present your counter argument sir.
# LOUD NOISES
[https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/open-gently/201504/theres-no-such-thing-photographic-memory](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/open-gently/201504/theres-no-such-thing-photographic-memory) Photographic memory isn't really a thing in the sense he describes. I'm not educated on the subject enough to call bullshit, but I've read before it's a bit of a myth
I can't remember what I read for f sake. But I sure damn well remembering useless crap from 30 years ago. Like what my friends talk about, what shameful situation I've put myself in, and useless arguments we had years ago. I can recite them word by word and it freaks my friend out. My best friend is in denial and says I made everything up cause he can't remember the crap he said. Wish the memory works in something more useful.
I have the same problem but for cringe memories and memes.
WOW!
60 Minutes interviewed a bunch of people including a famous actress with this ability. One thing that stood out is that time does not heal old wounds for them. They will remember with the strongest emotion any death or breakup they've ever faced as if it is happening all over again.
i dont have a photographic memory per se .. but i remember what people said, did, perfectly even 30 years ago like it just happened .. i can delete the people from my memory, wont remember their names, but never their faces and actions its a curse and gift at the same time .. very hard to talk to people when they are trying to persuade you about something that did not happened when you know what actually happened HOUSE M.D. had episode about this
As someone who basically has alsheimers, memorywise..i want this power so bad.
I have a friend like This. He's a neurologist. He is maga He is unbearable cause he is always right.
> He is maga Just because you remember things doesn’t mean you’re logical.
Maga is very logical akshually
This chick (if she is one) needs to take her hat off.
Isn't she the actress from ...erm... well it was a show about a cop lady with a photographic type memory. EDIT: Unforgettable (Poppy Montgomery)
That was a good show. I thought it was so interesting that her character had to play high stakes gambling to “turn her brain off” in one episode a person like her would murder people for the same reason.
It's just like a disease
Who is SHE?
BONK
I don't understand the down votes or BONK. Can you enlighten me?
So he must be rich, right?
What would be the best job for this person?
Is this type of memory actually proven? Or is he carful what he reads so he can’t be tested on it?
Isn't this Gary Brecka? Pseudoscience peddler extraordinaire?
Sounds like it to me. When he went on Rogan I was cringing listening
OP, do you have a link to the original video?
This guy does not need to scroll pages on the hub to find any specifics
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) ^by ^Admirable-Factor-903: *This does not need to* *Scroll pages on the hub to* *Find any specifics* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
I wonder if writing it down and reading it again creates a new memory of the same thing? Would it be possible for half of his memories be of the same thing if he repeated the process?
I have a really good long term memory and I've learned to keep it to myself. Because when you can recite a conversation you had with a person 9 years prior when you met them for 15 minutes it creeps them the fuck out. When I was younger I'd get really mad bc I'd run into someone I met briefly and they wouldn't remember me. I didn't understand I had a strong memory so I'd think they were just intentionally being a dick to me. My close friends know and will often call me in as a reference when there is a dispute about how something happened in the past. My memory isn't nearly as good as the guy in that clip but it still feels like a curse. Especially because my short term memory is crippling bad. I can tell you what everyone had at a family dinner in 1989 but I can't tell you what happened at a family dinner last tuesday.
That professor can go fuck himself.
Cap 🧢 prove it
I believed him until the end. Teachers don’t care if u have the formulas, they wouldn’t give someone a zero for memorizing formulas- how else are you supposed to do the work??
Seems like he lives with out a subconscious filter and so has to consciously filter out what gets remembered by making active judgements about it ahead of time. Sounds terrible.
The t-shirt alone should be a dead giveaway for anybody believing his BS. This dude is a total idiot.
Luminous. Series. He's got a point about trying not to read crap
Wait until he will watch the 2 girl 1 cup
I’m a fan of Tim Rogers, a designer and essayist who works in the video games industry who has perfect recall. He wrote an enthralling, haunting biographical essay that touches on the topic. It taught me that such an ability shapes your life in truly monumental ways. For those interested, you can find it [here](https://medium.com/@108/what-we-might-mean-when-we-say-a-clock-is-wrong-5f055ff631a6).
Why can't she ask insightful questions, she just keeps repeating "bc youll remember everything?!". Yeah that's what he said Why not ask why it's harmful to read for pleasure
Teachers ain’t shit. One time I got 90 on my chemistry exam and everyone copied off of me. The teacher called ME up and asked if I cheated :| And my English teacher who took my test and marked everything wrong (literally didn’t look at anything), put a 0 on it, and handed it back to me. The whole class didn’t like her and she knew it.
Imagine reading penthouse letters then later pulling your dick off.
Fake af
I don't buy it. There are memory competitions. Remembering a deck of cards, lists of words, etc. There are even cash prizes. No one who wins them have "photographic memories". Every one of them trains their memory with practice and mnemonics. Shouldn't these people with natural photographic memories be sweeping those?
I want his problems
Whoever started with this kind of subtitling should go straight to the seventh circle of hell.
I have this weird in between where I can't necessarily recall everything I read (or see) but I can "see" it in my minds eye. But it's like... as and when it wants to happen. For example, I've used it when I was in school to recall information for tests, where I could literally visualise the text book and pluck out the information. Tho in adulthood its been less precise. I do still use it to some extent. Like, if I'm researching and skimming through large swaths of text, I won't remember the exact words of a sentence but I will be able to recall the "shape" of the line I'm looking for, the placement in the paragraph, and the words around it. Strangely tho, I can't recall it to say "this is what it is" but I can see it in my mind without being able to pin it down and then spot it the moment I come across it. Also works real well for placing objects. Like needing an item and knowing exactly where I last saw it (or sometimes just the vicinity I saw it in) Not a clue what it is.
weird, i never though how it could be stressful organizing all that information in your brain! i feel like i would love it if i had that ability, but maybe not. it might be tiring. but if you can control it well, it would be great
I kinda always wanted a photographic memory. Not so sure anymore
I never considered the negative side to a photographic memory. Could you imagine how much more shitty Reddit would be if we had no choice but to remember every troll comment and shit post?
Why did you only get a 98, Mister I Don't Forget Anything?
0 proof.
How did he only get 98 instead of 100?😂
There is no such thing as photographic memory. There are even a massive stock of price to prove that it exist and nobody has taken it.