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Fully functional adults with perfect ("endless") memory

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Re: Fully functional adults with perfect ("endless") memory

#3

Post by burgerbrain »

petervandijck wrote: post #2

In short: it turns out there are (few) people that have almost perfect memory, even 20 years back. And that this type of memory is totally new to science.

Emphasis on almost. As would be expected, their memory isn't actually perfect.

Thermodynamics/information theory put a limit on how much information you can pack into a certain area/mass, and with our knowledge of biology we already know that the vast majority of the grey matter in our skulls isn't used for information storage.

In other words, this is interesting from a medical perspective, but not a computer science/mathematics/physics perspective.

Re: Fully functional adults with perfect ("endless") memory

#5

Post by goodside »

These people's "perfect" memories are purely autobiographical. They cannot memorize large lists of numbers quickly, or recite the entirety of The Bible from memory, or excel at any other task that requires rapid, verifiable memorization. Nothing about this is inconsistent with these people simply spending, for whatever reason, a considerable amount of effort to memorize and catalog the minutiae of their lives, but otherwise having normal mental faculties.

Re: Fully functional adults with perfect ("endless") memory

#6

Post by thesz »

petervandijck wrote: post #2

In short: it turns out there are (few) people that have almost perfect memory, even 20 years back. And that this type of memory is totally new to science.

Nope.

It was known that some could have perfect memory.

I read in my childhood about man who remember everything. He worked as a reporter and never wrote down any tasks editor gave him. That man told the editor that he won't forget and he did not forget anything, really. So editor send that man to psychologist who discover that he had perfect memory.

)the story was about 60-s or so)

The perfect rememberer had a mild case of synestesia, but he used it to his own advantage. He put so many hooks on anything that he couldn't forget even if he try. He remembers conversation by their content, sound, color, texture and taste (and much more). So every word has its own color, texture and taste, they make a web of them, much like labyrinth or city map.

When I need something I shouldn't forget, I also try to put as many markers as I could. It hepls sometimes. ;)

Re: Fully functional adults with perfect ("endless") memory

#7

Post by tylerrooney »

thesz wrote: post #6
petervandijck wrote: post #2

In short: it turns out there are (few) people that have almost perfect memory, even 20 years back. And that this type of memory is totally new to science.

Nope. It was known that some could have perfect memory. I read in my childhood about man who remember everything. He worked as a reporter and never wrote down any tasks editor gave him. That man told the editor that he won't forget and he did not forget anything, really. So editor send that man to psychologist who discover that he had perfect memory. )the story was about 60-s or so) The perfect rememberer had a mild…

Radiolab (a podcast that any HN reader would love) did a piece once about a Russian who had perfect recall of his life and could also memorize endless lists of numbers and Dante's Inferno in Italian (and didn't speak Italian). Unfortunately, he eventually went mad because his brain couldn't make sense of all the interconnections.

The podcast in question : http://www.radiolab.org/2010/apr/05/limits-of-the-mind/

Re: Fully functional adults with perfect ("endless") memory

#8

Post by dannyb »

goodside wrote: post #5

These people's "perfect" memories are purely autobiographical. They cannot memorize large lists of numbers quickly, or recite the entirety of The Bible from memory, or excel at any other task that requires rapid, verifiable memorization. Nothing about this is inconsistent with these people simply spending, for whatever reason, a considerable amount of effort to memorize and catalog the minutiae of their lives, but ot…

I agree with the sentiment of your point, but this does represent "normal mental faculties" in any way. They are clearly extraordinary in this one sense and that alone doesn't allow them to be classified as normal.

I watched this spot on 60 minutes and I am not convinced that these people are normal with respect to mental health. They had a very odd affect at times. Still, it was amazing to watch people recall things that happened over 20 years ago with clarity and precision.

Re: Fully functional adults with perfect ("endless") memory

#10

Post by joe_the_user »

dannyb wrote: post #8
goodside wrote: post #5

These people's "perfect" memories are purely autobiographical. They cannot memorize large lists of numbers quickly, or recite the entirety of The Bible from memory, or excel at any other task that requires rapid, verifiable memorization. Nothing about this is inconsistent with these people simply spending, for whatever reason, a considerable amount of effort to memorize and catalog the minutiae of their lives, but ot…

I agree with the sentiment of your point, but this does represent "normal mental faculties" in any way. They are clearly extraordinary in this one sense and that alone doesn't allow them to be classified as normal. I watched this spot on 60 minutes and I am not convinced that these people are normal with respect to mental health. They had a very odd affect at times. Still, it was amazing to watch people recall things…

No,

It is normal for a person to have superb mastery and recall of an area of study on which they spend considerable time and effort on an ongoing basis.

You can find an ornithologist who has a really amazing knowledge of birds too.

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