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Total Recall: The Woman Who Can't Forget

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Re: Total Recall: The Woman Who Can't Forget

#21

Post by areaMan »

I had this unusual ability to memorize entire chapters of Biology and History. And unusually I could do it only with these two subjects, as for me they were the most difficult to understand and relate to. Let me just give you an example. The tests papers would question things like: a) give any two symptoms of malaria (2 marks) b) list all symptoms of malaria (7 marks)

And I hated to lose marks and overall class rank because of this one stupid Biology, and let's say I covered malaria but this time they chose to ask about treatment for cholera.I reasoned to myself, they could ask anything. So I might memorize all symptoms/treatments of malaria AND cholera. During one such exam preparations (must've been grade 7/8) by the end of it I had an epiphany that I'd just memorized the entire chapter. I even parroted it back to my mom making her happy that here I was ready to take on the diseases of this world. The notable point is that only after that realisation, I became very good at memorizing entire chapters. I remember by 9th grade I could almost memorize the 4-5 chapters of Biology. Surprisingly it happened mostly with Biology, a subject I hated the most, Chemistry equations which our teachers never explained because even they didn't know what the fuck was going on in there with those molecules(S8+8O2=8SO2?), dates in History and exact word-for-word quotes in languages -- all things that needed memorization. I could never remember say for example the 4-digit number plate of the cars which just passed by at 60kmph even after I had summed up its digits and they came out less than 30, and done so for all the 15 cars that passed by within 30 seconds or so (try this game, its fun and it'll improve your number skills).

And quite unsurprisingly, after my schooling, when this ability was no more required, I slowly started losing it. I always wondered if I could get that 'magic' back so to speak. Is there a name for this condition - the ability to channel immense memory powers when needed?

btw, if you guys are wondering this was an Indian school system. I also had other freakish abilities, but for now I'd leave it at that.

Re: Total Recall: The Woman Who Can't Forget

#22

Post by gommm »

nikron wrote: post #16
patio11 wrote: post #2

I was a kind of quirky kid when I was younger... I sort of memorized the Hobbit without really intending to, along with every other book I ever read. Being something of a quirky kid it took me until about middle school before realizing a) this sort of thing is not normal and b) sometimes its better to keep it under your cap. (I can't do it word-for-word anymore, although I still have fairly good retention. I just sto…

I was like this for east and west when given north for the longest time. I would always ask my little brother which way east or west was.

I had a very hard time learning east and west as a kid until I started playing Lands of Lore...

So I guess it was probably a question of motivation....

Re: Total Recall: The Woman Who Can't Forget

#24

Post by SapphireSun »

rjprins wrote: post #23

I hardly ever think back.. I'm always thinking about what I am going to do or what I want to achieve. My memory scarcely goes back further then a week. It tends to make my live a bit empty, I don't remember doing anything.

I have the strangest memory. I can remember facts, theorems, and all sorts of things that are easy to reason about, but my experiential memory is crap. I find my friends talking about things we did together and I can't participate because I don't remember very well.

However, I'm beginning to suspect it's because I spend too much time thinking to myself and not enough time paying attention to the outside world. Does anyone else have a similar experience?

Re: Total Recall: The Woman Who Can't Forget

#27

Post by gjm11 »

eru wrote: post #26
parenthesis wrote: post #5

It is interesting to note that having a very good memory used to be a tremendous advantage. I mean before ubiquitous books (never mind the web).

There is a lament by an ancient philosopher (Platon?) about the advent of writing destroying memory.

Yes, him. Generally rendered as "Plato" in English.

It is, of course, only because of writing that anyone now has even heard of Plato, never mind having available the substantial fraction of his work that we have.

Re: Total Recall: The Woman Who Can't Forget

#28

Post by strider24 »

SapphireSun wrote: post #24
rjprins wrote: post #23

I hardly ever think back.. I'm always thinking about what I am going to do or what I want to achieve. My memory scarcely goes back further then a week. It tends to make my live a bit empty, I don't remember doing anything.

I have the strangest memory. I can remember facts, theorems, and all sorts of things that are easy to reason about, but my experiential memory is crap. I find my friends talking about things we did together and I can't participate because I don't remember very well. However, I'm beginning to suspect it's because I spend too much time thinking to myself and not enough time paying attention to the outside world. Does a…

I've got a pretty similar memory. Can't remember events. To remedy this I try to keep a log of event(call it a diary if you will) so that I remember some important things I don't want to forget.

Re: Total Recall: The Woman Who Can't Forget

#29

Post by Femur »

JacobAldridge wrote: post #20
patio11 wrote: post #2

I was a kind of quirky kid when I was younger... I sort of memorized the Hobbit without really intending to, along with every other book I ever read. Being something of a quirky kid it took me until about middle school before realizing a) this sort of thing is not normal and b) sometimes its better to keep it under your cap. (I can't do it word-for-word anymore, although I still have fairly good retention. I just sto…

I still have the same left-right confusion. For me, the odd part is that I have no trouble with port and starboard.So my wife gives me driving directions in nautical speak. I figure if I care about it enough, I can probably fix it one day.

I figured out port and starboard with a little device from sailing school that has never left my head:

red->left->port green->right->starboard.

note that on a sail boat, lines are traditionally colored depending on what side of the boat they are on.

Re: Total Recall: The Woman Who Can't Forget

#30

Post by notdarkyet »

SapphireSun wrote: post #24
rjprins wrote: post #23

I hardly ever think back.. I'm always thinking about what I am going to do or what I want to achieve. My memory scarcely goes back further then a week. It tends to make my live a bit empty, I don't remember doing anything.

I have the strangest memory. I can remember facts, theorems, and all sorts of things that are easy to reason about, but my experiential memory is crap. I find my friends talking about things we did together and I can't participate because I don't remember very well. However, I'm beginning to suspect it's because I spend too much time thinking to myself and not enough time paying attention to the outside world. Does a…

Yes, and I feel the more I get into programming and reading the worse my social memory gets. I used to not read much in my lower teens but was more social. I would remember everything in conversation, exactly what happened, the clothes the person was wearing, just about everything to the point that it would make people angry that I would remember things that they wish I didn't. Now that I spend a majority of my time in front of the computer that ability seems to be fading. I think the brain restructures itself to handle memory that is related to the expected daily experiences, which would explain why the loner has a hard time comprehending or acting "normally" in social situations in their youth.
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