by compound complex 39 Replies latest jw friends
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidetic_memory
I'm currently researching the above, as the term has come up here frequently. If you have merely a good memory, or truly an eidetic memory, do you literally see [inside your head] every page and every word of a book you've read?
Other examples, too, please.
CoCo has a photogenic memory ...
Hi, CoCo.
When I was a kid, I could recall book chapters, paragraphs, bolding, underling, italics, bullets, asterisks, footnotes, etc.
If we were given a spelling list, I would memorize it, and on the test day, write the words ahead of the teacher's calling them. It didn't matter about the length of the list - the longer the better!
Many a new teacher suspected me of cheating before the other kids jumped to my defense and explained that, "Sylvia does that all the time. She's strange like that."
I was always given the longest speaking parts in the school plays. I would even memorize others' parts, so if need be, I could pinch hit for them. So, yes, I guess you could say that I literally "saw" inside my head. I can still do that, but only at certain times.
I didn't know this was unusual until my family moved to "town" and a special-needs White teacher took an interest in me. It was she who made me aware that I possessed an unusual gift, but due to desegregation orders and racial conflict, she was ordered to leave the county.
When I was in college, my memory continued to serve me well, but a subsequent bad marriage and a demanding child took its toll.
It will be interesting to see what professors think when I return to college!
LOL.
Thanks for your interest.
Syl
Recently my husband and I were having this conversation, it went something like this
Me -"well, would it help to remember her name if I spelled it, so you could see the words?"
Him - "how in the world would hearing you spell it help me see it...write it down, but that still won't help me remember it later...now relate it to someone else I know, like word relation, that might help"
Me - "it could be christy, or kristi...when I tell you its with a K and an I, that doesn't help you? You can't just SEE that?"
Him - "are you high? I can't SEE anything when I TALK, or THINK...that's ridiculous"
Me - "i totally can SEE the words...the ones I'm saying! I see colors, and words like text, and I can see emotions as colors. The number 4 is green...when I said green it wasn't green, but rather like rainbowy and it sorta floated over that way (gesturing to the right) and went away like a bubble"
Him - "you are high. I never see words, not in my head, not in the air floating like damn bubbles. I see them on paper, and when you take the paper away they are gone. I can only remember them from memory, but I don't SEE them"
Me - "wow, I'm really lucky then. I can still see what I just said btw"
Him - walks away laughing and shaking his head...mumbling something about how special I am
:D
In all seriousness, it's a blessing and a curse. I can remember details of conversations like they are a script, complete with emotion and smells and what we were wearing and standing, inflection of voice and perceived intent. It really makes getting past arguments or conversations difficult. But it makes it really easy to WIN in them. ;)
Thanks, Syl and Heartbreaker, for your interesting responses.
From what I read in Wikipedia, there can be a down side. The "special" Russian [] gent ordered an ice confection but saw coal or some such proceeding from the seller's mouth when she spoke.
He passed on dessert that day.
Gratefully,
CoCo
I can see where things on a page buut not every page. I need a trigger first. So if you ask me a question froma book I could probably pull up an image of page in my head
This droive me crazy as a JW because the things I remembered were often theings they had edited so my mental image and the edited page wouldn't match. it wasn't until years later when I found originals that I saw my mental image was correct
I can also see an image and rotate it in my head to see the back top or bottom or even the inside which I may never have actually seen - seems not everyone can do that.
I can take a look at the outside of a building and then draw you a floorplan of what is inside and even add possible power outlets, and plumbing to the floorplans
I was recently talking to a friend of mine and asked if he was quiet for a bit and then I asked him what he was thinking about what would he most likely say - "Nothing". huh? nothing! There is nothing happening in there? I can't imagine quiet in my head. There is always something going on inside my head. I might not be aware of what it is because I have learned to tune a lot of it out but if you were to ask me, I could sit and after a few seconds tell you what was going on in there - it is damned noisy - never a quiet moment.
My friend has trouble sleeping at night so I asked him what he thinks about before falling asleep "Nothing" huh???? I just don't get it. lol He says it is peculiar to men. Maybe because my ex used to say the same thing. He swore it was just quiet in there.
Hmmmm that could be useful sometimes I guess
Oh! Just thought of something else that you just may find interesting.
I'm number 12 of 13 children. I was 17 months old when #13 was born. When I told my mother that I remembered the day little sister arrived, she doubted me until I described in vivid and minute detail who was there, the time of day, which sibling she sent to fetch the midwife, and which room she and the midwife occupied.
She never doubted my recall ability again.
Two of my siblings went into the armed services. I memorized the 4-5 line address so that I could write to them from home, school, church, or wherever without having to check the return address each time. I saw nothing unusual in this; others did, but they didn't know what to make of it.
One day, I'm going to write about those almost-forgotten times.
You just wait and see.
Syl
Heartbreaker that is so fuuny but I get it. It can make living with other people a tad crazy at times
My friend has an unusual name - Indian and I had never heard it before. I finally asked him to spell it and as he did I saw the letters. From then on I had no problem remembering his name - I see it
I had the photographic memory until my divorce and disfellowshipping all those years ago and I started drinking a bottle of apricot brandy every day for a year.
I memorized The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in about an hour and recited it in the 8th grade. I can still recite Pi to 50 decimal places.
I internalized 825 scriptures while I was in prison as a JW and could remember pages of books vividly.
Today my brain is partially like a blackboard with some smearing or erasure of the chalk. Faint figures are still there where clear images use to reside.
My son, Nicholas, has my old brain and all my kids have displayed remarkable abilities in this regard.
I never smoked or took any drugs at all.
Although I only drank for a year and have had no relapse into any bad habits (other than posting here:) I miss the abilities which use to come naturally to me.
I still have a most remarkable memory for faces.
I spotted somebody about 75 feet away who walked past a window in a shop in the local mall. I thought it was somebody I went to 1st Grade with.
I ran outside and found them--sure enough, it was!! I remembered their name and everything--but, they had changed (aged) quite a bit.
Interesting, no?
Ladies ...
... !!!!!!!!!!!
CoCo
Heartbreaker, thanks for that.
When I used to assign certain "quirks" or "qualities" to numbers, people thought I was crazy!
For example, I simply can't stand 3 and 9 - they are cold and forbidding - so I avoid those if I can.
I love 4 and 8, however. They are warm and inviting.
I can also see an image and rotate it in my head to see the back top or bottom or even the inside which I may never have actually seen - seems not everyone can do that.
Lady Lee, I'm one who can't do that. I used to do so poorly on spatial relations tests that the instructors thought I was pulling a fast one on them!
LOL.
Syl
