Photographic memory? Options

[markmejia]

Does anyone here think they have photographic memory, or know someone that has it?

I still haven't been sure how to define it. So I thought I should get some opinions before I decide that I have slight photographic memory. :P

[*yrrnotelekktric*]

I think i have slight phot. memory too. I mean, it`s not drastic or extreme, but i think it counts substantially.

[Marlons]

Well I don't have on for sure, but I never knew anybody with it either.

[markmejia]

Ooh. I don't stand alone. ;]

Well my friend, Trancie, claims she has it, and I believe her. She's a freaking 5.0 student [/exaggeration] and does excellent at school. If I accurately remember what she told me, she memorizes something in a book by studying the text alignment and the pictures that are around that paragraph. (Which I kinda do myself.)

[absinthe]

Edit: ^ Same. Hahahaha. But I can't actually see the page. It's like a blurred page, with another section of blur for what I need.

I used to think photographic memories were wicked cool after reading the Cam Jansen series in 2nd grade.

Hahaha.

I have a partially photographic memory as well.

I usually have to think of the exact page in the book, and where the information was on that page before I'm able to remember it.

[kryogenix]

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have the film.

[markmejia]

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have the film.

Nice way to put it.

But yeah. The bad part is, when you see something scary, it scars your mind for a pretty long time.

[stephinika]

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have the film.

True, true.

But yes I do. When I study, sometimes to remember things I remember where the information is on the page and whatnot, so yeah.

[Marlons]

Well I can clearly remember the picture at the end of level 3 of the Maze Game, scared the hell outta me when I was 10.

[markmejia]

True, true.

But yes I do. When I study, sometimes to remember things I remember where the information is on the page and whatnot, so yeah.

Did you get like a 4.0 in high school? :D

[stephinika]

^^
Lol, well I ranged from 3.81-4.0...in high school. That gpa is gone now that I'm in uni.

[pandora]

lists and pictures.

[demolished]

Ooh. I don't stand alone. ;]

Well my friend, Trancie, claims she has it, and I believe her. She's a freaking 5.0 student [/exaggeration] and does excellent at school. If I accurately remember what she told me, she memorizes something in a book by studying the text alignment and the pictures that are around that paragraph. (Which I kinda do myself.)

what the f**k? i cant do that! i have to understand the material in order to remember it.

[S-Majere]

I do, though nothing ever develops.















Oh, come on. That was funny.

[ersatz]

Kind of...I can easily remember where my family parked before we got on a plane a week ago and I can clearly remember the placement of myriad objects in a room. I don't remember street names, but I remember exactly what is on the street. And when I memorize lists or dates, I remember where they were on my page, not just what they are.

[JokeInsideJoke]

i have it.
when im RE-reading i can remember exactly the side and parragrph that has the thing i want to read again.... wait... is that a Photographic memory?

[weed]

I'm really good at remembering phone numbers. I look at them once and remember them. I'm not sure if that implies i have a photographic memory or not.

[Insurmountable]

Nah, I don't think I do. I mean I pretty good at remember things within text books and if someone told me to find the exact page and where on the page something was at I could point it out if I read it before.

I remember where specific pictures are and stuff like that as well, simple things really.

[*paperplane*]

If everyone of you thinks you sort of have photographic memory, chances are you don't understand what it's actually like. I'm pretty sure just being able to remember what things look like is not the same thing.

[lkajsfklajskds]

my memory is that of an elephants
...if elephants have bad memory..
dont even get me started with photographic memory.
actually, sometimes i can remember the strangest things..

[Simba]

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have the film.

I was expecting you to say that. =P

[Smarmosaur]

<extremely pointless ramble>
why yes, i do.
if i'm actually paying attention to what i'm reading, when i have a quiz or test or something, i can usually blank things out for a moment and see it. :]]]
it's mad helped me with some tough things in school.
it does come in handy for other things, too. like i've gotten so used to my school, house, and neighborhood that if something decent is missing, i automatically notice it. or if i'm going to be gone for a period of time and i'm worried about my brother or somebody getting in my room, i stand at my door and scan my room for a moment, then when i get back i stand there and scan again, just to make sure nothing's missing.
every now and then something happens in photoshop like i accidently close something, or my computer goes off or if i go back to try a different technique to get the same effect, i always know what it looks like so i can decide which technique produces an awesomer effect. also helps with matching colors from different screens when photoshop doesn't allow me to screenshot.
ALSO when i'm missing something. if i go to school without something i need on accident, i can call my 'rents and tell them to bring me whatever when they have their lunch break, and i can always tell them exactly where it is, especially if it's in a pile.
another big one for me is events. if i'm telling somebody about something or i'm trying to briefly explain where something is to somebody, i know where people/things were and what they look like.
</extremely pointless ramble>

[superstitious]

You know, I'm reading this thread and thinking, do people really understand, I mean REALLY understand what photographic memory is?

Maybe, but here is what I think (and for the record, I'm sure I don't completely understand it either).

My son has autism and as far as I can tell, has the closest to a photographic memory that I have ever personally witnessed. It explains (in part) why he experiences so much sensory overload. Think about it. If you were to literally remember everything you see, you would go out of your mind with all that sensory input. Your mind simply wouldn't know what to do with all the new "images" since you haven't even had a chance to process the last "image". It's sort of (SORT OF) like your computer running a bunch of programs and before a new program has a chance to finish launching you launch another program and so on and so on. Typically what will happen is your computer will crash or freeze. Guess what, theoretically, so would your brain.

[Smarmosaur]

^that summed it up amazingly.
but there are a few people who have learned to control it. some people rarely even develop it, some never know what to do, some learn control.
i used to be...well, mentally disabled when i was younger. i was never held back a grade because i could comprehend things (but i never actually remembered, not including photographic memory).
by the time i had reached fourth grade, all comprehension had COMPLETELY vanished. anyways, long story short, it came out to going through some intense mental therapy in 5th grade to learn to control and balance the memory and comprehension, specifically focused on photographic memory and simple everyday techniques.

just my side.

[markmejia]

You know, I'm reading this thread and thinking, do people really understand, I mean REALLY understand what photographic memory is?

Maybe, but here is what I think (and for the record, I'm sure I don't completely understand it either).

My son has autism and as far as I can tell, has the closest to a photographic memory that I have ever personally witnessed. It explains (in part) why he experiences so much sensory overload. Think about it. If you were to literally remember everything you see, you would go out of your mind with all that sensory input. Your mind simply wouldn't know what to do with all the new "images" since you haven't even had a chance to process the last "image". It's sort of (SORT OF) like your computer running a bunch of programs and before a new program has a chance to finish launching you launch another program and so on and so on. Typically what will happen is your computer will crash or freeze. Guess what, theoretically, so would your brain.

[pandora]

Just for the record, your brain doesnt actually work like a computer. And photographic memory does not actually work like a camera.

edit://
just to clarify. your brain does not take some kind of stupid snap shot of EVERYTHING you see. Photographic memory has to do with the way you read/analyze things. Anyone can develop photographic memory. Some people pick it up easier than others. In other words, most people are entirely in control of what they choose to "photographically" memorize.

[superstitious]

I didn't intend for it to be taken literally. It was very much a theoretical response. I even used "sort of" twice. XD

I'm saying that true eidetic memory could possibly drive someone to madness.

edit: and I even put "image" in quotes.

This is also something I've talked to psychologists about, especially when Iz was first diagnosed.

[transcendentalis...]

my bio teacher's son has photographic memory. she didn't even know until he was eight and asked her if she wanted him to read her a bedtime story while they were camping in the dark.

"you can't read, there aren't any lights."
"why would you need lights?"

[pandora]

oh lol i was just saying that photographic memory is like any skill. some people are naturally gifted, and some people can develop it.

[Gigi]

Although, once I saw an autistic man on television who had a memory as close to a photographic one as I could imagine. He could look at any scene or image for a few seconds and recreate it afterwards almost exactly without a reference, complete with fine details. It was absolutely bizarre.

[superstitious]

^ That's sort of how it was with my son. He'd see a pattern for what seemed like a few seconds, turn around and recreate the same pattern with blocks.

Yet didn't speak a word until he was 4 years old.

[Jennifer]

I sometimes do have a feeling that my memory is slightly photographic I guess. Like with the thing, the remembering where text is on a certain page etc. I get that quite a lot, if I can't remember something in a test I'll just try and picture the page and there it all is. I also have this weird 3 second video of memory from when I was 4, skipping around the corner to go to the milkbar with my mum. It's so weird, just a 3 second clip of a little skip and a hop around the corner holding my mumma's hand

[markmejia]

I sometimes do have a feeling that my memory is slightly photographic I guess. Like with the thing, the remembering where text is on a certain page etc. I get that quite a lot, if I can't remember something in a test I'll just try and picture the page and there it all is. I also have this weird 3 second video of memory from when I was 4, skipping around the corner to go to the milkbar with my mum. It's so weird, just a 3 second clip of a little skip and a hop around the corner holding my mumma's hand

I know what you mean by those "3 second videos." I do have a lot of those.

[Gryffindor-Girl]

I don't think I do. But allot of other people who know me think I do they say I remember events and what they where doing at the time very well. Also that I even remember what they where wearing. But sometimes I just think they are full of it.

[melodyus]

i think everyone has some type of photographic memory but some have it more than others. like i know for a fact that a lot of my friends are just really good at memorizing anything & everything. but for me i actually can look at a piece of music and not necessarily remember the notes but remember what the notes looked like on the piece of paper.

[freeridefight]

I believe I have it. When I was in elementary school, that was how I did so well on spelling tests.