Photographic Memory

[Naturally Radioactive]

Ok so I have heard and read about people who have an eidetic memory or a photographic memory by some. It is basically means he or she just has to see, hear, smell, or read something once and they can remember it with perfect recall. My question is would unlocking this ability involve sub-c communication or another set of skills altogether.

Please Reply ;D

[Dan]

Man, I could really use that...

[Nightshare]

I somewhat can do this. I wish could get tested out for it or something. IT's not fully photographic but to an extent. Like 55% photo and 45% normal. If that makes any sense..

[Naturally Radioactive]

It does

[Nightshare]

Well I usually cant recall something word for word. But I can see what it is. Just right on the edge of seeing the words clearing if you know what I mean.

[The Adfeng]

I can usually remember anything, like I still remember the lisence plate number from the car beside us about a week ago. I remember exactly what the notes were on today in science, what vocabulary words we had, exactly on the paper that I put them on, and ect. I have very good memory, and photographic memory.

[ismavatar]

A good memory enhancement method that I've used is to take interest in subjects, like it's the most fascinating thing in the world, or very pertinent to your studies.

I use this a lot, and as a result, I have been known to have a very impressive memory, especially for various things seemingly irrelevant. For example, I'll go into depth about something, and someone will note that I know so much about it that I should go into that field for a career. Then they may change the topic and I'll demonstrate a lot of knowledge in the new topic. I always find myself reassuring people that I've already got a career picked out that I love.

So how well does it work in practicality? Well, let's just say that I never take notes in school, and have started getting honors. Of course, I wouldn't expect anyone to not take notes until they're very confident with their memory's capabilities.

A few things I would note, though. I come from a family that has a reputation of bad short-term memory. I too tend to have this imperfection from time to time. This skill is more so for long-term memory. Also, it's far from a photographic memory. I do get things wrong from time to time, but it's far less frequent than without using this method.

[The Adfeng]

I usually don't take notes, purely because I know it already, and part because I have a photographic memory. I only take them for my other students, because, let's just say they arn't the sharpest pencil in the box. I write extreamly fast, like I type. I've memorized over 200 lyrics and song titles probably, so, that's awesome. In scouting, we sometimes have memory contests, and I usually get 19/20 objects.

[ismavatar]

In scouting, we sometimes have memory contests, and I usually get 19/20 objects.

I remember those games! I was never any good at them. That's pretty impressive. Normally the brain is only capable of holding 9 items in short-term memory. Thus it would be average to get about 7 to 9 objects.

Another neat thing to notice about how the brain manages memory. Say you have 9 letters you have to memorize (order isn't important):
t c a d g o a t 'are'

('are' is used to prevent the censor from turning it into 'are')

You can remember those 9 letters, but it's a little tricky, because you have to keep juggling all those letters in your head.
Well, you can actually form 3 words from those letters: "cat", "dog", and "rat". Wow, 3 words are so much easier to remember than 9 letters! Heck, you probably even have room for another 6 words!
Not only that, but you can turn words into concept, and concepts into stories. By using this bunching, you can expand your memory exponentially.

[The Adfeng]

That's correct. I don't do that though, I usually remember numbers easily, like the lisence plate number I still remember was 5887304.

[red29216]

I don't think its possible to unlock photographic memory. Yes, there are ways of improving your memory, even improving it greatly, but I believe that only people born with photographic memory have it, and it probably comes with large drawbacks.

[The Adfeng]

Doesn't for me. I just remember details very well. And it seems that almost every time I look at the clock, it has some type of formation, such as 4:11, 9:11, 4:44, and whatever. Sorry, off topic. How does it have drawbacks? I don't have any drawbacks, because I can remember things clearly, that's why I'm the smartest one in my classes, and I can remember things usually in about 10 seconds of looking at it. It's really helpful on tests! xD

[T_Hornberger]

jj said:

Doesn't for me. I just remember details very well. And it seems that almost every time I look at the clock, it has some type of formation, such as 4:11, 9:11, 4:44, and whatever. Sorry, off topic. How does it have drawbacks? I don't have any drawbacks, because I can remember things clearly, that's why I'm the smartest one in my classes, and I can remember things usually in about 10 seconds of looking at it. It's really helpful on tests! xD

You don't have any drawbacks....right....

[The Adfeng]

What drawbacks are there from photographic memory?

[red29216]

Well, I guess I was talking about more extreme cases. There have been people that from about the time they were 12 they could remember anything they have ever seen perfectly. The drawback was they had bad social problems.... it took so much of there brain to do that, I guess there wasn't any room left for learning how to interact with other people. Not saying that that is the case with you guys.