eidetic memory or elephant's memory

[fresh]

i am just curious does eidetic memory or elephant's memory exist in normal people ? if it does, what's the odds ?

can normal people have eidetic memory or elephant's memory after being trained ?

any genius was born to have eidetic memory ?

how could we have a very good memory ?

lots of Qs...just curious.

[fresh]

Nobody is interested in this thread, i feel so sad.

[CharonY]

AFAIK it is not clear whether eidectic memory actually exists. The memory of elephants is presumably pretty good, but I am not sure of extensive studies on this topic (and how much difference from average human memory capabilities are). Finally the discussion of memory is very broad. It can be be discussed on the biological/physiological level, or one could discuss memorization techniques.

[Phi for All]

Nobody is interested in this thread, i feel so sad.

I just forgot it was here.

[CharonY]

Forget what?

[fresh]

Forget what?

 

Forget this topic is interesting.

 

Finally the discussion of memory is very broad. It can be be discussed on the biological/physiological level, or one could discuss memorization techniques.

 

so we can discuss it on both levels.

it is a mystery some guys have photographic memory.

i believe it is possible for us to develope mnemonic intelligence.

isn't it cool ?

[CharonY]

Well, AFAIK there is little evidence that photographic memory actually exists.

[Ophiolite]

At school and to some extent at university I would remember facts by 'seeing' the page in the textbook and even the paragraph where they were presented. Could I 'look' at this memory and read off each word? No. I would often recall the exact words, but they would not occupy the precise places they did on the orignal page.

 

I don't think this ability is especially unusual, nor do I think it is true 'photographic' memory. I suspect that many people, employing the same memory technique fool themselves into thinking it is eidetic memory.

[CharonY]

I would agree with that. Especially due to the way memories are re-created in the brain it is highly unlikely that something true photographic could exist (at least not with high level of detail).

[StringJunky]

I would agree with that. Especially due to the way memories are re-created in the brain it is highly unlikely that something true photographic could exist (at least not with high level of detail).

 

I can't find a single instance of extreme detail and photorealistic drawing combined (didn't look too hard) but I can find a high level of detail drawn from memory and photorealism separately so it doesn't seem too much of a stretch to think there may be people that can fuse the two talents and do it from memory alone...probably an autistic savant.

 

Pen drawing:

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/23/samuel-silvas-amazing-pho_n_1822572.html

 

After viewing New York skline once from memory:

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223790/Autistic-artist-draws-18ft-picture-New-York-skyline-memory.html

Edited November 27, 2012 by StringJunky

[CharonY]

I am not sure whether we are talking about the same thing. A truly photographic memory would entail a high-detail (i.e. photographic detail) in your mind, regardless of the ability to e.g. draw or reproduce it. If the flight over New York was memorized photographically, he should be able to recall accurately the number of windows from on a building from a given point of view, for example. I.e. walk back in the saved memory and recall everything with absolute detail (again, something that would somewhat clash with the way we think perception works).

 

The drawing itself, while providing quite some more details than most would be able to reproduce, have nowhere that amount of detail.

It would be interesting to reproduce photographs from corresponding angles to see whether at least the rough details were accurate, though. To me, there appears to be discrepancies (though it could be a perspective thingy).

 

Edited November 28, 2012 by CharonY