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Have you heard of "face-blindness"?
13 years ago
"MORELS taste good in omelettes..."
No?
Then find out on 60 Minutes! http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/.....%3BcbsCarousel This a clip from the episode, which will air tomorrow at 7 PM both ET and PT on whichever local stations carry it.
Not many people know this, since it doesn't impact my life as badly as it used to, but I have this odd misfire in the pattern-recognition centre of my brain called prosopagnosia and it means face-blindness. I do not recognize faces very well. Some have it so bad, they can't recognize faces at all. Me, I just have days where I don't recognize a brother or two, or my mother. Embarrassing as fuck, I'll tell you.
It wasn't until about five years ago that I learned that I wasn't stupid, lazy about remembering people, or being so self-absorbed that I couldn't be bothered to remember them- all things I've been accused of in the past by poor folks offended that I didn't recognize them. I really couldn't remember them! It came as a relief when I found out it had a name- it meant that it wasn't my fault and I had a valid explanation for why I didn't remember so-and-so.
I recall many times when I was in elementary and high-school, where I had met someone who seemed nice, I might be able to become friends with them, and then I'd never "see" them again. But, rumours began to spread about how much of a "snob" I was! Now, I know WHY.
I have variously failed to recognize two of my own brothers and even my own mother. My middle brother was so offended that I didn't know who he was one day, that he carried a grudge over it for years. I couldn't explain why I couldn't say who he was- I didn't know there was a term for what I was going through then. So much hurt between me and so many people would never have happened, if I was able to recall faces better than I do.
I can get lost in the faces of crowds- they scare me a little with how "alike" they all look to me. When
kanis and I were first going out, I used to get hugely nervous when we'd go somewhere and he left me for too long in a wide open, crowded situation (unless I'm stationed in a specific spot- like a Dealer's table- and he knows where to find me) because I was afraid I wouldn't recognize him as he passed by and I'd get lost even more!
Take a familiar person out of the context I'm used to seeing them in, change the way they dressed, how they wore their hair, what have you, and there's a strong chance I won't recognize them. Over the years, I've learned to use mnemonics, little mental tricks to help me keep people I know and their faces together in my memory. I'll recognize someone from the way they move, their favourite colours (for example, my mum-in-law really likes red and wears it a lot), an item they wear or carry with them often, the sound of their voice or the shape of their eyes. I'm able to recall people better, now, because of those tricks.
It sounds like I have it bad, but I actually don't- certainly not as badly as the unfortunate Dr. Sacks, the researcher who has been learning all he can about this condition: he's mistaken his own reflection in a mirror as being someone else entirely!
So, folks, if anyone is curious about this relatively recently-named condition (named sometime back in the forties, and real research has only gotten really going in this age of MRI and CAT scans) go find where on your local stations 60 Minutes will be airing tomorrow. And, understand, if I don't seem to recognize you, or I'm at a loss for what your name might be- please, don't be offended, just give me a nudge and tell me where I might know you from. "Remind" me!
Oh, and if you're in a fursuit, I'll have no trouble at all recognizing "you"! Unless the wearers change a lot, that is. LOL For some strange reason, I rarely have trouble recognizing individual animals... Go figure.
Then find out on 60 Minutes! http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/.....%3BcbsCarousel This a clip from the episode, which will air tomorrow at 7 PM both ET and PT on whichever local stations carry it.
Not many people know this, since it doesn't impact my life as badly as it used to, but I have this odd misfire in the pattern-recognition centre of my brain called prosopagnosia and it means face-blindness. I do not recognize faces very well. Some have it so bad, they can't recognize faces at all. Me, I just have days where I don't recognize a brother or two, or my mother. Embarrassing as fuck, I'll tell you.
It wasn't until about five years ago that I learned that I wasn't stupid, lazy about remembering people, or being so self-absorbed that I couldn't be bothered to remember them- all things I've been accused of in the past by poor folks offended that I didn't recognize them. I really couldn't remember them! It came as a relief when I found out it had a name- it meant that it wasn't my fault and I had a valid explanation for why I didn't remember so-and-so.
I recall many times when I was in elementary and high-school, where I had met someone who seemed nice, I might be able to become friends with them, and then I'd never "see" them again. But, rumours began to spread about how much of a "snob" I was! Now, I know WHY.
I have variously failed to recognize two of my own brothers and even my own mother. My middle brother was so offended that I didn't know who he was one day, that he carried a grudge over it for years. I couldn't explain why I couldn't say who he was- I didn't know there was a term for what I was going through then. So much hurt between me and so many people would never have happened, if I was able to recall faces better than I do.
I can get lost in the faces of crowds- they scare me a little with how "alike" they all look to me. When
kanis and I were first going out, I used to get hugely nervous when we'd go somewhere and he left me for too long in a wide open, crowded situation (unless I'm stationed in a specific spot- like a Dealer's table- and he knows where to find me) because I was afraid I wouldn't recognize him as he passed by and I'd get lost even more!Take a familiar person out of the context I'm used to seeing them in, change the way they dressed, how they wore their hair, what have you, and there's a strong chance I won't recognize them. Over the years, I've learned to use mnemonics, little mental tricks to help me keep people I know and their faces together in my memory. I'll recognize someone from the way they move, their favourite colours (for example, my mum-in-law really likes red and wears it a lot), an item they wear or carry with them often, the sound of their voice or the shape of their eyes. I'm able to recall people better, now, because of those tricks.
It sounds like I have it bad, but I actually don't- certainly not as badly as the unfortunate Dr. Sacks, the researcher who has been learning all he can about this condition: he's mistaken his own reflection in a mirror as being someone else entirely!
So, folks, if anyone is curious about this relatively recently-named condition (named sometime back in the forties, and real research has only gotten really going in this age of MRI and CAT scans) go find where on your local stations 60 Minutes will be airing tomorrow. And, understand, if I don't seem to recognize you, or I'm at a loss for what your name might be- please, don't be offended, just give me a nudge and tell me where I might know you from. "Remind" me!
Oh, and if you're in a fursuit, I'll have no trouble at all recognizing "you"! Unless the wearers change a lot, that is. LOL For some strange reason, I rarely have trouble recognizing individual animals... Go figure.
Interesting to see that facial recognition can be something which can set up strange in your brain and actually cause a medically diagnosed problem rather than be something that just comes from someone being too self-absorbed or dumb to remember.
*whoosh!* The more you know
The hidden comments were me, derping the icons. LOL
I should check his gallery and see how his tattooing stuff is coming along.
I do better, now, with the little tricks I use to keep people straight in my head. LOL
It's almost time for bed for me, so I'll find those links in the morning, but point your friends to this journal or to the 60 Minutes page about the episode. they just might learn something!
Of coursse, prossopagnossia iss actually a common component of autissm and Assperger'ss Ssyndrome (with which I am diagnossed). Sso...I guessss it'ss pretty much normal for me to have it to ssome degree, at leasst. >_>
Like you ssaid, ssometimess you jusst have to trick your brain. And when (not if) I finally meet you in persson, I'll remember that you've got the ssame problem I do and you prolly won't recognize me the next time we meet. I'll take a picture or ssumfin sso I can ssay hi firsst, and you won't have to worry. <3
I just don't know if there is any way to find out, definitively, if I have Asperger's or not, but things like that make me wonder...
I'll do my best to remember your face if we get to meet- the photo idea is a good one, actually.
It ssoundss to me like you do have Assperger'ss. Mosst of my friendss do, becausse I can alwayss relate to them. ^^ All of the thingss you mentioned are effectss of Assperger'ss, and I've been through all of them mysself. I've managed to train mysself out of mosst of them, though. It'ss possssible to do that, but it'ss really difficult.
Although I think all that is more of a sign of being a vampire or an evil spirit than of being aspergers... >=)
>^__^<
I've taken the tests the researchers use (whole batteries of them, including one insanely hard one- at least for me- where the faces aren't photos of real people, but computer-generated facial composites made up of the usual traits of people's faces, most of which looked virtually identical to me. I fubbed that one horribly), and it's pretty obvious this is a problem I have. I can recognize things like over-all facial contours such as, is the face round, square, fat, high-cheek-boned or thin? What colours does their face have? Dark eyes or light? Green or blue? Sallow, yellowish skin or rich creamy pink? Dark, golden brown or a reddish mahogany? What about their hairstyles? I often use those as a way to remember people, too. I do find it uncomfortable to look into people's eyes- whether from cultural habit or from shyness, I don't really know. I can tell you that, when I was a kid, I was about as shy as a drag-queen on stage! LOL
As for intimidation? Hmm, some of the bullies did scare me, but I'd still glare at them in the face and I'd still fight back, even if I ended up running, at some point. Even when I make a point of actively trying to remember a person's face, if it's the face of someone I don't see very often (I need contact at least every couple of days to keep a face in memory for long), I'll almost certainly forget it. I'm left with knowing I know the person, but not their name or the look of their appearance beyond clothing and stylistic quirks in their dress, manner or speech. I don't think intimidation or just not having formed the habit of cataloguing faces quite accounts for situations such as when a pal changes their appearance or style (or they're in even a simple costume)... and you don't recognize them the next time you see them! I can't tell you how many times that has happened to me, and trust me, it makes me feel incredibly inadequate and frankly downright stupid when it happens.
I had a bit of a shock when I first found out about this odd pattern-recognition oddity- so many of the stories of those who had it could have been told by me, too: the constant embarrassment, the rumours of snobbishness and aloofness throughout life, the lack of friends growing up because of it, despite the effort at making them, the fears of "losing" friends in crowds, or getting "lost" themselves, the wide-eyed casting about when trying to find people we should know, not recognizing family-members (in some more severe cases- this has happened to me, but I don't know if I'm what could be called a "pathological" case. Certainly in the range, though), having to develop mnemonic habits (the usual clothing, tics and vocal patterns of the people they wanted to recall) in order to remember who was who, and then hiding the tricks because we were so embarrassed at needing such things to do something everyone else seemed to take for granted, even co-workers they see every day. I know it took me FOREVER to tell a couple of my co-workers at the fabric-warehouse apart. It didn't help that they were of similar heights, both had short, dark hair and similar builds. I kept "remembering" them as being the same height and appearance, but when they were placed together, I could tell easily they weren't the same. As soon as I saw them in isolation, though- the problem of knowing who they were kept coming up. I just dunned it into my brain that this face belonged with this name and that face belonged with the other. It took a couple of months, but I finally got it.
I haven't heard if MRI or CAT-scans of various brains have been done to compare those with prosopagnosia with those without (probably have, I just haven't found them, yet. There really isn't much info out there, at the moment), but, when it comes to things like this, it's almost guaranteed that there will be obvious differences in how those brains process facial-information.
Though, even with prosopagnosiacs, there will be the odd face that just STICKS, and you'll always be able to recall who that person is (at least, this happens to me). Go figure. Now, if only that could work every time... LOL
The mnemonic tricks really helped me, though- it still takes effort, but I'm much more likely to recall a person the next time I see them. I still let them know that I might not know who they are at our next meeting, and suggest they should remind me when we see each other next. It really eases tensions and forestalls potential offence, from what I can tell.
I just had another experience 2 days ago. A neighbor was having car trouble and asked if I could help start a dead battery. I did not recognize the vehicle so I figured they were from around the corner. I was trying to figure out how to get my car up close when they turned to me and called me by my name, and asked why I wasn't working at a certain company. The only way they could have known that is if they had worked with me there. For 3 years. Every day. I had no idea who they were until they were answering a cell phone call in the middle of things and said their name.
Ah what fun.
I do have lots of others that I didn't know were actual disorders when I was younger, 'cos no-one ever bothered to figure out why I was acting the way I did. Typical Scottish 80s schoolteacher attitude: "Oh, he's just stupid". Or: "Oh, he's just a troublemaker!"
Now I know about things like ADHD, OCD... (I'm trying to collect the whole alphabet, hehe).
PTSD, now, there's one I wish I'd never had to go through the experiences that occasioned that little bit of poison in my life. *grumps*
I'm so sorry you had idiots for teachers, though. I had a few like that, and I would GLARE at them for saying so, and when they couldn't figure out what the heck I was so pissed at them for, I'd reveal that, while my brain might work at top form, also letting them know that I was FAR from stupid, my hearing was MUCH better than average! I'd get such an evil little charge out of watching them get flustered, trying to figure out where they'd been when they'd made a comment...
(Though it took me a few years to learn how to ignore it and stop straightening up stacks of books and things, lol. Now when I see a perfectly stacked pile of books, I deliberately mess it up. It's therapy! lol. Same excuse I have for living in what looks like an indoor junkyard).
The worst one I have, the one that's really affecting my life to some degree is my short-term memory problem. The one that can sometimes cause me to forget something, about 2 or 3 minutes after I've been told it.
That one is really bad, and it's getting worse as I get older, so I kind of worry about my future there. Will I wake up one morning and be unable to remember anything at all?
At the moment I can get around it by leaving little reminder notes to my future self, so to speak. I can never remember mnemonics for things, but a Post-it note stuck to the PC monitor usually does the trick.
One day I'll have to try to write down everything I know and leave it somewhere I can find it easily, just in case...
I forget all kinds of things, and it bothers the snot out of me, too. Sometimes I wonder if I'm losing it, or if it's just that I have too much STUFF in there blocking the pipes. LOL Been thinking hard on some things, lately? A stack of worries you need to put in order, like those books? For me, any kind of stress is almost guaranteed to give me memory-issues...
I like the post-it idea: I could probably start doing that. I just got to find post-its that actually STICK. I have so many with wee notes, but I can't find 'em half the time because the glue gave out, so they're scattered all over my desk, hidden in amongst the piles of house-search notes, random drawings, notes on people's commissions, etc. See, I know I don't have OCD- I'd be freaking over the mess if I were, I'm sure! LOL
(Especially if you choose to write in a sort of shorthand that looks like strange demonic incantations or something to anyone who can't read the shorthand, lol).
It might be stress that's aggravating it for me too, but I definitely have some kind of damage to my memory centres. I've always been this way for as far back as I can remember (which given the problem in question really isn't very far, lol).
I think my dad might have OCD though, 'cos the mess my place is in always drives him nuts and makes him want to throw all the junk out, hehe.
Winding him up helps keep me sane though
Right now I've got post-its and reminder notes scattered all over the place like confetti, lol.
It's definitely a strange phenomenon! I have heard about it though! It's really sad in cases where it's not so much that you don't recognize them as you believe they are imposters.
I wonder if the "imposters" thing might be more a type of paranoia than prosopagnosia- though it wouldn't surprise me if having the condition in the first place might eventually develop into a kind of paranoia, if you never learned why you couldn't recognize anyone... Poor gits.
I naturally learned to compensate by recognizing people by their voice, clothing style, or body type. It's easier to recognize people I interact with on a regular basis.
People can be really creative when they need to compensate for something to get along smoothly in society.
Applies to facial hair too.
Friend of mine was telling me a while ago that apparently face-blindness can impact sexual preferences and that some people exhibit a selective form of faceblindness.
Or at the very least, there's a correlation between selective faceblindness and sexual preference. I don't think it comes into play with me 'cuz everyone's kinda the same to me.
Some face-blind women are only attracted to men with facial hair because it's a distinguishing feature they can identify.
I'm bad with names too but I chalk that one up to being asocial and just not caring what people's names are if I don't need to know. I can and do learn them as a consequence of interaction.
That's when I just have to come out with it and tell them that while I recognize them I have totally forgotten their name and that I'm terrible at placing names with faces, especially after it's been months since the first meeting. So, I'm not really 'face-blind' at all, but there's definitely a weak link in the synapses when it comes to matching faces with names, until we've actually hung out more than once.
Drives me bats, not to have a faster, more efficient data retrieval-system. Stupid meat-computer, it's designers should have kept it in beta longer for testing. *giggles*
So, no, you're not crazy, you're not stupid, and you're certainly not "broken". We're just a bit different on the mental-spectrum. I like how folks like Temple Grandin refer to Autistics (for example) and other variations on the human brain as "not Neuro-typical". (Look her up, she's a freakin' AMAZING lady, and wonderful proof that Asperger's doesn't relegate one to a life of flipping burgers or being categorized as "stupid". In fact, people with Asperger's often can make brilliant scientists because of their laser-tight focus and attention to detail.) >^____^<
That made me lol XD
one thing that's annoying for me is when I think of someone and can't for the life of me remember what they look like. fortunately it doesn't extend to real life, if I couldn't think what someone looked like I'll still recognise them next time I meet them. And I actually get the same thing with voices too XD