How Long Is Your...

...memory?
 


It was once said that "hackers" and computer geeks in general have long memories. Is this true of you? I seem to remember completely insignificant comments that people made from years ago, and even obscure programming commands from a couple of decades ago.

My long-term memory is relatively good, it's my short term which can let me down some times. Specially when I am doing long math sums in my head

I remember things from when I was two. I remember passwords I watch people type, it's a curse as I also remember all the bad things in my life like they just happened as well.

very long, I can recall detailed conversations.. I can remember exact phrases people used in email and such, sometimes i use it to my advantage by making stuff up and people assume it's correct since they think I never forget.

Well, I don't know about that, but I do remember once when I was six I got a marker from my piano teacher as a prize for compleating a lesson book.  It was blue. a little over 10 years later and I still remember that for some reason. I don't remember her name, though.

I remember geeky things like passwds, SSNs, phone numbers, CC numbers (mine),  addresses (just the numbers usually)..... ok i mostly remember number patterns etc, I also remember totally useless facts .... I've discovered this is mostly from associative memory and motor memory

I however sometimes forget to eat and can never remember to takeout the garbage.... and i can hardly remember to use any sort of time management device (calendar, datebook, etc)

Like many others, my long term memory works very well, and my memory itself is a bit odd. I remember weird things, like lengthy quotes from movies. I also remember little details, such as the date on Lebowski's check when he's buying milk in the beginning of the movie, "The Big Lebowski".

My brain wanders alot...and I mean alot. Weird things too...I'll be driving down the road, and then all of a sudden I'll get lost looking at the contour of the mountain or hills infront of me. Or I'll look at the world as if it's a computer, and wonder what type of processing power would be needed to render those shadows on these leaves as they blow in this wind. What is the vector of the wind? How many pixels make up that tree...What types of constraints exist in that branch...That stuff is weird, but I get lost in it sometimes.

However, my short term memory is HORRIBLE! My wife could demonstrate a dozen things I've already forgotten to do today. I'll forget things in 5 minutes, and then remember them in 5 days.

One thing is for sure, my memory isn't as good as Kim Peeks If you're asking, "Who is Kim Peek", you had better google his name

jsampsonPC wrote:

One thing is for sure, my memory isn't as good as Kim Peeks If you're asking, "Who is Kim Peek", you had better google his name

weird memory example: I can remember my spanish teacher in Jr High School telling me her husband had met Peeks and mentioning the reading of a page with each eye..... however i can't remember the teacher's name.

Cybermagellan wrote:

I also remember all the bad things in my life like they just happened as well.

++

Ang3lFir3 wrote:



jsampsonPC wrote:One thing is for sure, my memory isn't as good as Kim Peeks If you're asking, "Who is Kim Peek", you had better google his name

weird memory example: I can remember my spanish teacher in Jr High School telling me her husband had met Peeks and mentioning the reading of a page with each eye..... however i can't remember the teacher's name.

Kim is a true Savant. I've been following studies on him for about a year now. I guess he's still a medical mystery, missing his corpus collosum and all. They say he remembers only facts, but isn't fully capable of thinking in abstracts, or doing logical deductions.

He does indeed read both pages with both eyes, practically simultaneously. Kim is a multi-threaded man! He can tell you the day of the week for any date, instantly. He can tell you the zipcode for any city. He can give you directions to any place, from any location. He can tell you hours of facts about Grandfathers of American President's cousins.

There are many other Savants living today who are capable of more amazing things. Such as Daniel Tammet, who is capable of reciting the value of pi to over 22k decimal places. He is also capable of doing ANY math problem instantly in his head. But get this, he doesn't actually DO any math He says numbers, in his mind, display themselves as shapes and textures, or even topography. Math problems translate themselves into beautiful planes with mountains and valleys...and it's from this image in his head he is able to tell you the answers.

Famous Autistic Savants

My memory leaks like a sieve. I'm really bad at memorizing stuff like dates or numbers. I can remember passwords if I use them a few times, but I think that's because my fingers remember them. Sometimes I know how to type in a password, but don't ask me what the password was.

TommyCarlier wrote:

My memory leaks like a sieve. I'm really bad at memorizing stuff like dates or numbers. I can remember passwords if I use them a few times, but I think that's because my fingers remember them. Sometimes I know how to type in a password, but don't ask me what the password was.

So you remember patterns, not passwords I have some passwords that are so strong I remember them by patterns. And eventually, I instinctively type the pattern without knowing the password. I just know my index finger goes up and to the right followed by my left ring finger going down and to the right...blah blah blah It just sort of flows out of ya

Long term memory sticks with me, often times... Sometimes I hardly remember what someone has just said to me, probably based on my current attention level to the conversation... [6]

I also remember random things, either seen just once or several times...

But I remember almost every sound / tune of the songs I like or hear often...

My memory is random, i call a number once or twice and i'll remember it and be able to recall it anytime. Same goes for passwords, pins, ccard no's.

Long term is pretty good but at times only certain things seem to stick in my head (usually things im interested in/care about).

Short term varies from amazing to absolutely terrible. What did my friend say on the phone 2 minutes ago? No point in asking me, but what all have I downloaded in the last day or 2? I can give you the entire list including filesize, time taken and the ratio it last had when I checked the torrent proggy! Now where did I leave my cigs?

jsampsonPC wrote:

I remember weird things, like lengthy quotes from movies.

That's so cool, i can never remember anything to its exactness. To show how bad, i generally can't remember movie names, nor names of actors.

But for some weird reason, I can walk through an office of 50 people, get introduced to them once and I can recall all of their names for an extended period of time.

For things like concepts, algorithm and knowledge, i generally remember these because I am interested in them and I generally understand them as well.

And like the rest of you, I too am experiencing information overload, so i generally ignore a lot of things around me.

JAMES

zhuo wrote:



jsampsonPC wrote: I remember weird things, like lengthy quotes from movies.

That's so cool, i can never remember anything to its exactness. To show how bad, i generally can't remember movie names, nor names of actors.

But for some weird reason, I can walk through an office of 50 people, get introduced to them once and I can recall all of their names for an extended period of time.
JAMES

Wow!!

Wish I could remember a couple names for more then ten minutes. But movies you name one I’ve seen, and I can tell you who is in it, and then give references to other movies they have been in. Good with phone numbers. I can remember when I was 3 years old a few images, and that is over 30 years ago. Other stuff like teachers Mrs, Green, kindergarten. Or when a couple of guy’s (me and my friend where bugging we where in kindergarten they where high school) dropped us in a giant dumpster and sat on it for about 15mins to freak us out. Again that is kindergarten. Throwing a rock through the next store house window (5 years old). Long term good, short term bad, about 5 min’s unless it’s really interesting.

I seem to absorb more when I read.

List goes on…

I think I have a fairly good memory; I have been told I have an excellent memory.

I can remember numbers usually, for example, I know the mathematical constant Pi to 52 decimal places in my head. But I usually have a fairly bad memory for people, for example I don't remember the names of people in television shows much at all; I also don't remember food making very well, although that is because I don't regularly do it.

I can often remember things that are obscure that people have said, this has earned me a reputation with some of my friends as someone with a good memory.

Angus Higgins