Face Forgetfulness?

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yeah, I really have this problem all the time with me. So much difficulty remembering people.

I was repairing our old wooden mail box and complete “stranger” drove up to me in a small white truck and said “Hi Paul, do you remember me?” I said no I cannot place you. Then he said “I am Ray Giles, a kid you went to school with at Villa Maria”. Well I could remember his name, little Raymond Giles then, perfectly well but not his face. I was just so amazed how he could still remember my face after over 40 years added on. Then he met me again the very next day while I was out shopping in the car park and he said “Hi Paul, how are you going?” I still could not place him, he still looked a complete stranger, in spite of the fact I had just spoken to him the previous day. This just graphically illustrates how some people’s extraordinary memory for faces measures up against mine.

I have trouble with names and faces, too. I also have difficulty with trying to imagine the details of someone's face in my mind.

I also have trouble seeing my face in the mirror... it's like part of it is missing. If I had to tell you what I looked like going from detailed memory in my mind, I couldn't do it. I could tell you basic things I know, like I have extremely large protruding eyes and straight teeth... but it's like I know facts that I've remembered, not the same as seeing my face in my mind.

I think I have this same problem at a litle degree, anyway I know some people that really have the problem. What about your whole memory? Isn1t it a memory problem more than a face recognition one?

I try often to remember familiar faces. The less I see of someone on a regular basis, the more distorted the mental image becomes. Half of the time, if I'm going to see someone and it has been a while, I have a face in my mind, ready to see them again. But when they show up, I get the urge to look behind them because they are not who I was thinking of, even though I know it is them... I've had friends for 10 years now that I cannot for the life of me remember what they look like.

I showed myself up last week, hubbys two sisters and his neice and nephew showed up unexpectedly i havent seen his neice in a month or two but i just saw his nephew the week before . when the door knocked i opened it and in strolled the little boy and the neice , i had absolutely no idea who they were , then after a few minutes hubbys sisters came to the door , i reckognised them but i still didnt make the link , was very puzzled as to who these strangers were then hubby came out of the kitchen and said hello to them all so i figured they were his freinds , when he went back in the kitchen i asked him who they were . OMG i have never been so embarrased i had to apologise for my giving them a frosty reception.

am can see eyes and mouth [not at same time] the rest is a blur.

When I first meet people I have a hard time remembering what they look like. I can tell you what color hair they have, skin tone, race etc but until Ive known them for a few weeks its hard. I also find that if I like a girl and we start going out, I instantly draw a blank on what they look like!! !! When I see people I can recognize them though.

Names, faces, phone numbers, addresses... everything.... I forget it all.

Actually is it forgetting if it hasn't even been committed to memory in the first place?

I don't think I have face blindness... it's just overall impariment.

I've been told that you remember stuff better when you can establish an emotional connection... It's rare for me to get emotional... and I don't remember much. It may be grossly over-simplified but it makes sense to me.

I have a hard time with faces and names...I've sometimes wished people were assigned numbers...those I can remember.

Yes, it's called prosopagnosia, Greek for "face blindness." I have this to a mild degree. It can be embarrassing at times.

I can use an analogy. Some people never forget a face and it is like as though they have a special area in the brain called the "fusiform face area" on the right temporal lobe like a special folder in their brain to specifially store and retrieve memories of faces. Many aspies lack this, they look on a face as just another object like a model of car and all faces are to like a folder that store objects in general.

When I see a face my mind is like a digital camera with low ISO setting on it and relying only on the available light to photograph faces. If the light is too dim or the subject moved, too bad, as the image of the face almost blacked out and/or blurred. Thus most of the images would not properly register, It would need a much longer and/or brighter exposure to remember a face.
Given a bright enough light situation or a long enough shutter speed there may be a few perfectly exposed images of faces there (providing the subject stays still for long enough during the slow shutter speed shots). But then as they are uploaded on to the computer harddrive there is no special image folder for faces so as to readily access them at a later date. They are scattered thoughout the picture files. As a consequence I do not find it easy to retrieve memories of faces when I need to go for them.

awesome analogy : )