Would you want a perfect memory? It may be more important to learn how to forget. To discuss the importance of forgetting is Jill Price, author of
The Woman Who Can't Forget, and Dr. Gayatri Devi, clinical associate professor of neurology and psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine.
Comments [10]
I read her book and it was fascinating. It's an incredible ability -- she can recall every single day of her life in detail and tell you if something of news was happening that day. If you're skeptical, read the book. You'll be amazed.
Kim Peek's ("the Real Rain Man") memory is off the charts! His brain soaks up knowledge like a sponge. (And he can read two pages of a book simultaneously, he reads the left page with his left and the right page with his right eye!)
And then there is Clive Wearing who suffers from an inability to make new memories.
As for me, I can still visualize the faces and remember the names of the kids in my entire 6th grade class. And that was nearly 35 years ago.
I hate to be unkind, but....
...is it possible that Ms. Price is just another overeducated , neurotic New Yorker hung up on ruminating about her life?
If there was any mention of actual neurologic evidence, I missed it.
why is this a problem?
tired? get more sleep.
How does the canabinoid network in the brain affect memory? I've read about it, but what does forgetting give us?
Can you ask the doctor if somehow this condition can be considerded ADHD?
As she is describing the inability to sort out what pieces to forget and what to remember, it is sounding more and more like ADHD as well.
Having been diagnosed with ADHD several times, I find it difficult to sort through the millions of pieces of extraneous information in my mind to function in detail-oriented environment.
Thanks!
I have a freelance factchecking job for Jill. Seriously. Does she have an email address or website where I can contact her?
A friend of mine says: "I have a terrible memory. I remember everything!"
I’ve had really bad memory my whole life. As a kid, my parents took me to doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists. Thankfully, I’m very organized and computers really help.
A bad memory isn’t so bad since you don’t know what you’re forgetting. I do wish I had better memory. The 2 biggest problems are I can’t remember the names of people and I wish I could remember my childhood better. My family often discusses a past and I feel as if I was not a part of it.
(I’m 47, a programmer and married with 2 girls in NJ.)
I can't forget anything job related but, I can barely remember to leave the house with my keys in the AM! What was the question again?
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