The worst part is, no one believes you.

As others have said, eidetic, not photographic.

Today, I arrived home from work and as I was pushing my bike inside, the neighbors a few doors up came to tell me their home had been burglarized. Did I see anything suspicious before I left for work? I told them not to say anything else and asked if they had contact information for a detective that had seen their security footage. They did on both counts (a detective assigned and they had security footage), so I called the detective.

He called back pretty quickly after I left a message and I told him I had seen some suspicious people around our block and would like to tell him what I knew. “So you talked to {John and Jane} and now you remember something?” “I did, but I actually asked them not to tell me any details after they told me their house had been burglarized. I saw the suspicious people between 10:17 and 10:21 AM.” “How in the world can you remember that?” “I was leaving for work late since I left work late last night, and when I saw them, I changed my bike computer over to the time so I would remember it. I switched my bike computer over to the clock at 10:17 AM, and rode off the block at 10:21 AM. My security camera will at least support the first part of that, since it was recording me leaving my home.” “Oh, so you checked your own security camera and that’s why you remember the times?” “No, I remember changing my bike computer over to the clock because those suspicious people were around.” “Okay, whatever, what else?”

“Well, there were 4 of them {detailed descriptions of what they looked like, were wearing, where they were standing when I left, and how they behaved}.” “Wow, that’s pretty specific. So that’s coming off your security camera?” “No, my camera only caught a blurry image of two of them since they were across the street when I was leaving, that’s from memory.” “Oooookay, anything else?”

“Yes, the two across the street were leaning against a {make, model, and color} car across the street with {license plate}. The third was near a car of {make and color} with {license plate}, but I’m not sure of the model since it was an older car. If you showed me pictures of different years and models of that manufacturer, I could probably pick it out. The fourth rode by on a bike and nodded at them, which {one guy} acknowledged with a wave, and they turned and watched him go up the street…as I rode down the street, he doubled back fast and turned his head down like he didn’t want me to see his face.”

“And you just remember all of this?”

“Yes.”

“And you haven’t viewed {John and Jane’s} security footage?”

“No.”

“And your own security footage?”

“I looked at it when a package was delivered at 4:45 PM, and did note the one {description} car was gone, but otherwise have not looked at it.”

“Okey dokey…well, nice chat, I’ll be in touch if I need anything else.”

After that, I went and asked the neighbors to see their security footage. Lo and behold, two of the four the suspects I described were seen entering their home while the third stood on the sidewalk outside, and one of the cars I described was loaded up with the stolen goods. My camera caught the bike guy riding up and down the street repeatedly during that time. Neither of our cameras caught the license plate, but I gave it to them and told them the detective didn’t believe I remembered it. They also said “are you sure?”

:Sigh: “Even if I’m just close, a WAY out of state plate with a make and color should help, right?” But I know that was the plate, exactly…

Feels like a loosened, shredded haze of a cotton ball – a great lens to see the world through a mishmash of dreamy white strings, making everything appear sweet, and comforting like vanilla – the loosened fibres blending well to what you see ahead, attributing a character to the scene, a distinctiveness; but put that shredded cotton ball to something wet, and you have it sticking and stinging like an eyelash that’s got into your eye.

Photographic Memory. Term is supposed to be a misnomer. However, the commonly understood ability of being able to recall things vividly, down to an above-average finer detail, is both a blessing and a curse.

It’s a blessing, when all you are required to do is to regurgitate information on an answer sheet, as it happened when our political science syllabus in the Indian curricula required us to just remember, or rather focus on rote-learning of several constitutions of the world. I never needed to invest much efforts in order to remember.

Writing the poem from memory in class tests, along with those punctuations (failure to do which would result in deduction of valuable whole marks), was easy.

Just the act of writing notes, made it easy for me to remember things. By virtue of associating with other friends, I’d fret about what would happen if I’m not able to remember large chunks of things before exams, but I found that they came readily to me in the blink of eyes.

Remembering things by page numbers was ingrown into my way to do things. And then people around you who’d observe you are able to do these things, tend to applaud you, and get marveled at this capability which you tend to think is only normal; and natural; and average. It somehow goes with that ‘nerdy’ tag you tend to acquire along the way.

Except that, the nerdy tag is not a positive one to have in other situations. Those are the wet situations.

It was a big Canadian graduate class of 35 students, a theory class, done seminar style, where we all discussed about highly abstract stuff.

I had verbalized that habit, and while saying something on the topic at discussion, mentioned <philosopher/sociologist> saying < X > (and here I quoted a complete, long, sentence) in page number of Y, in book Z.

It was a mistake I never, ever, repeated.

Before the professor could reply, the whole class looked at me like they had finally found the closeted nerd. They were clapping, saying “Wow, good job!”; sarcastic laughter all around with uncomfortable, embarrassed me not at all enjoying the unsolicited spot light.

Next time when I’m quoting things, I know omitting a few details would make me appear normal and nonthreatening.

The nonthreatening part is particularly an important mask to have. When I’m pointing out things to others, in how they do things—if I go as detailed as I remember the true things, people tend to think I have some grudge against them. Being detail-oriented appears to be a motivated attempt in remembering things, when I have zero motivation attributed towards that endeavour. Sometimes, I forget this in arguments with my husband, and then I quickly realize it afterwards!

The ability can also bring in the opposite desired condition, depending on situations. Some people tend to think I am somewhat, really interested in them, or invested in some other manner on them, if I quote some detail about what they had said 10 years back pertaining to an issue. They think since I remember even trivial stuff or the minutest detail, I must have some deep feelings for them in my heart to enable those memories being alive.

I think this eidetic memory thing definitely helps me in mimicking people. I don’t mean to brag, but in lieu of evidence, and my words being the only format available in this platform, let me just say that I’m complimented well by people in being an excellent mimic. I can also mimic people in their online avatars—through their writing styles, and a lot of that ability finds successful fruition by my unconscious ability of filing and organizing things in the memory.

Like many others with average tendencies of remembering, I never forget faces; I forget names, but somehow I remember how many syllables they are, which letter they start with, and the shape of those words, if you know what I mean. I’m not sure whether my synesthesia plays onto this ability.

All in all, I just realize I tend to retain a lot of unnecessary information. If I mention them, people look at me like I’m crazy to remember those. So, I’ve just got smarter, and learnt the art of diplomatic communication.

Also, I feel that, sometimes being able to forget certain dates, moments, people, situations, is a blessing.

I would certainly call photographic memory a blessing for me. It lets me recall many valuable moments in my life that have shaped who I am today.

Much of what I recollect is commonly presented in my brain as still but incredibly detailed images. I remember many things via still images including:

• My first time playing piano around the age of seven, learning Christmas tunes including “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty the Snowman,” “Jingle Bells,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Deck the Halls,” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”
• My fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, twelfth, and thirteenth birthdays
• A Halloween pizza party I had with several friends before spending at least two hours trick-or-treating
• Several Christmas parties, including one where my friends stayed at my house for around seven days during winter break (this was on one of either two or three white Christmases I have experienced)
• I watched a horror anime with one of my best friends for the first time and freaked out
• Every morning when my father went downstairs and played Spongebob Squarepants music to wake me and my sister up for elementary school
• My father pushed me and my sister on the swings at the park in our neighborhood
• I urinated on my neighbor’s lawn and was caught on their doorbell camera
• I listened to “The Ghost with One Black Eye” and “The Slithery Dee” on a CD player when I hung out with some friends and my counselor, Ms. Swanson, who was the most entertaining adult at my elementary school
• My father read me bedtime stories, my favorite being “Spongebob Soccer Star,” and he would imitate the voices of the characters from Spongebob Squarepants
• I watched Monster High, Barbie, Hello Kitty, and Disney princess movies with my sister and parents on several occasions, and we still do (not Barbie and Hello Kitty movies, though)
• I frequently studied ancient Egyptian history before I was thirteen years old
• I always slept with an air conditioner blasting freezing-cold air in my face
• I owned several fish tanks that held goldfish, guppies, tetras (including glo-fish tetras), betta fish (one of my favorites being a blue one named Dory), black mollies, and others that I cannot remember
• I traveled to nine states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Illinois, Hawaii, Arizona, New York, and New Jersey)
• I visited my great-grandmother, Ruth, two or three times in her nursing home before she died on February 23, 2015, at 2:00 PM (I always found it odd that I remember the exact time of her death)
• One of my dishwashers, a very old one, that played a pretty tune to indicate that the dishes were cleaned
• I enjoyed recess in elementary school, and I remember several instances of me being popular among the students; many kids loved me
• I visited Seaworld, Legoland, and Disneyland (twice) in one trip to California
• I often visited the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington, one instance being when I explored exhibits focused on ancient Chinese history, and I showed particular intrigue in the Terracotta Warrior clay statues
• I watched Disney’s “The Haunted Mansion” (2003) for years since I was about eight years old, still one of the greatest Halloween movies ever produced, and nothing can change my mind about that

However, it can be a curse, too. I have many unpleasant memories that form images in my mind. I prefer not to list them to avoid dealing with those in my mind again.

Much of the time, my head fills with negative memories instead of positive memories. I tend to say, “The things I want to remember, I forget. The things I want to forget, I remember.” It can be a serious pain for me.

Photographic memory can have pros and cons, depending on who you ask.

In a word: Frustrating.

I can only speak from my own experience and I'll need to set that up:

My "photographic memory" is also selective. There's things I remember and than there's a lot of things I don't remember. Inside my head it's very clear to me that when I "know something" then I truly know it and fully remember it with exacting detail.

The problem is conveying this and having people understand that I'm not lying about things when their memory is false.

I watch the people around me experience the same things I do and then as weeks or months go by I watch them evolve their stories or their memories of past events. I watch as most of the world changes its opinions and explanations of things.

The frustration comes when I have to interact with others who do not have a perfect memory of a situation when I do. It can take a ridiculous amount of time for me to find proof that I'm right. I'll have to find video recordings, or other witnesses or some other kind of proof just to show I'm not lying and that my memory of the event is 100% accurate.

And that's the disgusting part: I'm never wrong ~ IF AND ONLY IF I state that I'm remembering it perfectly.

And that's where things fall apart for me. I try to make it verbally very clear that in some areas of life my memory is perfectly normal and capable of being wrong just like anyone else. If I look inside my mind and I see which area the information was stored in it becomes "clear" or "not clear" to me.

I can't explain how anyone else’s memory works, but I know for me it's very compartmentalized. And I know from 40+ years of experience that my "not clear" partition functions the way I observe other people to function: with fairly accurate memories but some deviation over time and not 100% picture perfect.

On the other side; if I tell you that I am clear, 100% clear and I'm getting a picture perfect memory of something specific: I won't be wrong and we're going to go through an inordinate amount of investigating only to find out my memory was better than yours.

Most people I deal with can not cope with this delineation. I have to deal with a large number of people who are just frequently wrong and second guess everything because they assume I can't possibly have a better memory than them.

As I get older I'm finding my picture perfect memory is triggered less and less often. But I am still able to identify when it's working and when it isn't. Eventually the volume of information stored in my head may all be "normal" memory like anyone else, and part of me will be sad when I lose it. Then again, from what I can tell: ignorance is bliss so maybe I will just be happy like all the idiots I have to deal with every day who can't remember things as clearly as I can and I won't have to deal with the stress of correcting everyone's mistakes constantly.

It's very similar to the stress of being smarter than most of the people you meet. I've been tested at 169 IQ and it's really hard for me to deal with average people when I can actually identify their thought patterns and predict their mistakes before they happen but they aren't smart enough to listen to me until after they fail repeatedly.

Part of me feels blessed for being smarter than average and having a good memory; but I also spend most of my time alone and frustrated because dealing with people who can not follow logic or remember things with accuracy is not easy to do unless you are on their level.

And before you take any of this as bragging: The worst part of it all is that I can recognize my own short comings but have no real way of overcoming them. My attention span is low, I get tired of dealing with the same issues over and over again and that attitude makes it difficult for me to apply the things I know to any form of potential gain.

I make a really good trouble shooter, I can come in and tell you everything your company is doing wrong and who the idiots are that are dragging you down. But I can't focus enough to build my own or care enough to go into research and development for long periods of time.

So I'm stuck in the middle with people smarter and more focused than me becoming successful and insanely rich and powerful; and people no where near my memory or intelligence able to at least cope with the mundane idiocy of making advances to normal careers which are ultimately average but still more successful than my long term gains.

So there you go: perfect memory? high IQ? frustrating unless you can also pair it with the focus that it takes to be successful and avoid letting it get in your own way.

For me, it's constantly getting in the way.

I have a near photographic memory. I can recall instances in my life since I was 3 years old. I used to score full marks in my dictations, spelling contests without any effort.
I remembered each and every line in my textbook verbatim. I easily remembered mathematical formulae,chemical equations just by looking at them only once, while my Friends struggled with them. In 10th standard, I couldn't understand a single word of geometry(actuality never tried to understand it), so I mugged up each and every theorem,questions and their solutions with little effort,and aced it. I can easily remember phone numbers,account numbers just by reading them once,in the nineties when there was no mobile phone my father used to have a diary with all the contact nos written it(253 numbers) I mugged up all the numbers within a week with a bit of effort, so the next time my dad had to call somebody he just asked me for the number. I can recall the number of marks I have scored in each test since 5th standard instantly.
I never forget the names and faces of the people nor the conversation we had. In my undergrad days(I am a Mechanical engineer)once before the exam of Machine design I had started swotting PSG(reference guide for important formula and standards)not knowing that we are allowed to keep it with us in exam,till the time I became aware of this I had mugged up 16 pages. I work as a service engineer, I can easily remember most of the part numbers,model numbers , beatings,gearboxes,etc. of all the machinery used in our industry while my colleagues have to search through catalogues.
The most awesome advantage is I can lie to people,I remember what I have said to whom.

Ok.. So.. imagine being able to recall things with astonishing clarity… almost like having a mental camera that captures every detail.

Also people with photographic memory, also known as eidetic memory, possess an exceptional ability to remember visual information with incredible accuracy…

Picture this…

When they read a page of text or glance at an image, it's like taking a snapshot that remains vivid in their mind.

They can later "see" the page in their head, reading the words or noticing even the tiniest details of the image. It's akin to flipping through the pages of a mental photo album…

But here's the thing…

Actually this ability might sound like a superpower but.. it's not without its nuances…. Just like a camera has limited storage, the brain's capacity isn't infinite.

Plus, photographic memory tends to be more prominent in certain types of memory, like visual details, and might not apply equally to all kinds of information.

I don't have a true photographic memory any more, as an injury knocked out the ability to remember words or text that I see the same way that I could as a kid. It was frustrating as a child, since I knew the material as soon as I saw it and tended to read a lot. It certainly doesn't make one endearing to teachers early on. And a lot of people will tell you that you are lying because they can't do what you can...

It's helpful when you lose your keys to walk through your actions backwards to figure out where they are. Also when you're not exactly sure where you're going but have been in that area before. In college, when I was going to my roommate's boyfriend's house in another part of the state, I simply "felt it out" with what the area looked like a few months ago when we had visited him.

I can't remember where I went potty yesterday but 53 years ago my wife asked me what I was looking at when before leaving home I would turn and briefly stare. I said that I was taking a picture and when l came home l would know if something had been moved or missing. I described the interior of the house l was born in to my mom before she passed. The people 6who were there that day. Something big was going on. Mom had just come home from the hospital after giving birth to my sister. I was two years old. I still have that color picture and if I were an artist I could paint a picture. Some pictures l wish I could delete because they are painful. Whatever. My wife thinks I am really weird and after 53 years, l'm not so sure that I could reccomend marriage. Women are so judgmental!

I can remember most events in my life from the time I was an infant. I moved a lot growing up, but remember the address of every place I’ve lived, can describe the layout of my house, remember specific details of day to day events, the people I knew, where they lived, and their names, personalities, the sound of their voices.
I have run into people I had a conversation with only once and recall them immediately, and tell them where we were, and what we talked about, and even compare their physical appearance then and now, if they used to have longer hair, or gained weight, etc.

People usually don’t remember the same events even after I give specific details, and are pretty shocked I recall so much, if not a little disturbed. It used to bother me a bit making others uncomfortable, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned how to talk to anyone about anything.

I never studied in school, but consistently aced tests where everyone else studied and failed. If the test had multiple choice answers, I guarantee I’d ace it without even opening a book!
In a psychology class, we were learning about memory, and the professor sent 5 students into the hallway. Then he brought out a detailed photo of a group of men on a train having a conversation. He told me to focus on the photo and remember everything I could, while listening to a story he read aloud. After a minute, the story ended, the teacher put away the photo, and told the class he would bring in the first student from the hallway, and I should draw the photo on the white board and repeat the story. I drew the photo and told the story exactly, to his astonishment. The process was repeated with the student I told repeating my story and drawing the photo for the next one, and so on until all 5 were back in the room. At the end, and even now, 20 years later, I can still repeat every detail of each student’s recollection of the story and their drawing.

In addition to having an elevated I.Q., highly developed spacial perception (which gives me my abilities in art—I sold my first pen and ink drawing 45 minutes into the first art show I exhibited at for $1200) I discovered I had a photographic memory after taking a test. See, it never occurred to me that my memory was unusual . I just took it for granted . I began to wonder otherwise a few years ago after I became a teacher that there was something peculiar about the way my brain perceived things as opposed to the way my students saw the world . I realize that things that were obvious to me visually went by completely unnoticed by other people, particularly my students. Having such an ability complicates things in addition to having a high IQ which gives many people the notion that you are trying to act superior to them. For one thing , it intimidates people, especially women, so you can imagine what a damper it put on my interpersonal relationships . No one wants to be around someone who can recall a conversation 20 years ago during an argument. And many examples I could give you here mimics those already related.

I hope it doesn't annoy anyone if I say having eidetic memory enriches one's experience of the world. You pay for it, however, by inadvertently alienating those around you.

Effectively you are likely talking about an eidetic memory, how do you obtain one, very simple, don’t lie. It’s why people lose their eidetic memories early on in life. However there are various problems with it.

Lies have weight, the more lies you take onboard the more you have to process that information, if you don’t take on lies and don’t lie yourself or other people your mind is clear of the burden. The problem becomes that almost everyone lies as adults, so if you don’t lie, which provides the basis of an eidetic memory, then you are not believed as your stories and ability to recall events is beyond realm of most peoples’ understanding. I would presume that if you unwound all the lies in your life as an adult, a person could gain an eidetic memory, but winding them down would likely take an equal amount of time as it would to build them up in the first place. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

An eidetic memory allows you to understand how the world works with clarity, but also means you are more isolated as you often look at other peoples’ actions and simply ask yourself, why. You often find them in academia as professors and researchers, they are constantly seeking the future, and for that you need a clear mind. As an adult, I still have my eidetic memory, I can remember small details of events from years ago, for example the conversation with my Father just after I had an operation and was dosed up on morphine, complete recollection of events as a very young child.

I can also see almost instantly when other people, companies, politicians are lying with just a few words, actions or observations. I like having it, I try and do nice things in life and don’t lie to other people, I believe don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want done to yourself. However, more or less everyone never believes what I tell them. So you have to provide the answer, leave the situation and then weeks, months, years later that situation occurs and you know you at least tried. History repeats itself, an eidetic memory allows you to recall similarities and contextually analyse events to find patterns.

I work primarily for myself in financials via trading and group consolidation in areas such as oil & gas, banking, insurance, and can build very complex models with very little technical code or fundamental information. I have a rare skill that I can cross-utilise both technical and fundamental in different percentages, most people are one or the other. My eidetic memory allows me to pull back information or solutions I have used in the past to minimise the amount of functionality required to produce an outcome. The advantage is that the end result has very few moving parts so can be rapidly adapted, has very few if any holes in the design, and can employed with minimal resources.

For example, I am currently working on an automated trading model in Futures, it has around 80lines of code and produces a 2.5:1 P&L on 1mn timeframes, I am planning on moving it to R which should reduce the code base down to 40lines of code and allow me to increase the P&L with less risk and update within minutes instead of hours. It took about 2hrs to develop the code as I called back my old solutions and knowledge and applied it slightly differently. The key to an eidetic memory is you cannot just constantly revise something as most people do, adding more each time to make it incrementally better. With an eidetic memory you build it, go on to something else, come back to it, and rebuild from zero with a slightly enhanced view. Each time the solution is more efficient than the last with less moving parts, with most people incremental builds become less efficient and produce more ‘holes’ that can be exploited.

The problem with an eidetic memory as an adult, people like to pay for time, not results. With an eidetic memory you work in defined units which are not sequential, so you end up doing all your work in a few hours, and somehow have to fill your day in other ways. If you don’t have a lot of discipline then you can distract yourself, or be distracted by others, and miss your opportunity. In the end as you tell the truth, the principle is that life will reward you for it by allowing prevention.

Unfortunately most people work in hindsight and when the two meet it’s very rare it is a positive interaction for the person with the eidetic memory, so you just have to learn to wait for other people to catch up, often their thinking they are superior, and not take the blame when they realise you tried to point out that this event will end up this way. What often happens is those same ‘superior’ people then ignore the information, which forms a self-fulfilling basis for them lying to themselves and other people. People with eidetic memories are rarely wrong, and if they are it’s usually because someone lied about something very convincingly.

I guess you could say that I have a semi-photographic memory. I can usually recall anything I see with extreme detail ranging from from images to text. However, not everything remains stored in my visual memory banks (occipital lobe). In school I don’t go very well because I read way more complex things than what we are required to learn thus learning the wrong things. This does not mean I don’t do well in tests, I usually receive an outstanding grade in tests because I never have to study. I have tried to study before but I soon learnt not to because when I did I actually scored horribly in tests but I scored exceptionally on the subjects I didn’t even try to study for. I am usually regarded as a nerd (which I am by the way) because I always inform people with complex facts figures I have read which sometimes creeps people out. I’ve memorized up to 200 digits of pi and can recall diagrams very easily which helps in anatomy. Also, if my friends (yes, I do have friends) get lost I can easily help them find what they are looking for using my semi photographic memory. I have a horrible memory for faces because I am horrible with making eye-contact with people. I know practically everything about everything because I am fascinated by everything (except sport). When I go on a holiday (or vacation, depending on what country you come from) with my family, I always bore them to death (figuratively speaking) because I know everything about the location we are staying at and it makes everyone feel like it’s just a waste of time seeking out all of the tourist attractions because I’ve already told them everything about them. One of the positives to this is that we don’t need a travel guide because I’m basically it. I know someone who has a real photographic memory (who I can’t name here). He can memorize anything he has seen in less than 5 seconds (I think). He is also one of those really senior doctors who know a lot about a wide range of medical specialties. Now, to answer the question: “What is it like to have a photographic memory”, I have to say that despite all the negative aspects it has on my life (example: being alienated from everyone else), it generally is really awesome!

I hope this answers your question. I will reply to anyone who has any questions they want answered, but for now I will ponder on this for a a bit while I sit next to my fireplace and listen to Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Fur Elise.

Regards,

???

Every test I have taken (online) to see if I have a photographic memory, miserably failed. Nonetheless, what surprises me in my life is when people can't recall details or even full situations when I'm able to do so. Also, people tend to test my ability by asking me questions. Such as; what jacket did I wear at a certain date or can you tell me exactly what I told you 1 month on a certain date in detail. And somehow I always succeed.

What I have very strongly is that I can recall almost any memory whenever I want to. Including what I felt at that time, what something smelt like, what body language I expressed and every thought I had at that time.

But also it happens that anything can trigger a memory. Such as reading comments in this section. Someone was talking about vaccination and suddenly I remember a situation where I was in, getting a vaccination and I can remember who did it, their face, what my dad said to me and whoever was there crying and whoever didn't cry.
While writing I suddenly recall another memory of a vaccination, oh and now again one.

What the con about it is, is that I can get easily distracted at any time of the day when I get triggered. Sometimes I can even go back in my memories and forget about what is happening around me. And somehow, when I get out of it. I can remember what happened around me, without having the feeling I experienced it.

But also, in order not to look crazy to other people for remembering certain things, I also automatically start to pretend I don't remember something. Not sure why I pretend to forget certain things. It's something inside me telling me to pretend not to know what they are talking about.

With that being said, I often do have the feeling I forgot something. It's like having the feeling you forgot something before you leave the house. And you don't know what. In the end you realize you haven't forgotten anything. But it is still nagging you because you still think you just had to forgot something. Like a paradox.

Also another big con is. I can't forget things I want to forget or I don't want to think about. Such as situations where I felt shame for something or where I was blamed for something I didn't do or even situations where I told a lie. And than when I finally decide to set the lie straight to get rid of this burden. The other person becomes confused and doesn't understand what I'm talking about and it caused some strange situations that didn't do much good in the end.

The pro's are also pretty great.
Take as an example, I can remember all numbers at work. (And I do see a lot of numbers at work) and it impresses some people at my workplace and it makes them believe I care a lot about work. I do care way more than average at work, let that being said. Still, not as much as they believe I do. And that only gives me great outcomes.

Also it's very handy when people tend to "forget" things such as when I lent them money. Or overcoming certain obstacles. Take as an example; at a very young age they told me I had dyslexia and I wouldn't be able to write in an understandable way. Not just some spelling mistakes but everything messed up. And never would I ever be able to write another language. (Which I am doing right now) sure, I still have grammar and spelling mistakes. However I believe my memory helped me to memorize certain words which helps me to be able to write understandably for others.

Also it helps to make people believe you fully listen to everything they have to say. Because at anytime you understand what they are saying and at anytime you can recall anything they said to you. Sure, I might care about other people their story more than average, but once again not as much as they tend to believe. It helps you to create a bond with people more easily and you will gain respect on a much faster rate than people that tend to forget stuff they told.

What I also find funny is that I'm able to have a conversation with more than 5 people at the same time and still store all information they said in my mind and respond to it as if I was talking with them one on one. It's like my brain storing information separately very rapidly and once the situation of responding to more people at once. My brain will store all information where it has to be stored. Maybe sounds strange, I don't know. But that's the way I visualize it.

Do I have a photographic memory? Not sure and I wouldn't even bother finding it out. And as bonus question; does my memory make me more intelligent than others? I doubt it. But it does come in handy and it does certainly help me in many situations.

I have a photographic memory. The first thing I remember is how my mom burn my father’s clothes because she was mad at him. My childhood isn’t that good. I almost never studying anything or have a need to repeating my study, because it’s enough for me to memorize things only from the class. My mom said I have a gift for being able to remember anything easily. I could remember what my teacher wear on every of my class. The downsides is.. I always remember how my peers always bullied me back then. I couldn’t told my parents either. Because it’ll make things worse. And since I couldn’t found refugee in my home either, I’m not close to my parents. My mom is too overprotective and she’s too soft, easily broken into pieces. And my dad, isn’t that practical to handle everything alone.

I’m afraid of my own memories, because it’s full of fragmentation of my unhappy past. Right now I’m struggling to get my memory again as a whole thus gaining my past ability to remember such a visual detil. It’s painful, really.. it’s like a hell, the worse about this it’s the truth. I can’t escape from my own memories. I once, lie to my beloved one, telling that person that I can’t barely able to remember what this person saying. I don’t mean to lie.. after all it’s just really hard for me to remember my past.

So for me, photographic memory is just like a double edged sword.

Photographic memory, also known as eidetic memory, is the ability to recall images or information with exceptional clarity and detail. People with photographic memory are able to remember visual information with remarkable accuracy, even after only brief exposure to the material.

However, it is important to note that true photographic memory is extremely rare, and most people who claim to have it actually have highly developed mnemonic strategies or other forms of exceptional memory.

Research suggests that while some children may exhibit eidetic memory, the ability tends to fade as people age, and by adulthood, most people do not have true photographic memory. Some individuals may have exceptional memory skills in specific areas, such as music or language, but these abilities are typically the result of extensive training and practice, rather than innate talent.

For those who have true photographic memory, they often report the ability to vividly recall visual information in great detail. This can include details such as colors, textures, and even small text or numbers. They may be able to remember complex images, such as entire pages of text or complex diagrams, with remarkable accuracy and clarity.

However, it's important to note that having a photographic memory doesn't necessarily mean that someone will be able to remember everything perfectly all the time. Like any other memory ability, it can be influenced by factors suchas attention, motivation, and emotional state. Additionally, people with photographic memory may struggle with other types of memory, such as remembering names or faces.

Overall, having a photographic memory can be both a gift and a curse. While it can be helpful for tasks such as memorizing information for school or work, it can also lead to being overwhelmed by the amount of visual information that is constantly being processed and remembered. Additionally, some individuals may feel pressure to perform at a high level, which can lead to anxiety and stress.

Some of these people can be given a date in the past and they can tell you what the weather was like where they were on that date. Those have been checked and they are pretty accurate.

This shows you more than anything the power of the mind to record information. It doesn't really help you to understand intelligence or to understand how people are so creative. It only tells you that the brain can be packed with a lot of detailed information.

I think what's really useful to know is that most of us do not do this because it is not beneficial to survival. Somehow forgetting especially traumas seems to be more important to our brain health.

At any rate, the monks had to deal with the problem of memory and sending down through the ages The Gift of Full Knowledge, which is now the name of my ebook on it Amazon and it is the Jesus science. Basically it is described as a divine intervention to also eliminate the need for Blind Faith.

To accurately remember even a pattern of things is difficult on some kind of level. William Shakespeare is said to have written everything in rhyme so that actors could easily remember it and put on plays which was how he really made money.

According to the monks, I already was into a process of conditioning my brain by drinking their horribly rancid yak tea that was insanely salty. It almost did the opposite of quenching thirst! I generally never use salt. I don't enjoy salty snacks. Perhaps I just don't really like salt? Anyway this tea was awful and you drank the little leaves and ground up material as well.

Their claim was that it was making my brain grow and conditioning me to be able to accept this paradigm shift of science. That I needed that because I had been taught everything incorrectly.

I generally don't like drugs and have only recently started taking aspirin because trying to answer these impossible questions on quora is cramping my right arm and making it so I'm losing range of motion.

I decided to go into this extreme effort of answering impossible questions to find somebody, anyone who will help me. I keep telling people this is a fortune but also critical to saving our future. I need help! Now I'm making myself bedridden! It's just all getting too much for me and I have to shed this burden.

But anyway the monks had to come up with a way of passing this oral tradition down absolutely accurately for 2,000 years from Jesus.

Their story is that during the baptismal by John the Baptist I believe it was in the Jordan river, Jesus had an out-of-body experience and got The Gift of Full Knowledge, which is now the name of my ebook on amazon, from God so that we could build an Eden on Earth and banish suffering.

The monks were tasked with waiting and watching for the Signs of Jesus. These were some kind of indicators that modern society was finally advanced enough that it wouldn't use this god-like power for evil.

You can read all about it on a free bulletin board called medium.com by typing in my name - Thomas Alan White

I can vividly recall sight and sounds, into the tiniest detail. Without even concentrating, I can visualize people I have seen for even just 5 minutes. I can even recall such small details as jewelry, hairstyle, make-up, etc. Out of the approximately 80 persons I meet regularly (at least once a week), I can recall eye-color, maybe around five different sets of clothing each have worn, jewelry, tattoos.

I can picture people, myself, and even whole scenes in fine detail, walk through them, look at them from bird-perspective. Even the schoolyard from first grade, which was 13 years ago for me.

I can also "listen" to a song I have heard, by memory only. I can only "listen" to one instrument at a time. It is kind of hard to explain.

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Sounds great, right?

Well, the downsides are many, actually.

Sometimes, I can't control when I visualize memories. The first notes of a song, with which I have attached a memory, can trigger a full visualization.

I sometimes tend to visualize the equations and formulas my math teacher present in class, in real time. That can easily make me want to visualize the equations with various different combinations, and therefore render me much less active in lessons.

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I can remember a lot of joyful experiences with my family, that they can't remember. It hurt me quite a bit the first time.

Then the most creepy/cute/whatever-you-

think downside, is that whenever I see Winnie the Pooh, I instantly visualize a nightmare I had when I was a child, where my Winnie the Pooh teddy bear came alive and attacked me!

Only a few of my friends know that I have this kind of memory, and they all ask me the classic: Why aren't you getting A grades all the time, in everything?

The simple answer is that the "photographs" in my memory are so fragmented and so cluttered that it consumes a whole lot of my energy just to visualize one chosen memory.

Having a photographic memory is akin to possessing a sophisticated algorithm that efficiently processes and retrieves vast datasets. In finance, this translates to an unparalleled ability to analyze and synthesize information—be it market data, historical trends, or complex financial models—into actionable insights.

From my experiences managing multimillion-dollar portfolios, the ability to recall intricate details can mean the difference between seizing an alpha-generating opportunity and missing it entirely. For instance, during a pivotal trading session, I was able to recall specific performance metrics of a distressed asset from years prior, enabling me to forecast its recovery with confidence.

Moreover, this gift enables one to navigate complex negotiations with ease, as recalling minute details about terms and conditions can tilt discussions in your favor—very much like executing a perfect trade based on real-time data.

In social settings, it’s rather fascinating. There’s a certain edge when one recalls people’s names, faces, and quirks effortlessly, having once transitioned from runway to boardroom. Ultimately, while a photographic memory offers distinct advantages, it requires careful management to ensure one doesn't become overly reliant on it. Just as in trading, balance and strategy are key.

Robert Kehres is a modern day polymath: a seasoned entrepreneur, fund manager, and quantitative trader. Aged 20, Robert worked at LIM Advisors, the longest continually operating hedge fund in Asia. Robert then became a quantitative trader at J.P. Morgan. Aged 30, Robert became a hedge fund manager at 18 Salisbury Capital with co-founders Michael Gibson, Masanori Takaku, and Stephen Yuen. Robert’s entrepreneurship trajectory started with founding Dynamify, a B2B enterprise F&B SaaS platform with co-founder Maxwell Harding. Robert then founded Yoho, a productivity SaaS platform with Olivier Verhage. In 2023, Robert founded an additional two ventures, the first being Longshanks Capital, an equity derivatives proprietary trading firm, with Marc-Antoine Chaudet and Kevin Schneider, and the second being KOTH Gaming, a fantasy sports gambling digital casino, with Kam Randhawa. Robert holds a BA in Physics and Computer Science (1st) from Cambridge and an MSc in Mathematics (Distinction) from Oxford.