Fell Down a Wiki Hole, Feeling Fine

Read something interesting today while hunting through the Wikipedia – the world’s largest reference library[1] – for a link or three. There’s a growing consensus that there’s no such thing as an Eidectic memory. Oh, sure, you have your skeptics and your hotshot researchers trying to get into a journal or whatever…

Hmm?

Oh, right, it’s more commonly referred to in the popular imagination as “Photographic Memory”. And it’s certainly referred to often, as far as I can tell. Every other story or TV show seems to have someone who can instantly remember everything that’s ever happened to them ever with instant clarity. Including one of my all time favorites, Small Gods (Or Rain Man, or…). It’s a captivating idea, after all. What if we couldn’t forget where we’d left our keys? (I Ever. Makes for a great character hook, if nothing else.

But looking over the literature it seems that the scientific community has been similarly intrigued by the idea of some people a more effective or efficient memory. I know I’d like to have one. But, no, there seems to be a growing opinion that these perfect memories are nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Some people, it’s true, have a very good way of filtering and storing information in their memories and pulling those drawers back open when needed. But total recall hasn’t been clinically observed yet. Just various mnemonic devices that seem like extremely excellent memories under certain circumstances but, when placed out of their comfort zones, fall apart.

So, some scientists think there’s no such thing as an eidectic memory. Just people who’ve managed to train their minds to think in certain ways. To me, that’s a powerful, powerful idea. If people can hone their memories to a razor’s edge, just what else can some Pavlovian training do for the human mind? Can people improve their mental processes bit by bit, step by step, day by day, growing better and better, and evolve[2] into someone who thinks a bit clearer, faster, or deeper? Wouldn’t that be wonderful if it were true?

You know, I think I did here about some research into that topic once. It was pretty confusing and confrontational and controversial at the time, of course, but such groundbreaking ideas usually are. Now, what was it they called it?

Ah, yes. Growing up.


[1] – I feel I should point out, with all due respect and honor to those who think a collaborative effort from the uniformed hitchhikers along the information super highway is somehow less worthy and authoritative and more biased than a collaborative effort with a single editorial perspective that you actually have to pay real money for (what I like to call an “En Sy Clooo Pee Dee Uh” for those reading from the future), that I’ve been linking to Wikipedia – to wikis what Kleenix is to tissues – a lot. And I humbly intend to continue to do so until and unless a better alternative presents itself. It’s by no means entirely accurate but, then, what reference material really can be? The information on Wikipedia has been vetted by a long and lengthy process by an extremely large number of people and it’s presented in clear, simple terms that they can all understand. In other words, it’s a very good look at what the public opinion on a particular topic is. Those links to Wikipedia I make are not intended to be like sources cited in a bibliography but a starting point for the curious to do their own research. I might or might not have a better source at my fingertips but the problem with explaining things is that it can take a while. And experts talk in their own language. As with everything here, make up your own mind because, with all the sincerity I can bring to muster, I can hardly make up my own about getting out of bed in the morning. I’m not an expert on anything but I do know how to read and, hopefully, you can do the same so consider what I say, look at your own facts, get a second opinion, and then come to a decision. Just be careful you don’t fall down the wiki hole (“Hmm, that link looks interesting. Wow, great stuff! Hey, what’s that link over there lead to? Oh wow! Oooh, another link! Umm, what was I doing when I walked into the room?”) and get lost amid the bookshelves the way I usually do.

[2] – You had to know it was coming by this point. Seriously, as a metaphor it explains SO much.