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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsFace Blindness
Some people never forget a face. Some never recognize one. Most of us are somewhere in between these extremes.
I remember a character in a movie who said, "I never forget a face." He said this to the bad guy, who had been a guard in a Nazi concentration camp. Eventually the bad guy killed him to prevent his past from being exposed. (I don't remember the name of the movie.)
At the other extreme are people like Oliver Sacks, who can't even recognize their closest relatives. They are said to suffer from prosopagnosia or face-blindness. Apparently this is caused by a lesion in a certain part of the brain.
After the main character in the movie "Faces in the Crowd" witnesses a murder, the bad guy attacks her. She falls and hits her head. After that, she is face-blind, to the extent that she can't recognize her father or her boyfriend. The killer knows who she is and worries that she might recover and be able to identify him. She has other problems as well. Her boyfriend dumps her because he can't stand not being recognized by her. She was a schoolteacher, but ... (I won't say more, so as not to spoil the movie).
I can relate to the main character in that movie, because I have always had difficulty recognizing faces. I can recognize people I have known for a long time, but get confused about the identities of casual acquaintances. To some extent I can compensate by recognizing peoples' voices, gaits, hair styles, and other features. But I would be a lousy schoolteacher. In fact, most jobs require more ability to recognize faces than I possess. I have only recently realized the extent of my limitation.
applegrove
(118,837 posts)was too shy to say hello and would wait for the other person to say hello. There is someone right now who I will not acknowledge because you give her an inch and she'll take a mile and has already destroyed my life twice and I think that is enough. It takes me certainly about 6 months to be able to tell my parents new caregivers apart.
Lionel Mandrake
(4,076 posts)if you are supposed to know who they are - especially when introductions are called for.
There is a web-based test you can take to see how well or how badly you recognize faces.
http://www.faceblind.org/facetests/ff/ff_intro.php
I took this test a while back and got the equivalent of an F.
noamnety
(20,234 posts)(of the people I know!)
and I am a teacher. That doesn't even figure in old age/forgetfulness, I had to look up a couple where I knew the show they were on but couldn't grab the name out of thin air. Ugh. Oh well, I knew I sucked at this.
Lionel Mandrake
(4,076 posts)of the people I knew. I took the test a a long time ago and don't remember my exact score.
Fortunately, there are other ways to recognize people. In real life we see more than just faces, and we hear people speak.
nolabear
(41,995 posts)laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)I got 97%. There wasn't anyone I wasn't familiar with. The only one I didn't recognize was Tony Blair. I've never really paid attention to what he looked like and the picture they showed didn't look anything like what I think he looks like. Anyhow, it was fun.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)but I counted that as not familiar with - of course I knew his name but I don't think I have ever seen a picture of him.
So I got 100% of the people I have seen before.
I watch too much TV.
dimbear
(6,271 posts)recognize my ringtone or my aftershave or my generally sarcastic demeanor.
Luckily for the world there's more to me than a face.
dawg
(10,624 posts)I thought I was below average on face recognition. It must be something else.
Perhaps I do recognize casual acquaintances, but I lack confidence that I really know them, and am too shy to risk speaking to the wrong person.
dawg
(10,624 posts)Those folks are like my family.
ohiosmith
(24,262 posts)I missed Blair as well.
ohiosmith
(24,262 posts)soleiri
(955 posts)"Some British guy"
Somehow I knew that much.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)I think his picture sucks too! Obviously since that's the only one a bunch of us got wrong.
dawg
(10,624 posts)I thought the face kind of looked like David Gilmour, but I knew it wasn't him. I didn't even have a guess.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)Poor guy. Oh well, Maybe the Brits know him.
Also, I couldn't remember Robin Williams name for some reason - so I put Mork From Ork.