Do you have difficulty remembering names of people?

[Mary Terry]

I can't remember the names of my great nieces and great nephews, my husband's more distant relatives, and friends' kids and grandkids, so I cheat. I put the kids' names in my cell phone under the "note" section for the contacts (phone numbers) list. I can check the notes before I have to interact with them. It helps.

 

[Rocco]

I can't remember the names of my great nieces and great nephews, my husband's more distant relatives, and friends' kids and grandkids, so I cheat. I put the kids' names in my cell phone under the "note" section for the contacts (phone numbers) list. I can check the notes before I have to interact with them. It helps.

I like that idea! This is a clever method to help. Thank you for that insight to accessing information on associated people.

 

[Outdated]

Numbers have always been the worst though.
Times, dates, addresses, etc.

That's the part I never had any trouble with. I remember numbers with ease, phone numbers, all my credit card and tax file numbers, serial numbers and product codes, even strings of programming code.

It seems that most people just don't spark my interest or leave much of an impression on me.

 

[velociraptor]

I was always hopeless with names and I have poor facial recognition to boot.

Same here. What's weird is that I can remember insurance policy wordings verbatim (e.g. Intact's LR20-3 CGL wording). I remember every phone number I have ever had going back to our first when I was age four. I worked in a video store in my twenties and I can tell you the file number on over 20,000 films in three locations.

Name of the person I met two minutes ago? Nooooooope.

 

[Outdated]

Same here. What's weird is that I can remember insurance policy wordings verbatim (e.g. Intact's LR20-3 CGL wording). I remember every phone number I have ever had going back to our first when I was age four. I worked in a video store in my twenties and I can tell you the file number on over 20,000 films in three locations.

Name of the person I met two minutes ago? Nooooooope.

I can still remember my Win98 validation key.

 

[Kirsty]

Yeah, it happens to me nearly all the time when I first meet people. Around 2-3 times then I’ll remember.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

Unless I repeat their name a few times during a conversation, I will probably forget their name.

If I don't see someone for a while, I will forget their name.

Names of people and places just don't stick.

I struggle with names of streets I travel on every single day. I can describe it, but don't ask me to recall the name.

Names of patients I had a few days ago, nope. I can recognize my own notes in their patient charts, but not remember the patient after a few days. Nuts.

Hence, in the ER, we are calling out, the ankle in 4, the chest pain in 12, the SOB in 5.

 

[Judge]

It really bothers me. With only one redeeming factor. That it's just names so far. Names recalled through recent memory as opposed to more distant, long term memory.

If this memory lapse spreads to numbers I'm in trouble.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Hence, in the ER, we are calling out, the ankle in 4, the chest pain in 12, the SOB in 5.

Sort of, but mostly for HIPAA and privacy reasons.

 

[velociraptor]

I can still remember my Win98 validation key

I can also remember one, but it may not have been mine. [shuffles feet]

 

[Judge]

I can still remember my Win98 validation key.

I can't recite that, but I still remember that I have a few of those and even know where they are! And Windows 98SE and Windows 2000 Advanced Server. Those days when all you needed was a key. <sigh>

Still breaks my heart that I actually tossed out my 6 Windows 3.1 diskettes, and my 5.25 DOS 5.

At least I haven't forgotten any of that stuff. But then consider the common denominator being long-term memory.

 

[grommet]

Increasingly so. But I suspect it is exclusively about old age in my case.

Been watching these YouTube sequences where you're shown pictures of celebrities from much earlier times, and the object is to identify the celebrity. Drives me nuts when I know who they are, but the names just don't seem to come out of my mouth in a timely fashion any more. I recognize the face, but the name can elude me. Ugh.

Yet when it comes to numbers or events, I still can remember them. go figure.

Vin-Vout/Ma=RS
DMSO (Dimethyl Sulfoxide)
TNT (Tri Nitro Toluene)

I can never forget these. I have so many many more. Formulas, equations, acronyms, science facts. They are always in my head, ready. I almost never remember my age. I do not know how long I have lived in my home. I write down so I know if I have eaten. I have stood outside bathrooms trying to figure out if I went or need to go.

I also have that same problems with celebrities. I know who they are but their names are gone.

 

[grommet]

I can give you lots of useless telephone numbers and lock combinations from the 1970s, as well as most physics constants. Just don't ask me what someone's name is.

The carburetors on the 1986 Yamaha Radian have a 2mm smaller bore than the carburetors on the 1985 Yamaha FJ600 even though they have the exact same engine. It was done to increase mid-range response.

I do not need to know this. My mind is filled with these things. I do not know who people are, have trouble understanding signs. Bad memory for almost anything but science or facts.

Nylon rope has a 40% stretch under maximum load, is 10% weaker when wet. Linen rope is 10% stronger when wet. Ice skates work because there is a layer of water that never freezes on the surface of ice (correct or not, it is in my brain).

For an appointment I have so many reminders it is very stressful. I once had five reminders including Post-it notes on the wall in front of me. I noticed one of the notes almost right before the appointment, until I read it I had no idea at all I had an appointment that day.

 

[Jumpinbare]

Ice skates work because there is a layer of water that never freezes on the surface of ice (correct or not, it is in my brain).

The water is quite frozen till you skate blade passes over it. The intense pressure created by your body's weight being concentrated over the very thin blades causes the ice to liquify until the pressure is released by you moving on.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

Sort of, but mostly for HIPAA and privacy reasons.

But this was way before hipaa. Back then patient names were posted on the white board!

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

The carburetors on the 1986 Yamaha Radian have a 2mm smaller bore than the carburetors on the 1985 Yamaha FJ600 even though they have the exact same engine. It was done to increase mid-range response.

I do not need to know this. My mind is filled with these things. I do not know who people are, have trouble understanding signs. Bad memory for almost anything but science or facts.

Nylon rope has a 40% stretch under maximum load, is 10% weaker when wet. Linen rope is 10% stronger when wet.

Cotton is also stronger when wet. Silk is weaker.

Ice skates work because there is a layer of water that never freezes on the surface of ice (correct or not, it is in my brain).

For an appointment I have so many reminders it is very stressful. I once had five reminders including Post-it notes on the wall in front of me. I noticed one of the notes almost right before the appointment, until I read it I had no idea at all I had an appointment that day.

This has happened to me more than once or twice.

 

[Judge]

For an appointment I have so many reminders it is very stressful. I once had five reminders including Post-it notes on the wall in front of me. I noticed one of the notes almost right before the appointment, until I read it I had no idea at all I had an appointment that day.

I keep them as a post-it note right in front of me, pasted to my monitor's base.

If I don't write things down, they're gone.

 

[grommet]

The water is quite frozen till you skate blade passes over it. The intense pressure created by your body's weight being concentrated over the very thin blades causes the ice to liquify until the pressure is released by you moving on.

No. This was the old theory that the people at MIT claimed was wrong and in fact that they discovered there is a layer that never freezes, allowing the skates t glide. I learned the version you did. I do not know if one has been proved certain over the other one, only that I heard the new version is correct.

 

[grommet]

I keep them as a post-it note right in front of me, pasted to my monitor's base.

If I don't write things down, they're gone.

That still does not work for me. The not blends in and my brain ignores it. I can program reminder alerts on my computer and my watch. It bothers me a lot as they go off one week before then two days etcetera. All for one appointment I stress for a month so afraid I will not remember it.

 

[Ken]

The carburetors on the 1986 Yamaha Radian have a 2mm smaller bore than the carburetors on the 1985 Yamaha FJ600 even though they have the exact same engine. It was done to increase mid-range response.

I do not need to know this. My mind is filled with these things. I do not know who people are, have trouble understanding signs. Bad memory for almost anything but science or facts.

Nylon rope has a 40% stretch under maximum load, is 10% weaker when wet. Linen rope is 10% stronger when wet. Ice skates work because there is a layer of water that never freezes on the surface of ice (correct or not, it is in my brain).

For an appointment I have so many reminders it is very stressful. I once had five reminders including Post-it notes on the wall in front of me. I noticed one of the notes almost right before the appointment, until I read it I had no idea at all I had an appointment that day.

Yep, that's me. Can't remember names and I have never figured out any method or system to do so.
When I was 6 years old in 1958, I calculated the distance of a light-year in miles just for fun. I still remember without hesitation or thought: five trillion eight hundred sixty-five billion six hundred ninety-six million miles.
Hmmm, I should use that as a password. I'll never forget that!