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Aside: I bet you "a signed dollar" that Le Bron James is not the first verifiably recorded case of an adult posessing a photographic (eidetic) memory. [1] Wit

by harry8 7y ago

Aside: I bet you "a signed dollar" that Le Bron James is not the first verifiably recorded case of an adult posessing a photographic (eidetic) memory. [1] Without singling out Mr James it is reasonable to very, very skeptical about any strong claims of ability of any famous person outside the field for which they are famous. Hype is a thing pushed by entourages if not the famous person themselves. Mr James' proficiency is basketball is super-human and impressive enough by itself. It is very unlikely that he is also super-human in other dimensions. But hey, he can submit to testing and put it on a video sharing site. Walk into a room with a table with N (N=80?) objects on it, under a sheet. Remove the sheet for 3 seconds. Put it back. See how many he can list from memory alone. That's actually not definitive for Eidetic (I believe - I'm not the expert) but it is pretty impressive nonetheless. If he can do that ask him for a book and edition that he has read then pick a geniunely random page (eg roll dice) and ask him to read it to you from memory alone. If he did it on the modern Johnny Carson show (where Uri Geller failed abysmally all those years ago, for example) it would be super-impressive, as it would if literally any human did it.[2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidetic_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidetic_memory [2] James Randii at 91 may not be available to advise the fraud busting setup as he did for Mr Carson but at a pinch I bet Penn Jilette, Teller, Derryn Brown or someone of similar advanced deception skills could do the job. How exciting would it be if someone convincingly displayed it?

chubot 7y ago
I didn't claim he was the first case? That would be ridiculous. And this is a tangent, but I used that example to subtly poke at this kind of "common wisdom": Mr James' proficiency is basketball is super-human and impressive enough by itself. It is very unlikely that he is also super-human in other dimensions. Why do you think that an exceptional memory would not contribute to exceptional basketball playing? Are those two things completely unrelated? In other words, you're probably underestimating the cognitive skill it takes to win at high levels. Of course I can't know for sure, because I haven't done it, but you haven't either. I don't remember what the best sources for his memory were, but they seemed credible to me at the time, e.g.: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-44106321 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-44106321 https://www.businessinsider.com/lebron-turnovers-photographic-memory-2018-5 https://www.businessinsider.com/lebron-turnovers-photographi... There are also some video of him recalling games that seem credible too.
- harry8 7y ago
  Yep. Looking at those links in particular Le Bron James has made no claims that he has a photographic memory and it seems he does not have one. Maybe he's deliberately hiding it but that seems unlikely. Precise recollection of detail is not a photographic memory by any of the usual definitions of that term. Photographic memory != impressive memory display. The BBC link you provide suggests there isn't anything especially remarkable about his impressive memory for detail in a just played match and that such is quite common among highly trained athletes. I'm told it's common for cricketers to be able to recall the detail every single ball they faced in a score of over 200. ie facing more than 500 separate deliveries. I'm impressed by it, it's great. It isn't photographic memory. I'm not belittling him, the levels of training and skill he has attained are utterly amazing. If a very famous person is also a decent human being through it all and uses their fame for a positive impact on the world that is far more impressive to me than claims of additional genius outside their field of expertise.

by harry8 7y ago

chubot 7y ago

I didn't claim he was the first case? That would be ridiculous. And this is a tangent, but I used that example to subtly poke at this kind of "common wisdom": Mr James' proficiency is basketball is super-human and impressive enough by itself. It is very unlikely that he is also super-human in other dimensions. Why do you think that an exceptional memory would not contribute to exceptional basketball playing? Are those two things completely unrelated? In other words, you're probably underestimating the cognitive skill it takes to win at high levels. Of course I can't know for sure, because I haven't done it, but you haven't either. I don't remember what the best sources for his memory were, but they seemed credible to me at the time, e.g.: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-44106321 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-44106321 https://www.businessinsider.com/lebron-turnovers-photographic-memory-2018-5 https://www.businessinsider.com/lebron-turnovers-photographi... There are also some video of him recalling games that seem credible too.

harry8 7y ago
Yep. Looking at those links in particular Le Bron James has made no claims that he has a photographic memory and it seems he does not have one. Maybe he's deliberately hiding it but that seems unlikely. Precise recollection of detail is not a photographic memory by any of the usual definitions of that term. Photographic memory != impressive memory display. The BBC link you provide suggests there isn't anything especially remarkable about his impressive memory for detail in a just played match and that such is quite common among highly trained athletes. I'm told it's common for cricketers to be able to recall the detail every single ball they faced in a score of over 200. ie facing more than 500 separate deliveries. I'm impressed by it, it's great. It isn't photographic memory. I'm not belittling him, the levels of training and skill he has attained are utterly amazing. If a very famous person is also a decent human being through it all and uses their fame for a positive impact on the world that is far more impressive to me than claims of additional genius outside their field of expertise.