>Lebron James has been remarked upon for his ability to remember practically any play of any game he's ever been in (and many that he hasn't) in precise detail.

>Lebron James has been remarked upon for his ability to remember practically any play of any game he's ever been in (and many that he hasn't) in precise detail. And actress Marilu Henner can basically remember every detail of her entire life, a condition called hyperthermesia. I think superior memory is an underestimated driver of successful people. I think it depends. There is certainly a balance to be struck here. In the case of hyperthermesia its selectivity (tightly coupled to autobiographical details) makes it quite different from ordinary memorization: >Even those with a high level of hyperthymesia do not remember exactly everything in their lives or have "perfect memory". Studies have shown that it is a selective ability, as shown by Price's case, and they can have comparative difficulty with rote memorization and therefore cannot apply their ability to school and work.[0] The short story Funes el memorioso by Jorge Luis Borges - who explores this theme[1] quite radically in his typical style - is imv particularly enlightening. In short: A certain amount of "forgetting" (you don't want to remember all details at all times) helps to consolidate and facilitates to see "things" in a new light. In a sense sleep itself (biologically hardcoded) fulfills a very large part of that function. [0]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia#Difficulties https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia#Difficulties [1]https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/borges-memory-funes-the-memorious/ https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/borges-memory-funes-the-m...