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A Man with an Impossible Memory
- yamrzou 2y agohttps://archive.is/9g0kK https://archive.is/9g0kK
- coldcode 2y agoI could not imagine a life where my brain was so full of tiny details, even if some were put there deliberately. I find programming so fills my brain sometimes that I forget simple things like "did I take my pills earlier" or bill deadlines, unless I use an app to remind me. Somtimes, I make an elaborate effort to watch myself take a pill, so I can recall it later. The brain is fascinating device we still don' complete understand.
- jason-phillips 2y agoIt is to be managed and never fully trusted.
- mkl 2y agoDiscussion in 2018: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18521330 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18521330 (44 comments) And 2018: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14997702 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14997702 (8 comments)
- rvba 2y agoSo, the researcher published the study long after the man was dead? How can we know the study wasnt faked? It happens now, and why wouldnt it happen in the past.
- pakitan 2y agoAs per the article, we do know the study was partially faked.
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y agoVideo game reviewer Tim Rogers has some unpleasant memory condition where he remembers dates, numbers, etc. perfectly but also compulsively recalls old memories all day. It's not quite like this, he said it's not a photographic memory, but it seems interesting. I read a story where he said he knew exactly how many cinnamon buns he'd ever eaten. I thought it was perhaps fiction, but there was a photo at the end implying it was real. I think he explains it in his review of the PS1 game "Boku no natsuyasumi"
- spondylosaurus 2y agoA few weeks ago I read his essay "What We Might Mean When We Say a Clock is Wrong" and found it very compelling. He's an excellent writer. https://medium.com/@108/what-we-might-mean-when-we-say-a-clock-is-wrong-5f055ff631a6 https://medium.com/@108/what-we-might-mean-when-we-say-a-clo...
- mycologos 2y agoThat was compelling, albeit for reasons I can't seem to elucidate, kind of like Knausgaard, right down to the mystifying self-presentation as a sort of loser who nonetheless has many friends and lovers (though maybe everybody, if they were to give similarly complete and honest accounts of their lives, would come off as sort of losers, too).
- brezelgoring 2y agoHe reminds me of David Foster Wallace for some reason. In that sense that his writing is long-winded but full of texture and would easily be drivel if it were handled by a lesser writer. I was familiar with his YouTube work but not his writings. Thanks for introducing me to him.
- spondylosaurus 2y agoHa, as a longtime DFW fan I get what you mean! Glad you enjoyed it.
- talldrinkofwhat 2y agoIf you haven't done yourself the favor already, read the referenced story, Borges' "Funes the Memorious". It, like most of his work, is a pearl of simplicity and haunting implications.