Also known as prosopagnosia (from the Greek prosopon meaning "word", "a" not, and "gnosia" knowledge) = I have trouble recognizing faces.
Here is an explanation I found on one of the sites that might give you an understanding f what that means: "People who are "tone deaf" are not deaf to tones. They can hear tones, they just can't tell them apart. People who are "color blind" can see things that are in color. They just can't tell colors apart. Similarly, I can see faces. I just can't tell them apart."
Now anybody who has hung around me long enough has a story to tell about the time when I didn't recognize somebody I had just spent the afternoon with or about me confusing co-workers that absolutely don't look alike. It seems this disorder actually is a neurological problem that is not too widespread - as far as I am concerned, it would be problematic for the survival of the species if it were.
Foe or friend? Let me think. Are we related?
There are some heart-wrenching stories of people who are severely affected.
Tests are available on the Web to see if you suffer from the condition. I think normal people will find them entertaining as you are asked to recognize celebrities in one case, pair strangers in another. They actually provoked mild anxiety in me... I took them and my results were poor.
Nonetheless, I was relieved and excited about all the info I found. Here is a link for more studies.
French sources use the word "prosopagnosie".
English Cucumbers
10 months ago
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3 comments:
Wow! I thought I was the only one with this problem! I've always had problems recognizing and remembering faces, and the test confirmed it. But it seems pretty mild in my case, and I don't have a problem with people that I see on a regular basis.
Wow - the mind is certainly endlessly fascinating! This explains about people you meet (I always wondered: how could they NOT know me?)
But I come from the opposite side: I've always found I can recognize most faces, and put names to them. I've also wondered if this was related at all to being good with directions/navigation (and also whether this is genetic, as it's the same case with my mother and sister.)
The test sort of confirmed my lack of prosopagnosia... (I only got one famous face wrong - thought Tony Blair might've been Greg Kinnear - the test is culturally biased!)... But with the women's faces, I promptly forgot whether to press the 1 or the 2 for the ones I recognized.
Good with faces, bad with numbers. Also related?
Well, Ms Hedda, I am very bad at navigating so I tend to think they are related.
I had an epiphany of sorts the other day. I was having lunch on Merivale and suddenly could not orient myself. I stopped eating and concentrated and realized I took my cue from the sun. I promptly figured out where North was and resumed eating. I have always found it easy to navigate in ottawa - I wonder now if it's not because it is rather flat and there aren't many tall buildings to block out the sun.
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