May
Lately, I’ve been practicing my memory by playing memory games. I must be getting older and my memory is failing me at times. How about you, have you ever wanted to have a memory so good you can not forget anything? Yes, that’s right – anything. This is called photographic memory. Damn! Sometimes I kept wishing for that kind of memory so I can learn more, better and faster. But, wait. How about the disadvantages of not being able to forget? Hmmmm…
Wisconsin resident Brad Williams’ total recall makes him a personified version of Google. His extensive memory allows him to recall almost any news event and anything he has experienced, including specific dates and even the weather.
“I was sort of a human Google for my family. I’ve always been able to recall things,” the 51-year-old said on “Good Morning America” in his first television interview.
Williams’ type of detailed, exhaustive memory is called hyperthymesia and few known cases exist. Brad’s brain scans are now being studied by neuroscientists at the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the Univeristy of California, Irvine.
Initially, the drive-time radio broadcaster didn’t think his ability to recall so much was anything special. Gradually over the years other people noticed how much he was able to remember in detail about the same events, Williams said.
Then in 2006, he read an article about a woman whom scientists called AJ, which prompted Williams to come forward. AJ is an anonymous subject of a medical journal and the only scientifically documented case of superior memory.
“When I read about AJ my immediate thought was, ‘Oh my God. That’s Brad,” said Williams’ brother Eric Williams.
Eric Williams’ is intrigued about the inner workings of his brother’s mind. Eric Williams is in the process of making a documentary about Brad, appropriately titled “Unforgettable.”
In the film, which hasn’t been completed yet, Williams takes on a person who is Googling answers to 20 questions.
He answered 18 of them correctly and was 11 minutes faster than the searcher.
“All of us have the ability to store all this information and the difference with Brad is he can retrieve it,” Eric Williams said.
Williams remembered a grade he got in grade school, when anchor Chris Cuomo quizzed him about it today on “GMA.”
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Tags: Education, Google man, online education, personal, Photographic Memory
4 Responses so far to "Photographic Memory is an Amazing Gift by the “Google Man”"
August 26th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Since the rise of the ‘brain age’ games for Nintendo DS, it’s becoming more and more accepted that brain training and memory improvement is possible. I use techniques such as on http://www.squidoo.com/memory-improvement-techniques , which harness the right side of your brain to build your memory skills. Great post, thanks.
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August 26th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Ok, let me check that out.
jessies last blog post..Largest Lake in Central America is Lake Nicaragua
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September 21st, 2008 at 3:35 am
do games really help our memory? if they do, then i will start playing more!
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October 6th, 2008 at 9:00 am
[...] given a series of tests to assess their mental and physical well-being as well as attention and memory. The tests were the general health questionnaire (GHQ), SF36, digit span, construction of figures, [...]