ISTJs, how do you observe and remember so much?

[ygolo]

What's your system?

I have ISTJ friend who who can walk into a room and pretty much remember every detail in the room.

ISTJs seem to be the best at trivia games, due to being able to remember every little fact they've come across (especially in spatial form). It doesn't seem to matter if they were interested in it or not.

They were also the first ones to point out that I am wearing my shirt backwards or inside out. (I did this more when I was younger).

So how do you do it?

How do you notice when even the slightest thing is out-of-place?

[Athenian200]

Originally Posted by ygolo

What's your system?

I have ISTJ friend who who can walk into a room and pretty much remember every detail in the room.

ISTJs seem to be the best at trivia games, due to being able to remember every little fact they've come across (especially in spatial form). It doesn't seem to matter if they were interested in it or not.

They were also the first ones to point out that I am wearing my shirt backwards or inside out. (I did this more when I was younger).

So how do you do it?

How do you notice when even the slightest thing is out-of-place?

Well... can you explain how you so easily see if something fits with a given principle or idea, how you see it's logical relationship to other things you know, or is it something you just seem to do?

[ygolo]

Originally Posted by athenian200

Well... can you explain how you so easily see if something fits with a given principle or idea, how you see it's logical relationship to other things you know, or is it something you just seem to do?

Yes I can explain it. It is something I work on consciously. But that's a topic for a different thread.

[Recoleta]

Originally Posted by ygolo

What's your system?

So how do you do it?

How do you notice when even the slightest thing is out-of-place?

Hmmm I don't know that I can explain this well, but honestly, I don't think I make a conscience effort to remember such things...it just comes naturally. I automatically break things down into smaller, detailed units...and it's harder for me to see things as a whole. As for remembering stuff in a room, yes, I am very visiospatially (I think that's a word?) oriented. I never forget a place I have been. I am very sensitive to colors and patterns, and those are the things I am most likely to remember.

People have told me that I have a "velcro memory" because if somebody tells me something, even in passing, I won't forget it. I do think however, that I have selective memory. I remember things that are personally important to me. I can remember minute details that I don't particularly care about only if the end goal is important to me. If I don't care about something, then I won't remember it any longer than short-term memory will allow. For instance, I have no concept of history. I never liked history, so I have pretty much forgotten everything I ever learned in my classes despite the fact that I never scored lower than a "B" in any class. However, I was a Spanish major in college. I can recall ridiculously minute grammar details and language nuances without a problem simply because this is important to me.

[ygolo]

Originally Posted by Recoleta

Hmmm I don't know that I can explain this well, but honestly, I don't think I make a conscience effort to remember such things...it just comes naturally. I automatically break things down into smaller, detailed units...and it's harder for me to see things as a whole. As for remembering stuff in a room, yes, I am very visiospatially (I think that's a word?) oriented. I never forget a place I have been. I am very sensitive to colors and patterns, and those are the things I am most likely to remember.

I kind of figured breaking things up was part of it. I've tried to mimic this, but the problem I run into is that there so many different choices for breaking things up, that I usually choose something inefficient.

Originally Posted by Recoleta

People have told me that I have a "velcro memory" because if somebody tells me something, even in passing, I won't forget it. I do think however, that I have selective memory. I remember things that are personally important to me. I can remember minute details that I don't particularly care about only if the end goal is important to me. If I don't care about something, then I won't remember it any longer than short-term memory will allow. For instance, I have no concept of history. I never liked history, so I have pretty much forgotten everything I ever learned in my classes despite the fact that I never scored lower than a "B" in any class. However, I was a Spanish major in college. I can recall ridiculously minute grammar details and language nuances without a problem simply because this is important to me.

That is a special skill, I hope you realize that. For me, to remember or notice details, I need to care about those details. If they are just part of something bigger that I find important, I create a system to deal with the details.

[Tayshaun]

I always associated those traits with ISTPs rather than ISTJs

[SolitaryWalker]

Originally Posted by Tayshaun

I always associated those traits with ISTPs rather than ISTJs

ISTJ is the better fit because the Sensing preferrence is stronger. ISTJs remember better details that they are interested in, Extroverted Sensors remember everything indiscriminately. Makes no sense to associate it with the ISTP, a secondary Extroverted Sensor instead of the ESTP, a primary extroverted Sensor.

[Natrushka]

My experience with ISTJs and ESTJs is that they remember those things, facts, details, trivia, etc, that are important to them. My husband can recall all matter of what appear to be useless facts, but 8 times out of 10 he can't find his sunglasses, keys or work ID. My dad (ESTJ) is better with the keys, glasses, etc, but I suspect that's from 69 years of always putting his things in the same place (specifically so this doesn't happen).

[boogawooga999]

haha i acknowledge that im terrible at finding stuff

[niffer]

I always just thought they were very unaware of their awareness of surroundings.

Originally Posted by Recoleta

Hmmm I don't know that I can explain this well, but honestly, I don't think I make a conscience effort to remember such things...it just comes naturally. I automatically break things down into smaller, detailed units...and it's harder for me to see things as a whole. As for remembering stuff in a room, yes, I am very visiospatially (I think that's a word?) oriented. I never forget a place I have been. I am very sensitive to colors and patterns, and those are the things I am most likely to remember.

People have told me that I have a "velcro memory" because if somebody tells me something, even in passing, I won't forget it. I do think however, that I have selective memory. I remember things that are personally important to me. I can remember minute details that I don't particularly care about only if the end goal is important to me. If I don't care about something, then I won't remember it any longer than short-term memory will allow. For instance, I have no concept of history. I never liked history, so I have pretty much forgotten everything I ever learned in my classes despite the fact that I never scored lower than a "B" in any class. However, I was a Spanish major in college. I can recall ridiculously minute grammar details and language nuances without a problem simply because this is important to me.

Regarding what you said about not liking history...my ISTJ friend not only doesn't find it important, but she just has trouble in general piecing the information together to form a logical sequence of events, although she is exceptionally good at remembering all the dates and little minute details. So could it be that because she doesn't find history important, she isn't quick to connect the dots? Does this happen to you too?