[INTP] INTP and Semi-Photographic Memory

[Scorquendo]

My friends are so astonished at the level of retention I have in regard to memory. I know we are Si, but it's tertiary, so I didn't think it'd be that good. Like I am thinking near photographic memory.

IE. It can go from remembering what I was doing on specific days, birthdays of people I've spoken to only once/never met, or what someone was eating the last time we spoke (and I'm talking months/years apart), to past conversations and specific words that were spoken within that time or even where certain objects were placed.

At one point, I usually keep quiet because I am sometimes embarrassed to admit I actually remember these little things.

IE. I remember meeting a classmate whom I hadn't seen in years and actually remembering pretty much their life story from a presentation they did 6+ years ago as well as a few conversations we had. I didn't say anything since I didn't want to be creepy, but out of curiosity, I asked the some of the same questions [that I already had a hunch for the answer to] and sure enough, it was exactly how I had remembered.

The funny thing is on important things such as, tests or recalling directions, I tend to "forget" answers that I should have "retained," lol.

Is this an xNTP thing?

 

[FDG]

It doesn't have anything to do with type.

 

[Mad Hatter]

I have a pretty good memory myself and sometimes have to bite my tongue when people misquote what they've heard while I can remember the exact wording (I think memory for me it works particularly well with language), get dates / numbers wrong I could remember, etc. because I don't want to come across as nitpicking.
I'm not sure if it's a Si thing or if it's just me because my ISTJ roommate isn't nearly as strict when it comes to these things while it makes my toenails curl when I hear something I know to be 'incorrect'. I also think ENTPs wouldn't care too much about it either.

 

[funkadelik]

I dunno...I've got a truly awful memory. Sometimes I can't even remember what pants I'm wearing until I look down.

But it strikes me as odd which things I do remember and which things I don't. Like I've remembered where my family's pulled over to the side of the road so I could pee as a kid, but if you asked me to recount the things I did yesterday, I'd be at a loss. Or if you just gave me some arbitrary bullshit to memorize, I wouldn't be able to do it very well.

Chances are it has nothing to do with type.

 

[Stanton Moore]

Probably not type related. I used to remember everything too. It faded for various reasons.

 

[Xenon]

^ Yeah, I used to have a very detailed memory as a kid, but not so much anymore.

I seem to be able to remember certain childhood events that other family members don't. Things that happened in our family, weird things people said. I don't remember a whole lot of visual detail though (mostl likely because I don't notice it in the first place) and it some ways I'm very out of it.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Sometimes I can't even remember what pants I'm wearing until I look down..

Sometimes I startle and look for my glasses before I realize I'm actually wearing them ...

 

[violaine]

I'm INFJ, though occasionally test as INTP. I have a retentive memory. e.g. I can remember what I was wearing on any given day of interaction with someone. I have no idea why, but it's definitely a way my mind bookmarks bigger, associated memories. I also used to be able fly through tests based on word for word answers from required reading because I'd remember sentences on a page, like reading it from a photograph. I have a very detailed memory for people's life stories and later inconsistencies in someone's narrative. Those things just jump out at me.

It's not as sharp as it used to be and I wonder sometimes if that could be down to taking contraceptive pills. :/ And for things like bill paying and appointments (to a lesser degree)... Not so much. Thank the gods for scheduled payments and iPhone reminders.

 

[Stanton Moore]

Mostly I just remember little details around a central fact. Clusters of trivia, really.
Otherwise, I forget events and people all of the time.

 

[1487610420]

My friends are so astonished at the level of retention I have in regard to memory. I know we are Si, but it's tertiary, so I didn't think it'd be that good. Like I am thinking near photographic memory.

IE. It can go from remembering what I was doing on specific days, birthdays of people I've spoken to only once/never met, or what someone was eating the last time we spoke (and I'm talking months/years apart), to past conversations and specific words that were spoken within that time or even where certain objects were placed.

At one point, I usually keep quiet because I am sometimes embarrassed to admit I actually remember these little things.

IE. I remember meeting a classmate whom I hadn't seen in years and actually remembering pretty much their life story from a presentation they did 6+ years ago as well as a few conversations we had. I didn't say anything since I didn't want to be creepy, but out of curiosity, I asked the some of the same questions [that I already had a hunch for the answer to] and sure enough, it was exactly how I had remembered.

The funny thing is on important things such as, tests or recalling directions, I tend to "forget" answers that I should have "retained," lol.

Is this an xNTP thing?

I'd think more a ISTP than INTP thing.

 

[Such Irony]

I will remember odd little things that somehow have personal significance to me. Otherwise I'm prone to forget.

 

[NickNaylor]

It doesn't have anything to do with type.

Seconded.

Your MBTI type would indicate your "style" and the amount of personal inclination towards remembering things clearly, not the actual clarity which your brain presumably offers. This would be a cognitive function which is not due to your personality whatsoever. Its like saying you have superior vision and hearing because of Si/Se.

 

[Scorquendo]

I'd think more a ISTP than INTP thing.

Really? All the ISTPs I know have the worst memories I've ever encountered out of all the types.

>Sometimes I startle and look for my glasses before I realize I'm actually wearing them ...

Actually, I've done this more than a few times. Also, with little things like locking doors or finding my phone (and later realizing it's been in my hand the whole time).

>I seem to be able to remember certain childhood events that other family members don't.

More like this ^ - I remember many things that people tend to ignore/looked past, and like I said in my earlier post (for those that remembered, lol), I tend to forget things that should be important.

 

[INTP]

i have really good episodic memory. but really crappy name memory and im ultra bad at describing what someone looks like. i remember people based on what they are like, not what they are called or what they look like

 

[Fluffywolf]

My memory is... Odd to say the least.

I remember phone numbers, verses, and other random things from way back when I was little even. But there are also so many things I can't just seem to remember.

I remember sitting at my uncles birthday when I was 14 or 15 or so and they were talking about psalms, and I said "Hey, I still know the first psalm I learned in school. Which was like 8 years earlier. And they told me to recite it and I flawlessly recited a psalm I once learned in school and had never paid any further attention to ever again since then.

But other things I've learned are just gone completely it seems.

My photographic memory appears to be extremely good sometimes, or useless at other times. I never really figured out how to use it. It appears to work quite randomly.

 

[MacGuffin]

Seconded.

Your MBTI type would indicate your "style" and the amount of personal inclination towards remembering things clearly, not the actual clarity which your brain presumably offers. This would be a cognitive function which is not due to your personality whatsoever. Its like saying you have superior vision and hearing because of Si/Se.

Exactly. Tertiary Si is about preference, not ability. Otherwise no one with glasses could be Se-dom.

 

[Pride]

Scenario I: Around the fourth or fifth grade of elementary school, we watched an educational movie regarding HIV and AIDS. There was a scene when the adult teaching the children about HIV/AIDS asked the children "What did you guys want to drink? Is root beer OK?" and then proceed to go and get root beer without waiting for a reply. I thought that question was extremely redundant and that the adult was an asshole for his presumptuousness. If he didn't care what they wanted to drink, he should have just gotten them without asking. The question itself was a reflection of what I perceived to be the adult's callousness and arrogance, even if he himself was not even aware of the event which had just transpired.

During the sixth grade of elementary school, we once again watched the same movie, and prior to the scene I had just stated above, I described (in a more childish fashion, of course) essentially what I just outlined above to some of my classmates. They were shocked that I would remember such a strange scene, and so was I, more or less.

And now, I am recounting on the internet about an event where I was recounting another event which had been permanently stuck in my mind.

Sometimes I really want to forget this memory, because it is completely useless except for invoking the feeling of nostalgia, I suppose.

 

[Sinmara]

My friends are so astonished at the level of retention I have in regard to memory. I know we are Si, but it's tertiary, so I didn't think it'd be that good. Like I am thinking near photographic memory.

IE. It can go from remembering what I was doing on specific days, birthdays of people I've spoken to only once/never met, or what someone was eating the last time we spoke (and I'm talking months/years apart), to past conversations and specific words that were spoken within that time or even where certain objects were placed.

At one point, I usually keep quiet because I am sometimes embarrassed to admit I actually remember these little things.

IE. I remember meeting a classmate whom I hadn't seen in years and actually remembering pretty much their life story from a presentation they did 6+ years ago as well as a few conversations we had. I didn't say anything since I didn't want to be creepy, but out of curiosity, I asked the some of the same questions [that I already had a hunch for the answer to] and sure enough, it was exactly how I had remembered.

The funny thing is on important things such as, tests or recalling directions, I tend to "forget" answers that I should have "retained," lol.

Is this an xNTP thing?

My boyfriend is very much like this.

I don't find it creepy at all. In fact, I find it rather endearing. Remembering all these little things means that they were paying attention to me and actually listening. My guy took me to a restaurant a couple of days ago because I had mentioned, in passing, that I liked their food a week or two back. I love it when people remember the little things.

 

[redacted]

I know people of many different types with freakishly good memories. (I'm thinking of an INFJ, an ENTP, an ESFP, and an ESFJ.)

These sorts of skills fall outside the descriptive framework of MBTI, IMO.

 

[NotOfTwo]

I have an annoying memory. I seem to forget things that would be very useful and retain random things.

Can't forget:

people's food preferences/allergies, such as jam, etc
friend's checkbook balance I randomly saw, when she went to check I told her, awkward moment
bloodlines of horses long gone
faces
photos/art seen once

Can't remember:

appointments
important dates
how to divide sums
telephone numbers
book authors
more stuff but I can't think of it now