Memory and S vs. N

[prplchknz]

immediate memory sucks, like you tell me something and ask me to repeat right away i can't give me a minute-30 seconds as long as you let me know i need to remember what you're saying i can. strings of numbers nope, though i do know my phone number and ss though i did completely forget my phone number the other day. but generally i know. long term is better, but i don't remember details. also if you verbally give me a list of directions i'll be able to complete the first one but will not remember the rest so i'll have to ask after each step what the next step is. this is why i live for written instructions.

also i can remember where physical things are if i make a conscious effort to remember, of course sometimes i debate 2-3 places to put the thing and later i don't know where it is because i'll think i've picked one of the ones i didn't and its not there and i can't remember what the other options were.

sometimes i forget to remember. i know i'll have to remember something but i'll forget to do so, and i'm like fuck.

 

[Poki]

My memory is a crapshot. I suprise people with what i do and dont remember

 

[ChocolateMoose123]

My memory is a crapshot. I suprise people with what i do and dont remember

I once remembered a random invoice number from days past. Freaked myself out. My boss was asking about an account and couldn't find the exact invoice so I blurted it out.

I was called "Rainman" for the rest of the day.

Weird.

 

[Norrsken]

I have shit memory. The only way I can remember something would be if it held a valuable meaning for myself or if it is, in some way, very emotionally charged in my eyes. It helps if I can see the hidden meaning behind the events in order for me to do a recall later on. I cannot deal with intricate details or numbers or any of that.

 

[evilrubberduckie]

Wait, human beings are capable of recalling past events? Im too busy looking ahead to even bother looking back, let alone REMEMBER. Too much effort going into something thatll get you nowhere ( for the most part)

 

[Jayce]

Really interesting thread. My memory is something that made me think I mistyped myself in the beginning as an N even though I'm most definitely an N-dom. I remember numbers (ok with them in general, which might have influence), phone numbers, codes, birthdays and names really well. Also I have sort of a selective photographic memory. The thing is, I can't remember anything I don't pay attention to. If I do, I remember it. I'm pretty known for my memory and can recall where someone left their things, was this and this object there etc. I especially remember things 3D. I can relive and imagine any 3D place (I've paid attention to) in my mind. I can recall the inside of my fridge which makes it easy to go to the grocery store. What is perplexing is that I lose my own stuff all the time. It can literally take 5 minutes of my morning to search for my daily stuff I've put down somewhere I don't remember.

I also remember people, details about them and I always point out their inconsistencies. Ok most of the time I keep shut. There is so much I don't say out loud... Here too, I'm really sucky with details in general, but when it comes to people, especially people I'm interested in, I can remember most things. Events that had some meaning I can remember. I also remember abstract concepts well, but when I'd have to explain something in detail, no such luck, unless I understand it well enough to put into details that can be derived from the understanding. Lists are also not my forte. Some people remember things in list form, I don't. But give me a picture or a graph about something and its done.

When it comes to past events, I never remember anything on purpose. I very rarely relive past events unless prompted. My Si sucks big time. I'm so head up in the future and what else is on my mind. I can say that you were like this, and can't name a single instance it happened as an example, unless it was meaningful. My childhood is really abstract. I don't remember most of my childhood or what happened earlier today, week, month, year. There are certain instances I recall with detail when I look back to it but they're meaningful in a way. What I had for lunch today, no idea. What I was doing last saturday? No idea.

So basically: Things I pay attention to, stick, things I don't, don't. Any other ENXPs have this?

 

[Fate]

Mmm...I think I have a good memory. I must have developed this recently; there are times I would seemingly irrationally obsessively collect details (probably because for my diary). I don't know how this was developed; I am a college student, it must be the routines I put myself into for memorizing stuff for quizzes or exams (like mentally arranging stuff alphabetically inside my head).

 

[typologyenthusiast]

I pay attention to Memory problem also. Memory may be usually assumed has a factual quality, for example: what you eat this morning, or who do you meet last week, or historical, who were the names of political leaders in WW2, what they did? etc.
But, Memory may also have a non factual quality also. Let a hypothetical situation be. We were in an Math exam. We were facing some math problem that needs formula to solve. In order to solve the math problem, we could only rely on a memory: memory of the formula. No formulas were provided, opened books would be regarded a cheat, which would eventually lead to a failure, by school rule, if spotted by a proctor. We were too worry we could be spotted, failed the exam, hence we decide not to take the chance. To answer correctly, You would only depend on formula, that you may have known and had to successfully recalled. The data or the facts which were to be put into the formula was already given, hence no need to be memorized. The problem is do you have the memory you need to solve the problem?

 

[Maou]

As I said in the other similar thread, my longterm memory is vague at best. I remember the important stuff, but only if its what I am doing. I suck at names, numbers etc. I seem to filter out everything that isn't immediately useful, and I forget things if days pass without interacting with you. I'm more likely to remember what we do together, and your positions on things, or opinions, and facts about you. But god help me if I lose you in a crowd of people. I am practically face blind.

My short term memory is actually great. So I cram a lot for tests. Then forget it a week later. But if I understand the essence of something, I won't forget it. It just takes a lot of time for me to upload things to my brain network. I also seem to subconsciously record data on your actions, to adjust my behaviors around you. Im very observant as well.

 

[typologyenthusiast]

When I used to be in a journalistic position, I used to record interview conversation and re listen it in office to write up journalistic report. I had to depend solely on the device and I have been noticing that some people are able to memorize other words in verbatim.
Another memory of mine is song lyrics. Recently, most of the song lyrics that I have heard when I was a kid came back and I wrote them down. I have taken a note of it, as part of the research of myself.
I don't think my memory can be commanded to come back intentionally whenever I want to. What I do is to write it down, when I remembered it again. I am going to write blog devoted to Memoir. It is like Jung's practice. He wrote a book : Memory, Dreams, reflections, which is Autobiographical.
Personally I don't like people who instructs to just forget any memory. I wonder whether you have ever met them. My mother is one of it. They say it already happened in the past, it is not now. So they tell that let go what has gone. My response is : NO WAY. Their position is rejected. I won't take such position. My position is to take a lesson from what has passed; not just forget it. You'll risk yourself repeating the same mistake when you fail to take lesson from what has happened. I wonder whether they have heard:" Only a donkey that will be mired in the same hole twice."
I have been wondering whether such person is referred by Sigmund Freud as a repressive. They try repress other and may repress also themselves by trying to forget "by force" remember what has happened.
According to merriam webster, repression is a mental process by which distressing thoughts, memories, or impulses that may give rise to anxiety are excluded from consciousness and left to operate in the unconscious. Something that is repressed is intentionally excluded.
Some type that I have met like to repress is ESFJ, ESTP, but I do not intend to generalize. May be it just happened to me, that the type person that told me to repress falls under their type.

 

[neko 4]

My memory is selective. I can remember feelings from years ago yet forget people I met last month.

 

[Saturnal Snowqueen]

Long term wise my memory is pretty good, but my short term memory is a haze. Like if something teaches me how to do something and then steps aside, my memory goes out the window. Time is a blur for me, like I'll have trouble remembering when something I did was yesterday or the day before, or I'll forget half of what I did the week before(but I'll remember it later). I'm forgetful with tasks and then I wake up haunted by the memory of them. I rarely remember my dreams, like I'll remember the "vibe" of it but nothing else most days(is that function related?). I know I'll dream, but it's like it gets sucked out of my mind as I wake up. Yet I can recall strange details. I remember little things like dates, restaurant orders, prices, road names, all well. A forgotten conversation from 7 years might appear in my head randomly, or I'll get deja vu from my dreams. Like I'll remember dreaming about something that I thought was real afterwards, then have a dream of that again and get confused.