basic pattern recognition

[xparrot]

From the annals of X-parrot is a Social Misfit: So you know how some people will say, "I'm bad with names, but I never forget a face"? I'm the opposite. I remember names okay--not great, but not bad, about average. But faces. I am shit with faces. There's this girl I meet on campus on occasion--friend of a friend, a bunch of us went out for sushi last spring. I've met her a couple times since, and she always says hi. And I always do the hesitant, "Er...hi?" thing you do when you're wondering if someone's got you confused with someone else. And then she goes, "I'm So-and-so's friend," and I go, "OH YEAH." But the thing is, it's not that I'm having trouble remembering her name or how I know her; it's that her face just isn't there in my memory at all. It's an unknown face. The event of meeting her is recorded, but not the visual aids.

I'd worry about premature senility, except this isn't a new thing. In high school I worked with these two boys--I remembered their names fine, but I never called them by them, because I could never tell them apart. They were cousins, so they looked similar, but not identical. But even if you stood them next to each other, I could easily see they were different people, but my brain could not remember which name mapped to which boy. One of them usually wore a baseball cap, so I memorized cap=one name, no cap=other, but it was problematic if the guy took it off.

I suspect I do this subconsciously as well, using obvious external markers instead of simple facial recognition, because I am terrible at recognizing people out of context, say, meeting a classmate outside of class. I'm like an actual parrot in this--change the feathers and you might as well be a different person to me. As a couple people who have met me at cons before can vouch, if I meet someone cosplaying, I will likely completely fail to recognize them out of costume, or in a different costume. And there's a girl in my apartment complex who I fear might redye her hair; I will surely not realize it's her if it's not the nice recognizable burgundy it is now. There's a possible corollary to this, in that people whose faces I do know well, I will be completely oblivious even to major changes in their appearance--I'm infamously bad at noticing new haircuts and the like.

And if you're thinking I wrote this entire little rant in an effort to remember the person initially mentioned, next time I meet her--you would be 100% correct. Wish me luck!

Comments

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

No problem - I've been thinking it was probably some learning disability, so it's useful to have a name for it. I've got a pretty mild version of it, in my case; people I know well I don't have trouble recognizing, for instance everyone in my Japanese class, who I talk to regularly. But casual acquaintances...yep, I am screwed ^^;;;

[pantswarrior]

I do that constantly. I thought I was just dumb, until I saw some television show about people who have that problem; they'll recognize their neighbor if they see them at their house, for instance, but if they went on vacation and happened to find their neighbor vacationing at the same spot, they'd not have a clue who it was. Apparently actually something wacky in a spot in the brain. (Whew, I have an excuse.)

And your story about the two boys reminds me of these two girls in my 6th grade class. They both had shoulder-length curly hair, and despite them being at the same school as I was for the last few years, and in many of the same classes, I couldn't tell them apart. There was an incident when I had to pass out books for the students, and give different books to the ones in the advanced group... and well, one of them was in the advanced group, one wasn't. You can only imagine how well that went, and it was made more embarrassing by the fact that the girl who was in the advanced group was a sarcastic little brat about it.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I've got a psychology degree, I nearly always assume that my weird mental quirks are a documented condition! ^^ Was too lazy to look this one up myself...and really, having a cool name to give it (prosopagnosia! I mean, look at all those p's! sweet!) doesn't help me feel like any less of an idiot, unfortunately ^^; Fortunately it is a pretty mild case with me, and it doesn't really cause any problems. I just get horribly flustered whenever I do it (and, though it's stupid, three times as embarrassed when it's with someone racially different than me, because I always want to go, 'no, it's not that X people all look alike to me, it's that everyone does!')

[pantswarrior]

*laughs* Yeah, I used to feel bad because all black people and all asian people looked alike to me. Then it occurred to me that all white people do too. ;)

It sucks, though - I'm always running into various people at work, because people from all around our area go to our store at some point, since it's the biggest. And they go "Hi, Andrea!" and I have to try to figure out where on earth I know them from, or if they're just being smartalecky because I'm wearing a nametag.

(So uh, even though I met you briefly at Anime Boston, sorry if we run into each other at another con and I have no idea who you are. -_-)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I definitely get more people who say "hello" to me than I say hello too, and it's not that I'm unsocial (...well, not just that I'm unsocial) but a lot more people know me than I recognize them ^^;; (Hah - everyone should wear nametags! Would make life much simpler!)

--and I hate to say it, but in accordance to what I confessed here, I do remember meeting you and akatonbo, but I'm afraid if I encounter you again I likely won't know you from Adam. Er, Eve. ^^;;;

[pantswarrior]

Heh. Actually, considering at cons I cosplay almost entirely male characters, Adam works just as well. Or I wish it did. ;)

[praiseofshadows.livejournal.com]

I've decided I really should stop spamming other peoples' journals to talk to you and just friend you instead XD

And just so this isn't totally OT, about not recognizing faces...I know exactly where you're coming from. I wound up talking to this one girl for, like, two whole hours before she finally let it slip how we knew each other (and I remembered the situation where we'd met...it was just her face I had problems remembering...>.>)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

...I was just going to ask you if I could friend you, actually ^^; and, yeah, it's reassuring to know I'm not alone in my social ineptitude...

(and I want an egomaniacalbastard!Kaiba doll like woah. he can have a pull-string in the back for his mad laugh!)

[praiseofshadows.livejournal.com]

...I was just going to ask you if I could friend you, actually ^^; I guess socially inept people great minds think alike? ^_~

(Oh yeah! It's not egomaniacalbastard!Kaiba without that laugh! XD And he needs to be able to do that "Yugi!" thing his Japanese voice actor is so good at, too! XD)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

(Yuugi! *melts* It's also gotta be able to do the you-DARE-challenge-me-you-pathetic-idiot "hnn"...oh yeah. I am perhaps a wee bit in love with Tsuda Kenjirou's voice. ^^;)

[praiseofshadows.livejournal.com]

(Japanese Kaiba's voice just rocks the house...no two ways about it! *purrs*)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

heh - I listen to the previouslies when he narrates them. Mmm.
--which would be another reason why I could never watch the dub, the one ep I saw, Kaiba's voice was actually one of the better ones, but...uh-uh, no comparison!

[praiseofshadows.livejournal.com]

dub!Kaiba does have his moments in a wtf? type of way XD

[praiseofshadows.livejournal.com]

You've probably already heard this, but if you haven't the crack (http://s54.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=264CD33R6R3F33TWAPBHOIV1MT) starts around 3 minutes and 30 sec (because no one does crack!Kaiba better than Tsuda Kenjirou himself XD)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

What the HELL is this?? ...dammit, I've never seen PoT. I've never wanted to. Am I gonna have to anyway? *GAH HIS VOICE IS PURE SEX* "mada mada da ne" (or whatever. ...I just realized that they're speaking slowly enough I could actually understand a lot of what they were saying, if I tried to listen, instead of just melting ^^;;)

WAAHAHAHA "anime chigainan desukedo!" *dies* *literally, I can't breathe* "Kaiba-shacho-san desu ka?!" "Aa."

...thank you. That was. Special. OMG his real laugh is the CUTEST THING EVER

[praiseofshadows.livejournal.com]

*GAH HIS VOICE IS PURE SEX* *nod nod* Wonder if he's married.... XD

And on PoT...I think he plays a really minor character...I dunno...I got it off of gure, and I just laughed so hard for ages at it.

And since I was in spirit of posting, I put up a couple of his songs on my LJ, if you want them ^_^ (along with dub!Kaiba's band....which is so bizarre....>.>)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

ahh, married schmarried! Oda-sensei tied the knot last year and he's still going to be mine, one day! bwahahah!! ...ehem.

Someone told me Inui (?) is on the main boy's team in PoT, so he turns up in most eps, though not as a major char...(I have several people eager to get me into PoT, I just have no interest in sports anime. ...of course I have no interest in card games, either, so...)

*runs to your lj to leech* - I've got one by him, always up for more ^^

[praiseofshadows.livejournal.com]

he's still going to be mine, one day! bwahahah!! ...ehem. Someone told me Inui (?) is on the main boy's team in PoT, so he turns up in most eps, though not as a major char... Okay, I'll replace that with the info other people told me (as the only thing I know about PoT is the name XD)

I've got one by him, always up for more ^^ Which one? Do you know how many he's done? *curious*

[gnine.livejournal.com]

I just have no interest in sports anime. ...of course I have no interest in card games, either, so...)

...Do it and you DIE...what would Niichan say?! (and it would be harder to get h/c out of it, most likely...)

whimper...you have ENOUGH fic currently!

[utopiantrunks.livejournal.com]

When you say "had sushi last spring", was that when I was there? 'Cause I can hook you up with her name. XD She's so helpful with the costumes, though!

I do know whatcha mean about having trouble with faces. Especially out here, where everyone's descended from the same five blond people. I had some trouble at Cornell (there was one girl from a class that I met like three times outside of class, and each time she had to tell me who she was, which I felt lousy about, because we had pleasant conversations). I think people should do me the favour of dyeing their hair funky colours so I can go, "Oh, you're the green one!" or adopting some kind of quirk, like the hat, or a special pendant (hey, I do everyone that courtesy), or just... wearing sports jerseys with their names on.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

No, different time, this was one of D's friends. ...umm. who did we go out with sushi with, though? It was at Plum Tree, right? I recall the meeting but not the face or the name ^^;;;

The problem with dyed hair is that it can be changed! I vote for the jerseys with names, myself. or nametags! maybe tattooes on our foreheads? would be damn useful sometimes...!

[utopiantrunks.livejournal.com]

Hm... only if it can be a cool Kanji tattoo.

Yeah, it was Plum Tree. ^^ I'll drop you an email with her name. :) Actually, I should be sending you something else, too, if you're still interested in a whopping huge chunk of reading. ^^; I keep meaning to send it to you, then going, "I'll do it once I've fixed that scene..." which I've gotta do tonight, anyhow.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

kanji tattooes would be great - I could know who people were and practice my reading at the same time!

oooh oooh - the novel?? in which case DEFINITELY still interested! (though when I'll have the the time, eheh ^^;;;)

[utopiantrunks.livejournal.com]

Yep. :) And no worries, at your leisure. Gonna be working on it for a lo~ng time to come.

And now, with my icon-pimping done for the night, I can get to it. XD

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

YOUR ICON IT IS MUCH WITH THE HAPPY. (though dammit someone out there better write me some real fic XD)

and now I can get - to sleep!! before 1 AM! go me! eheeeh...

[shayera.livejournal.com]

...I have a similar problem. It's really embarrasing. It's happened a lot of times that I've met a person once, and we decide to meet up again somewhere. So I wait around at the appointed place, looking at the people around me and trying desperately to guess who is the person I'm supposed to meet. Unless I've gone out of my way earlier to memorize the face, I'll only remember some detail, like "short blond hair", and if there are several people with short blond hair around, I'm screwed. So I'll have to wait for the person to approach me. :P

I'll have to meet someone at least twice, sometimes more, before their face sticks with me, and I might still forget it if I don't meet the person for a few years. (so in other words, I probably won't recognize your face ^^;;;)

Then again, I sometimes see people from my grade school days on the bus or subway, and recognize them. Funny how it works. :P

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

It seems to be a pretty common problem, actually, judging by the responses here! either that or I just make friends with people as easily confused as me ^^;; I'm not sure if I'll recognize you, either, but we will have the advantage meeting in Japan, we'll both stick out in a crowd more!

[gnine.livejournal.com]

I think the problem is, as just with your directional sense, I took most of ability from you...course you got the remembering name part so...guess its only fair...Like when I can ID the actors, say where else we've seen them, and then you can put the name to the face...

See, just gotta work as a team ;) (Also, was it D's Chinese friend who she was tutoring, or someone else?)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yes, that occurred to me, we work fine as a unit ^^