This is one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever seen … there are people who can’t recognize faces; even their own, or their children. They think as many as 1 in 50 people suffer from it, but just like color blindness, it never occurs to them that they are different unless they have to take a test.
The story goes on to talk about super-recognizers that never forget a face. They can look at a baby picture of someone and know who it is.
How many friendships would a condition like prosopagnosia destroy? What about career limitations of face blindness?
Reader Comments
(2)
Comments are presented chronologically, with replies indented beneath
the comments to which they respond.
M
me
September 25, 2012
It depends on how you acquired it. From birth its supposed to be easier as more coping skills learned. From damage then less time learning adaption skills plus whatever else you might have gotten along with the damage. I have damage. Face blindness and problems with short term memory. I did not realize I had damage. My experiences seem to match up with others. I have been accused of being uppity and standoffish for not looking at people. I have trouble looking at people unless I really know them or they are extraordinary in some way which makes it easier for me to identify them. I have made people angry by walking past them without acknowledging them. Sometimes they would confront me about it and both our feelings would be hurt or I would have no idea later why someone was acting angry at me [when I recognized them in their natural setting]. The hair thing. I don't notice people cutting their hair. A coworker grew a beard and it took me a month to notice. I notice voice, frame, gait, habits, location. Those are my cues. It hurts relationships when you don't know what you have and they don't know. I once pissed off a bunch of people by saying all the men in a location looked alike. They did to me. They wore same kind of clothes, same hair cut, similar builds, etc. It hurt me with dating because I avoided "clones". Theres a movie.. Faces in the crowd. I won't watch it but the trailer got to me with the room full of kids or police officers where its same person. Strangers walking up to you and acting familiar while you desperately try to place them. Thats what its like. More like that then the morphing characters. Imagine everyone looks alike and you need clues to figure out who they are but if you told them this they would be beyond offended. Its why you don't look at people and are standoffish unless they are distinct enough it helps you or you have no choice. As far as career I am in IT. I don't have to recognize faces as much and we have reputation for lacking in social skills. I have OCD too but I think its extra time spent trying to remember or "place" or overcompensating by focusing on what I can. Like an autistic not being able to handle certain stimulation will fill the space with music or a puzzle. I fill my space as much as possible to avoid what I can't do. Its not true they don't know they are different unless they take a test. They may not know what is wrong but not being able to recognize others upsets those who can. There are also various degrees of blindness.
B
BukaHanersib
March 17, 2014
I have this. The above referenced story let me know it was an actual thing, rather than a personal shortcoming. I've since done a substantial amount of reading on the subject. I feel considerably better about the times I've been unable to recognize my own children in unfamiliar environments. I have a better understanding of my own social awkwardness.
I've also talked to my kids about it and learned that 2 of the three also have face-blindness, one to roughly the same degree as myself. Hopefully, they are better able to understand the world around them armed with this knowledge. I certainly wish that I'd known, earlier in life, that other people struggled similarly.
me
September 25, 2012
It depends on how you acquired it. From birth its supposed to be easier as more coping skills learned. From damage then less time learning adaption skills plus whatever else you might have gotten along with the damage. I have damage. Face blindness and problems with short term memory. I did not realize I had damage. My experiences seem to match up with others. I have been accused of being uppity and standoffish for not looking at people. I have trouble looking at people unless I really know them or they are extraordinary in some way which makes it easier for me to identify them. I have made people angry by walking past them without acknowledging them. Sometimes they would confront me about it and both our feelings would be hurt or I would have no idea later why someone was acting angry at me [when I recognized them in their natural setting]. The hair thing. I don't notice people cutting their hair. A coworker grew a beard and it took me a month to notice. I notice voice, frame, gait, habits, location. Those are my cues. It hurts relationships when you don't know what you have and they don't know. I once pissed off a bunch of people by saying all the men in a location looked alike. They did to me. They wore same kind of clothes, same hair cut, similar builds, etc. It hurt me with dating because I avoided "clones". Theres a movie.. Faces in the crowd. I won't watch it but the trailer got to me with the room full of kids or police officers where its same person. Strangers walking up to you and acting familiar while you desperately try to place them. Thats what its like. More like that then the morphing characters. Imagine everyone looks alike and you need clues to figure out who they are but if you told them this they would be beyond offended. Its why you don't look at people and are standoffish unless they are distinct enough it helps you or you have no choice. As far as career I am in IT. I don't have to recognize faces as much and we have reputation for lacking in social skills. I have OCD too but I think its extra time spent trying to remember or "place" or overcompensating by focusing on what I can. Like an autistic not being able to handle certain stimulation will fill the space with music or a puzzle. I fill my space as much as possible to avoid what I can't do. Its not true they don't know they are different unless they take a test. They may not know what is wrong but not being able to recognize others upsets those who can. There are also various degrees of blindness.
BukaHanersib
March 17, 2014
I have this. The above referenced story let me know it was an actual thing, rather than a personal shortcoming. I've since done a substantial amount of reading on the subject. I feel considerably better about the times I've been unable to recognize my own children in unfamiliar environments. I have a better understanding of my own social awkwardness.
I've also talked to my kids about it and learned that 2 of the three also have face-blindness, one to roughly the same degree as myself. Hopefully, they are better able to understand the world around them armed with this knowledge. I certainly wish that I'd known, earlier in life, that other people struggled similarly.