How good is the brain at remembering things?

Question

This is not really a question but I was so amazed by this video I just had to share it.

link text

It made me think how much easier it would be to learn Spanish if I had a brain like this one.

But like most amazing things it does have its disadvantages.

I would like to see your thoughts and comments - Spanish or English - when you have watched the video.

Answer 1

I like my brain, I wouldn't swap it.

I hate my problems with paying attention and focusing on what I'm doing though. For example I'll go out to the kitchen in the morning and see a half made sandwich I completely forgot about, or worse, the oven will still be on. (sometimes I'll have left food in it which will have burned to a crisp)

I'll find an exercise in a book where I finished in the middle of a sentence or I'll set aside half an hour to clean and half an hour later find myself reading a book and not quite sure how I got there.

And a few months ago, when I was very stressed, I kept having these alien abduction moments where I'd feel like I'd just woken up and here I am, in class, in the middle of a sentence, but with no idea what I was saying and feeling completely disorientated.

And generally I can only read short bits of text and information at a time, especially if I'm stressed.

BUT I like my brain. I like the way it organizes things, I like the search function (a bit slower than google, but still good), I like the way it responds to smells and sights and sounds and things in unpredictable ways and such things can call up all kinds of memories and ideas that don't seem at all related. (A good search engine won't do that)

And I don't mind that Spanish is taking ages to learn, because I enjoy the process. If I could read two pages of a book at a time and remember what I'd read forever I wouldn't enjoy the process in the same way. It would probably still be wonderful, but in a different way.. and this slow way is the way I experience it, and I like it.

I'm the same way rabbit, if I were a kid today I would probably be labeled "ADD". - amykay, Apr 4, 2011

Answer 2

Pesta said:

I can memorize a complex piano work of 5 minutes duration in less than a week of casual practice. I sometimes astonish myself when I realize it's a few thousand notes (or at least it seems like it).

A NYC jazz musician I work with several times a year has the ability to glance at a piece of music for a minute or so, lays it aside and then plays it to perfection. I have asked for his secret/tricks, but he has none. It is just a gift he has never really tried to cultivate. I am amazed every time I observe this. I am also very jealous, I must admit!

For the musicians out there, I'm not referring to determining the key and learning a few chord progressions....I mean complex music. :) - Nicole-B, Apr 3, 2011

My cousin can do that with the sax. The "secret" is playing every day for 40 years, with a few years of 10+ hours per day, studying composition and theory, and memorizing thousands of songs. I think most professional session musicians can do this easily. - lorenzo9, Apr 3, 2011

I hear what you're saying Lorenzo, but this guy just turned 35 two days ago and he has been doing it in the ten years since I met him. Even the professional musicians I work with know he has "something" special. But I do see your point. - Nicole-B, Apr 3, 2011

I can play pieces by ear sometimes having only heard them once or twice depends on their complexity usully pop Jazz tv film themes or pieces from muiscals only a few classical pieces - FELIZ77, Apr 4, 2011

Answer 3

Pretty cool. I had seen that video before, and of course the amazing thing is that it graphically shows just how powerful the brain really is.

Steven is an autist, and his brain works differently from non-autistic people. Another famous autist described how she, and other autists, perceive the world as exact images, rather than abstractions.

The thing is, the potential is there, in every human brain. We just don't regularly use most of it...

They called him a "Savant". - ian-hill, Apr 3, 2011

Answer 4

I was going to comment on this, but I forgot what I was going to say.

Then maybe you should try drawing a picture like the man in the video. It didn't work for me, but maybe you will have better luck. :) - Nicole-B, Apr 3, 2011

Got to vote for that - in the original post I forgot the "b" in remembering. :) - ian-hill, Apr 3, 2011

Answer 5

Thanks for sharing this Ian. I watched an entire documentary about this man a few years ago. I think my mouth was open in astonishment the entire time. At that time, the amazement was over him drawing a building or a single cathedral after one view. But to draw the entire city of Rome like that is nothing short of amazing.

It just makes me wonder if these people are born with special gifts beyond our comprehension or are we all capable of doing magnificent things like this, but for whatever, reason, only using a very small portion of our brains?

Since the brain is still very much a mystery to scientists, it may take awhile to figure this out. I am especially interested in this because of a connection I have with the doctor studying superior autobiographical memory.

The brain is truly amazing!!

Yes, to do that the man must have a photographic memory Nicole :) - FELIZ77, Apr 4, 2011

Answer 6

Well, my brain couldn't do that, I think.

The closest experience I've had is learning piano music (I play classical piano). I can memorize a complex piano work of 5 minutes duration in less than a week of casual practice. I sometimes astonish myself when I realize it's a few thousand notes (or at least it seems like it).

In truth, I'm not seeing the notes. I'm seeing the patterns. The patterns sustain the notes. Some of the patterns are very "left-brain" and obvious, but many are probably not. I can only imagine that Steven applies learning and perceptions in ways we don't consciously recognize.

Those who play piano have a very special and perceptive left' right brain interface I am envious. - pacofinkler, Apr 3, 2011

We both play the piano and both from Philly. Maybe we can do a Skype duet sometime to entertain everyone. jeje - Nicole-B, Apr 3, 2011

Answer 7

The short answer is no. Not only can most people not remember, they don't really see what they are looking at in the first place. Pruning things like that is very useful for ordinary people since they are more concerned with other things.

Answer 8

if I could divide my brain into the spanish learning part and "el resto" there is not much there to divide in the first place, so we plod on!

Paco, use 1/2 for Spanish, 1/2 for English, and the last half for everything else, ¿que no? - cristalino, Apr 3, 2011

Que sí chris - pacofinkler, Apr 3, 2011

Answer 9

Gekko said:

The thing is, the potential is there, in every human brain. We just don't regularly use most of it.

I have been devoting about 99% of the portion of my brain that I do use to Spanish. Now if I could only figure out how to use the other 99% of my brain I would really be going places!

:-) :-) - Gekkosan, Apr 3, 2011

Answer 10

Yes, the brain is truly amazing! I wonder if autistic people are able to do these amazing things, because they (usually)aren't bothered by distractions... it's a thought anyway.

All I know is, there has been a study that theorizes that learning another language may help to keep a person from developing Alzheimers. Since my grandmother died from the disease, and now my mom has it.. I am a little concerned for myself. So, that is one of the reasons that I am now learning Spanish.