Talk:List of people claimed to possess an eidetic memory

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Spencer Reid[edit]

Isn't there another category for fictional characters? -> Shouldn't Spencer Reid be put there?--83.20.72.28 (talk) 10:35, 26 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There's a link on the page already to the list of fictional characters.

I don't think fictional characters should be in the same category as real people. Remove "Sheldon Cooper". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.70.53.85 (talk) 04:19, 10 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Citations?[edit]

Question: I've heard this claimed for 1) John Von Neumann 2) Isaac Asimov 3) Marilu Henner. Can anyone confirm any of those? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.148.182.244 (talk) 23:51, 15 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Criteria?[edit]

I've some generally questions about how much detail should be put in and some general ground rules questions-

Is page for just people who have personally claimed that they have an eidetic memory?

My understanding of eidetic memory is that people with it can forget nothing, so examples that say 'X memorised one book' seem (although impressive) to be a skill for memorisation rather than eidetic memory - should such examples be removed?'

Failedwizard (talk) 21:04, 18 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Temple Grandin?[edit]

24.162.243.177 (talk) 12:16, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Napoleon Bonaparte?[edit]

From his page: "He had a photographic memory for facts, people, events, numbers, military units, and maps. He devoured statistical information and reports, memorized maps, and had a perfect recall of a fantastic stock of information. " — Preceding unsigned comment added by Solistrum (talk • contribs) 16:59, 21 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding Tesla[edit]

I would question the source(s) of the information about Tesla. There appears to have been an orchestrated effort to distort history and elevate a man with severe mental and emotional illness to a posthumous status of intellectual genius.

There is no evidence within any branch of electrical engineering (in which I hold two degrees dating back over 30 years) that Tesla had made any major contributions to the field. Every single "invention" of Tesla's had been developed by others many years earlier. Tesla's only talent, it seems, was in proclaiming himself to be a genius - and fooling others into believing him.

Where are Tesla's original writings? Where are the documents proving "Tesla's" inventions were his ideas? He is credited with 111 U.S. patents (re-patented in other countries, giving him over 300 patents world wide). However, almost all of these patents were crude, clumsy attempts to make incremental improvements on major inventions by real scientists. Virtually none of Tesla's patents are of any value today. How convenient to declare (after the fact, and with no way to validate the claim) that Tesla had an eidetic memory, and therefore "didn't need to document" his inventions before building them!

Tesla held no college degrees, although he did audit lectures at the University of Graz for a year. Tesla himself claims to have aced his "nine exams" in the first year at Graz. However, there is no evidence this is true. There is only Tesla's autobiography to declare it so.

Similarly, there is no hard evidence that Tesla spoke eight languages fluently. He was illiterate in Czech. His English was broken (at best), and there would have been no one around to challenge Tesla's own claims 120 years ago. Those few immigrants from Hungary, Austria, or Croatia would not have been fluent in any other language, and those born in New Jersey or New York at the time Tesla lived there (and ran afoul of Edison) would not have been fluent in any language other than English. Olsonjs444 (talk) 21:32, 23 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Suggested addition: Paul Morphy (can someone find valid sources?)[edit]

Paul Morphy, the New Orleans chess prodigy from 1849-1863, U.S. Champion from 1857-1871, was documented to have been able to play at grandmaster levels of competition while unable to see the chess board (either blindfolded or sequestered in an adjacent room with no board or pieces). Was declared world chess champion (unofficial) after beating most of the greatest players in Europe at the ripe old age of 20. Olsonjs444 (talk) 21:32, 23 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Two but who?[edit]

The article says that only two people were proven to have eidetic memory, but doesn't mention who. 24.37.29.254 (talk) 20:28, 17 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Photographic vs. Eidetic[edit]

This page should be renamed so that it uses "photographic memory" rather than "eidetic memory". Eidetic images generally don't exist in adults[1] and it isn't the same thing as photographic memory, which is a popular culture concept that science claims doesn't actually exist. Let99 (talk) 18:16, 11 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]


I'm beginning to get confused by exactly what the two phrases mean in a precise scientific sense. My dictionaries sometimes contradict each other, and sometimes equate the two. I actually HAVE the sort of memory that works by eidetic image; when someone asks me how to get from A to B, I look at a map and trace over the route with my finger - but I don't have to go and fetch the map, and my finger just waves around in the air, because I'm looking at the photographic image of the map that is contained in my head. However, my memory is not PERFECT in this regard. If I look at a page of a book for a random split second, yes, I'll have a photographic image of the page in my head, but a lot of it will be blurred and I'll only have odd bits and the occasional short sentence of it word-perfect. I'll get some other bits of it sort-of nearly right, and some bits will be entirely missing. On the other hand, once that image is there, complete or not, perfect or not - it stays there. I can still mentally bring up pages from books I have not read since I was eight, and quote from them verbatim; I'm now forty-three. (I can't quote the entire books verbatim. I'm not THAT good.) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.126.126.214 (talk) 23:34, 27 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Fictional characters[edit]

Why is Sheldon Cooper listed in there? If fictional characters make any list it should be in a separate section. I don't think fictional characters should count. But if you are adding them then I can list a couple dozen from the Horus heresy novels. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.182.204.242 (talk) 04:19, 12 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Fictional people should not be listed here. I removed Sheldon. Richard-of-Earth (talk) 08:12, 12 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Sheldon Cooper was added again. To repeat what I said in the edit summary, ultimately including fictional characters will lead to dozens of entries that will be difficult to verify and difficult to judge who should and should not be on the list. It is going to start with must have a citation and this one for Sheldon does not. See WP:LISTCRITERIA. The article for Sheldon mentions he has an eidetic memory, but the citation given does not support it. The citation is a The Big Bang Theory episode and I just spent 20 minutes trying to verify it, so this is what allowing fictional characters is going to lead to. As entertaining such a list would be we need a bunch of volunteer editors to maintain whose time could be better spent elsewhere on the project. Richard-of-Earth (talk) 19:04, 24 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
I agree. Thanks for clarifying. Martinevans123 (talk) 19:28, 24 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Category[edit]

This article has one Category - Category:Lists of people by physical attribute, which is obviously wrong. Any ideas on how to correct? Martinevans123 (talk) 17:34, 14 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Martinevans123:, it may be wrong, but not obviously wrong. Eidetic memory could be a considered a physical attribute and there is no Category:Lists of people by mental attribute. However, I am happy to consider alternatives, like moving to up the category tree to Category:Lists of people. We could also moving it to or add it to Category:Lists of superlatives (since eidetic memory is a sort of perfect memory). Do you have any suggestions? Richard-of-Earth (talk)

My Inventions Nikola Tesla[edit]

Carlo 7972 tried to add he claimed in his book "my inventions" to be able to "recite pages of text and complex mathematical formulae", and also claimed to be able to recall various events from his childhood, as if they were a film playing in his head. We have a Wikipedia article My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla. It was not a book, but a series of articles that can be found and searched at archive.org. I did not find anything about recalling his childhood, but did find the quote. I am not sure, but he seems to be discussing a particular incident, not an ongoing ability. Perhaps others would like to have a look at it and give opinions. Richard-of-Earth (talk) 05:43, 7 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Ratio[edit]

one woman? really? 165.91.13.10 (talk) 23:06, 29 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

It's not an exhaustive list. Do you have a suggestion of someone who has a Wikipedia article? Sundayclose (talk) 23:37, 29 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Clearly needs more research. Jamesmcardle(talk) 04:34, 31 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
@Jamesmcardle: I don't disagree with you, but this is "the encyclopedia that anyone can edit". Do you have a suggestion of someone who has a Wikipedia article? Sundayclose (talk) 14:09, 31 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, I added Winnie Bamara some time back and I agree with the anonymous comment by 165.91.13.10 that this gender imbalance seems odd given recent research. A recent study of relevance to the gender question not mentioned here is Khanam, Mahfuza. "Age and gender as factors in visual photographic memory." Dhaka University Journal of Biological Sciences (2021): 385-392.
Others with claims to the ability are New Yorker Louise Owens (no WP entry) a violinist, and Marilu Henner, actress, in Stahl, Lesley. (Don Hewitt). (2010, December 19). Endless Memory [60 Minutes]. New York, NY: Central Broadcasting Service. Another claim is for Beth Levine, a cellular biologist, also not mentioned; https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(20)30867-9.pdf Lucy Shapiro in interview claims she has "an eidetic memory, so if I see a page or write something down, it’s like taking a photograph. I can also move molecules around in three-dimensional space easily and see them," at https://www.jci.org/articles/view/131492 Jamesmcardle(talk) 04:23, 1 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
@Jamesmcardle: Henner doesn't claim to have eidetic memory. She has hyperthymesia, which is distinctly different. Thanks for the other suggestions of people who have Wikipedia articles. Feel free to add them to the article. Sundayclose (talk) 15:04, 1 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Done√ Neuroscience is certainly not my discipline as it must be in your case, but an interest, so reading papers that show equal, or nearly equal ratios across the genders of people with this ability, I'm puzzled that not more women have been identified. Jamesmcardle(talk) 22:58, 1 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
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