# jobs for people with exceptional recall? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 11, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226 "2018-04-11T16:20:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_Peebles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Jim\_Peebles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_Peebles)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/1 "2018-04-11T16:20:54Z")
The recent raiding of Trump’s attorney’s office got me thinking: do law firms hire people with exceptional ability to recall things from their memory with no notes? If I am sufficiently engaged in something I can recall it in detail, even years later. So they could have had me sit in on meetings and had no document trail. I do need to be engaged in what is going on, but if they are paying me a lot I could find ways to stay engaged in even the most boring meetings. Or maybe some other industries pay people well to recall things with no notes? ---
**Author:** ![Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delicious)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/2 "2018-04-11T16:42:08Z")
I doubt any serious company would rely on a single person to remember important things, what if you quit/disapproved of their dodgy dealings? I’d suggest game show contestant. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/3 "2018-04-11T16:43:12Z")
I think some of us have recall abilities in very different areas. I tend to remember things like conversations and court proceedings in minute details while other things make no impression on me at all. Certain types of statistics tend to stick as well. I think this is pretty common with a lot of people. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_Peebles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Jim\_Peebles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_Peebles)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/4 "2018-04-11T16:45:50Z")
> [@Delicious](#): > > I doubt any serious company would rely on a single person to remember important things, what if you quit/disapproved of their dodgy dealings? > > I’d suggest game show contestant. Yeah, it occured to me you would want several eidetics per meeting. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/5 "2018-04-11T17:02:42Z")
[Professional Trivia Player.](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/14/christian-drummond-professional-trivia-player_n_2129178.html) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/6 "2018-04-11T17:11:25Z")
Restaurant server. There used to be a waitress at a restaurant we frequent who, starting from the second time we had her, remembered our names and our usual orders. Which, of course, meant that people preferred to sit in her section, and she usually got big tips. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/7 "2018-04-11T17:19:55Z")
The kind of job where it would be absolutely crucial, is usually the kind of job where it couldn’t be trusted anyway. Instead, go for jobs where it would make the hard parts of that job a lot easier. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/8 "2018-04-11T17:25:08Z")
Maybe there are industry organizations (of what industries I wouldn’t know) that would like to offer training sessions in effective use of memory. Could you be a presenter/trainer/whatever? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/9 "2018-04-11T17:41:55Z")
The point (for a lawyer) is less to be able to recite long stretches of conversation from memory then to be able to recall effortlessly relevant facts, case law, statutes, rulings, etc., and see how they all fit together. The same power of recall would help make a good scientist or writer or many other professions as well. Not to mention occupations like taxicab driver, postal worker, secretary… nearly anything creative, as opposed to robotic. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/10 "2018-04-11T17:57:57Z")
One of my fellow city council members seems to have an amazing memory. I wouldn’t say he’s the most conventionally intelligent of all of us (but he is smart), but he can remember names, faces, conversations and explanations like nobody’s business. As a “politician” myself (ugh, yeah) I am jealous of his abilities and I think it does make him quite well suited for the position. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/11 "2018-04-11T18:06:49Z")
There are so many possibilities… It might actually be easier to think of the kinds of work where there is hardly any information being dealt with, and avoid those because they’re not your style. But - any place with a dispatcher or similar organizer is another ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/12 "2018-04-11T18:09:46Z")
A Librarian used to need an amazing recall. My highschool librarian had an crazy-smart memory. You could ask her a question and before the sentence was out of your mouth, she had written 3 references on a piece of note paper. Now they look it up on computor. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/13 "2018-04-11T18:19:26Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I wouldn’t say he’s the most conventionally intelligent of all of us… 😃 You really **ARE** a politician, aren’t you. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/14 "2018-04-11T18:36:02Z")
Fair Witness. Unfortunately the job is fictional. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/15 "2018-04-11T18:56:20Z")
London taxi drivers - [here](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/t-magazine/london-taxi-test-knowledge.html) is an interesting article about the tremendous amount of information they need to memorize (25,000 streets and countless business and landmarks), which states: > [@](#): > > Eleanor Maguire, a neuroscientist at University College London…has discovered that the posterior hippocampus, the area of the brain known to be important for memory, is bigger in London taxi drivers than in most people ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/16 "2018-04-11T18:57:29Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > 😃 > > You really **ARE** a politician, aren’t you. 😉 I have the best words! ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/17 "2018-04-11T19:27:44Z")
I would think an agency like the FBI or CIA could find a use for someone with those qualities. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/18 "2018-04-11T19:44:20Z")
Bards. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/19 "2018-04-11T19:48:27Z")
Having extremely good recall would make any job with a mental component easier, but since it’s so rare, no serious job is predicated around people having that talent. In fact, we measure civilization (to the extent we do) partially by how much people in a given society _don’t_ need exceptional recall, by looking at how prevalent written matter (including papyrus, clay tablets, paper, and digital sources) is in that society, and how many people can make use of it. Exceptional memory, like archery and long-distance running and flint-knapping, has gone from being socially vital to being a pass-time, an entertainment, and it’s compensated as such. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226/20 "2018-04-11T21:02:41Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > One of my fellow city council members seems to have an amazing memory. I wouldn’t say he’s the most conventionally intelligent of all of us (but he is smart), but he can remember names, faces, conversations and explanations like nobody’s business. As a “politician” myself (ugh, yeah) I am jealous of his abilities and I think it does make him quite well suited for the position. The late Mayor/Senator/Vice President Hubert Humphrey had an amazing memory for faces & names. He was famed for meeting people once, and being able to remember their name the next time they met. And he met hundreds of people every year. He also was good at recovering when he mis-remembered. He once called my uncle George ‘John’, when corrected, he said, “oh, that’s you brother…”, “No, John’s my nephew” my uncle said. But afterwards he said that Hubert remembered my name, even though he actually made 2 incorrect attempts at the name. This ability stood HHH well in all his campaigns. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jobs-for-people-with-exceptional-recall/812226.md?page=2)