# Photographic memory

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographic-memory/101354>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 2, 2002, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographic-memory/101354 "2002-04-02T07:39:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographic-memory/101354/1 "2002-04-02T07:39:46Z")

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According to this site, there`s no such thing. Another myth shattered, but are they right?

[http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/aug97/866819368.Ns.r.html](http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/aug97/866819368.Ns.r.html)

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographic-memory/101354/2 "2002-04-02T08:43:14Z")

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I see nothing there that conflicts with what I thought everybody considered ‘photographic memory’ to be; simply an efficient way of organising memories.

My Maths teacher at school had ‘photographic memory’; she (claimed that she) could circle the page numbers of a text book with different coloured pens, then look at the pages, remembering their appearance (but not specifically reading anything _on_ the pages), then ‘turn and read’ the pages in her mind at a later date.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographic-memory/101354/3 "2002-04-02T08:45:49Z")

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Or to put it another way, my reading of that cite is that it’s saying “Hey, this car isn’t red, it’s only _painted_ red”.

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**Author:** ![femtosecond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@femtosecond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/femtosecond)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographic-memory/101354/4 "2002-04-02T11:18:21Z")

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[Is there such a thing as “photographic memory”?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000901.html)

> [@](#):
>
> We all have photographic memories, it’s just that some of us don’t have any film.

🙂

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**Author:** ![Joe\_Mahma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@Joe\_Mahma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Mahma)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographic-memory/101354/5 "2002-04-02T14:18:19Z")

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I had always heard that everyone has a photographic memeory, but some people don’t have any film in the camera \<g\>.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographic-memory/101354/6 "2002-04-02T14:37:59Z")

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Nice one **Joe** ; I can’t help thinking I’ve heard it somewhere before…

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**Author:** ![Kayeby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@Kayeby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kayeby)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographic-memory/101354/7 "2002-04-02T16:31:59Z")

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Wow, **mangetout** , you must have a photographic memory! 😃

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographic-memory/101354/8 "2002-04-02T20:22:31Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Kayeby \*  
> \*\*Wow, **mangetout** , you must have a photographic memory! 😃 \*\*

Yeah, **Joe** said it, but it was, like, as if it was right there on the page already. Spooky man.