| I've had this in both directions. On the one hand, I cannot remember faces at all. I've spent a lot of time painting portraits, yet still cannot remember the faces of my friends and family. I also have a hard time comprehending audio speech when spoken at a normal talking speed. I need it sped up to be able to easily understand it. On the other, I realized recently that I have a sense of smell far exceeding that of a normal person. I can often smell scent trails of people, even distinguishing them from each other. It's like I'm following a "path" where I can tell they've walked. The other day I walked into the men's restroom and knew without even looking who was inside before I'd opened the door, then who was in each stall without checking shoes. I wasn't walking around sniffing, just walked in to wash my hands and had an errant thought that I needed to talk to Jim, and lo, here he was in stall two. This struck me as odd, so I started asking and realized that this is unusual. Likewise, I can remember a person's speaking voice so clearly as to be able to usually detect a person from a single word. And even actors I've only seen in one movie a decade ago, I'll pause a cartoon after a single sentence, then mentally flip through a voice match in my head before remembering where I've heard them before. I suspect both are this way because I have absolutely terrible vision from my father's side. It started when I was very little, yet due to some unusual circumstances I didn't get glasses for six months or so when I first needed them. I wonder if that time of near blindness while developing caused my brain to grow into these other senses as compensation. |