Ep. #37 – What If You Couldn’t Forget? – Jill Price, Hyperthymesia, Savants
Our memories don’t always work the way we wish they did. But most often, it’s because we can’t remember things. But what if your memory worked very differently than that? What if instead of being unable to remember – you were unable to forget? On this week’s episode of The What If? Podcast, we explore people with memories that work in strange and mysterious ways. Spencer tells the story of Derek Paravicini, a piano prodigy and autistic savant from the United Kingdom. Ryan tells the stories of Aurelian Hayman and Jill Price, just two of many people who remember nearly every detail of every day of their entire lives, and some details from other people’s lives too…
Hot Topics: It Gets Fuzzy Pretty Quick, Out To Beers, Muppet Treasure Island, Spencer Got Stabbed, Of Course Ryan Hasn’t Seen The Sixth Sense, Hoarding Memories, Total Recall, What Happens When We Forget?
Jill Price
Doctors coined a new condition for Jill Price. She has an incredible memory. Given a date, she can recall what day of the week it was. She can also recall what she did that day, what she was wearing, or what was on TV. However, this ability does not extend to historical events, or memorizing new information. In every other way, her memory is average or worse. Doctors named her condition Hyperthymesia, derived from Ancient Greek hyper- (“excessive”) and thymesis (“remembering”).
Derek Paravicini
Derek is a musical savant. Born 3.5 months early, Derek weighed just 1 pound, five ounces. He also has autism and is blind. After hearing a piece of music once, Derek can instantly replay the piece with amazing accuracy. He also has perfect pitch, meaning he can name or replay a musical note without any musical context.
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