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Meet Bill

By omnibrain on December 8, 2006.

i-43bd4bd59ddfe78e652a59f1e2d1a799-billpic.jpg
Meet Bill,
He was born prosopagnosic and he has an online "book" all about his condition.
I haven't had a chance to read much of it but it seems pretty interesting.

I was born with a condition that makes it difficult for me to recognize faces. There is a small part of the brain that is dedicated to that job, and though it is small, when it comes to recognizing faces, it is very very good. In me, that part doesn't work, making me blind to all but the most familiar of faces. To help you understand this, let me compare it to two conditions you are probably more familiar with.

People who are "tone deaf" are not deaf to tones. They can hear tones, they just can't tell them apart. People who are "color blind" can see things that are in color. They just can't tell colors apart. Similarly, I can see faces. I just can't tell them apart.

The main impact of this is, of course, that I find it much harder to recognize people than most people do. I have my ways, but they are slower and more tedious to use than the face method I lack.

Here's Bill's online book.

Tags
Psychology

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Sometimes I wonder if I might have a touch of that myself. It's not that I don't recognize faces per se, but I have the Devil's own time recognizing them out of context. If I don't know you really well and am not expecting to see you - at the store, for instance - I just might walk right past you without recognizing you.

I had a really embarrassing moment with it about 15 years ago when I was working as a bank teller. An older man came in who looked vaguely familiar, but I honestly didn't recognize him until he came up to my window and said hello. And this was someone I'd been seeing in Sunday school and church every Sunday for 5 years!

I've gotten so I joke about it when it happens. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so bad with names and faces, I only recognize myself 2 out of 3 times." That generally gets over the awkwardness. But I can't imagine just flat-out not recognizing people's faces at all!

How about a link to the book?

By anomalous4 (not verified) on 08 Dec 2006 #permalink

argh... oops I keep forgetting to put a link! hahah thanks.

www.prosopagnosia.com also has some information about the condition, and some interactive tests as well, so you can find out how good you are at recognizing faces.