A minor question about faceblindness...
Nov. 10th, 2005 12:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conuly
You've all heard by now my story about the time I failed to recognize my own niece and brother-in-law, right?
Other than that one time, I haven't ever had such a bad experience. The next worst times were when it took a couple of seconds (rather than a quarter minute) to identify my sister - and at the time, she was changing her hairstyle often, dying it, cutting it, and so on, so I don't consider that too unusual.
However, I've been thinking on this lately, and I've noticed that it does take me several beats to recognize that I don't know somebody. I see my mother, I know she's my mother - but I see a random woman with hair kinda like hers, or something, and it takes me a little bit to say "nope, not Mommy!"
Is that normal, or...?
Other than that one time, I haven't ever had such a bad experience. The next worst times were when it took a couple of seconds (rather than a quarter minute) to identify my sister - and at the time, she was changing her hairstyle often, dying it, cutting it, and so on, so I don't consider that too unusual.
However, I've been thinking on this lately, and I've noticed that it does take me several beats to recognize that I don't know somebody. I see my mother, I know she's my mother - but I see a random woman with hair kinda like hers, or something, and it takes me a little bit to say "nope, not Mommy!"
Is that normal, or...?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-11-10 05:30 am (UTC)So embarassing.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-10 12:12 pm (UTC)But actually, sometimes when I do recognise someone I haven't seen in a long time, it's more like... this feeling. And I got that with this one kid whom I haven't seen since we went on a study abroad together three plus years ago. I only saw him really briefly--barely saw his face--the other day, and I was sure it was him. And then he came by again yesterday, and we both looked at each other confused, and I said, "Shakespeare study abroad?!" And he said, "YES!" But I wouldn't have said if he hadn't looked at me like that.
But he had done the courtesy of not having changed his hair. I once (in HS) had an entire conversation with my 6th grade science teacher, and I had NO idea it was her until she walked away. She'd changed her hair so radically, and I was just CONFUSED.