Why is a memory for minutiae considered weird?

[Anacardo]

I have an excellent memory for random details. In my experience, the demonstration of this can prove unsettling to others in certain situations. Example: The other day I rebutted someone's claim about their health on the basis of something they'd said to someone else over a year ago. (Let's consider logical weaknesses unimportant.) This was mixed company; they and a couple others present were a little weirded out that I would notice and remember something like this. Can anybody come up with a sound psychological explanation for this?

[dylan's alias]

Your example freaks people out because it proves that you are actually paying attention when they speak. This sets an incredibly dangerous precedent. Many people spew random [censored] constantly in an effort to fill the air with the melodious sound of their own voices. They barely have any idea what they are saying, so the thought that you could call them out for contradicting themselves a year later must be terrifying.

[matt2500]

I agree with dylan. You have shown people that you pay attention.

Heck, I was at a bar tonight, and a girl I had a conversation with like five months ago was sitting next to me talking to someone else. I remembered her because she was a very talkative, outgoing girl, and after about a half an hour sitting next to me, she tapped me on the shoulder, and said 'hey, I know you,' and then more or less picked up the conversation we'd had months before. She remembered that I'd lived in the city she was born in, she knew where I'd gone to school, etc. She even remembered the guy who'd introduced us, and told me a funny story about how he later tried to tell all his buddies that she'd been hitting on him (she's a very obvious, and outspoken, lesbian).

I give this example because Anacardo gave a personal example about remembering minutiae about an individual. I honestly don't think this is weird at all.

Now what is really weird is someone like me, who can remember crossword puzzles I did eight months ago. That [censored] is weird.

[disjunction]

It's easy to overestimate your own memory though. Because you remember the stuff you remember, and you don't remember the stuff that other people remember and you don't. If that makes sense.

[evil twin]

[ QUOTE ]
Your example freaks people out because it proves that you are actually paying attention when they speak. This sets an incredibly dangerous precedent. Many people spew random [censored] constantly in an effort to fill the air with the melodious sound of their own voices. They barely have any idea what they are saying, so the thought that you could call them out for contradicting themselves a year later must be terrifying.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, nice answer right off the bat there.

[Los Feliz Slim]

Memory is a pretty good indicator of intelligence. Most people aren't very intelligent. Most people don't remember a lot of stuff, and are thus impressed and slightly intimidated by people who do. Also, since most people don't remember these things, people who do are "different". "Normal" people like to point out people who are different and say they are weird.

[cbloom]

[ QUOTE ]
It's easy to overestimate your own memory though. Because you remember the stuff you remember, and you don't remember the stuff that other people remember and you don't. If that makes sense.

[/ QUOTE ]

True dat. I know people who think they have an excellent memory, but that's just because they so completely forget the things they forget that they don't even realize they forgot them.

[russellmj]

I don't think it's weird at all. My boss has the ability to recall in detail conversations we had 15 years ago. His memory is astonishing. He's also probably the smartest person I know.

[Big Poppa Smurf]

I don't think this is weird at all. I am extremely good at remembering certain things, like names and faces, conversations I've had with people, etc. It bothered me for years that other people couldn't remember my name as easily as I could theirs, but then I realized that I was just really good at it. However I also apparently have forgotten events so completely that I don't even remember forgetting them, so there's alays that.

So in summary I really don't think that this is weird at all.

[mjkidd]

Most people simply can't remember such details. The same sort of thing has happened to me a number of times. A lot of times people are wierded out because they thing "OMG the only way this person could remember that is if he is obsessed with me."

For the longest time, when people couldn't remember something I said, I thought they were either not paying attention or deliberatly lying about not remembering. Now I realize that most people just don't/can't remember coversations like I do.