Visualize Rolodex?

[SpeedAgent]

Does anyone else do this?

When I can't remember someone's name or the name of an old tv show, or a book, or a place, or a ___ I use a visual technique that I discovered for myself years ago. I will visualize an old style rolodex (the kind that has the business cards divided by the letter of the alphabet and rotates or spins) and I rotate the rolodex in my mind and concentrate on the individual letters of the alphabet as it turns. Sometimes it works immediately, but sometimes it can takes days.

My wife and I will be talking about something and neither of us can remember a name or tv show and my mind starts spinning the rolodex. Sometimes I can immediately blurt out the forgotten name, but other times I might blurt the name out days later in the middle of a conversation that is totally unrelated to the original discussion of the forgotten name. My wife thinks I'm odd, but knows I will always get it, even if it takes me several days.

For example; we might be sitting on the couch watching Money Ball and my wife will say "who was that moron that played outfield for the A's years ago?" Hmm, we both sit and think and my rolodex spins for the first letter of the player's first or last name. Maybe I come up with it then or I don't and we move on. Two days later the whole family is sitting at the dinner table talking about their day and I stop everyone and say "I got it, Jose Canseco! He was the dummy that played for the A's." "Ok, good job" my wife says somewhat condescendingly. I sometimes have to remind her about the original conversation since several days have gone by and she gave up on the thought 5 seconds after we had it.

Why do I do this? I know I concentrate on minute details too much too often. Does anyone else do anything similar to this?

Chris

 

[Cognisant]

Opening to the matrix.

 

[SpeedAgent]

Are you recommending I watch it or are you asking me to remember something from the Matrix for you?

 

[Cognisant]

If you can't remember the matrix from start to finish, you need to watch it again.

 

[intpz]

@Cognisant Why?

 

[Cognisant]

Because I cannot tell you what the matrix is, you must see it for yourself

 

[Velo]

Leaving the Matrix behind and jumping back to the original question:

Does anyone else do this?

When I can't remember someone's name or the name of an old tv show, or a book, or a place, or a ___ I use a visual technique that I discovered for myself years ago. I will visualize an old style rolodex (the kind that has the business cards divided by the letter of the alphabet and rotates or spins) and I rotate the rolodex in my mind and concentrate on the individual letters of the alphabet as it turns. Sometimes it works immediately, but sometimes it can takes days.

My experience is similar, but with the visual rolodex replaced by an audio track. In general, my memory for names and faces is horrible, but some alcove in my brain will retain an audio fragment of the name and keep replaying modifications of it until the answer hits. For example, Canseco might pop up as Can... or Con..., so Canfield, Conner, Constantinople, etc... will cycle through as guesses. Sometimes the answer comes piece by piece. It's almost like picking a lock and having the tumblers fall into place one at a time.

As you say, it might take seconds, minutes, or days. Answers that take days are really frustrating since the search is always lurking mentally. It doesn't matter what anyone's reaction is if I spit out the answer later, just so the answer has been found and my brain can return to its usual nonsense.

 

[intpz]

Because I cannot tell you what the matrix is, you must see it for yourself

I'm not asking you to tell me what it is, I'm asking you why one should watch it if he doesn't remember Matrix from the beginning to the end.

@Cognisant so why?

 

[Cognisant]

Because there is no spoon.

Have a cookie

 

[intpz]

Because there is no spoon.

Have a cookie

I can smell the idiocy of that argument a mile away.

 

[scorpiomover]

I have a mental filing cabinet.


Was thinking of making a library with index cards. But haven't gotten round to it.