Originally Posted by
Dumb All Over
Would you and Zooterkin agree with me that most people have the ability to memorize the lyrics to a song without needing to acquire special training and practice to do so?
I can only speak for myself. But, yeah.
Originally Posted by
Dumb All Over
Would you also agree with me that the two types of memory skills mentioned here, i.e. memorizing lyrics over any amount of time vs. memorizing the names, hometowns, and various other tidbits of thirty strangers to accurately recall within one hour, are different?
I don't know.
They seem to me as more of varying degrees of practice rather than different skills. That is, I know the lyrics of *lots* of songs. But, for the most part, I have to sing them - at least in my head - to get the lyrics to come to me. There is something about the connection with melody and cadence that make it easier to remember. Its the same with the myriad number strings I have memorized - bank account and credit card numbers, SS number, phone numbers, etc.... All of them have a particular cadence, and the cadence serves as a sort of mnemonic for me. I assume for others, too. And, I assume these sorts of memory tricksters are simply well versed in using mnemonics to help them remember things.