INTPs and forgetfulness

[TPol]

Einstein was supposedly an INTP, and reports say that he was often absent-minded. I would assume that entails forgetfulness. My question of my fellow INTPs is, "what kinds of things do you forget?" I ask because I don't feel as sharp upstairs as I once was, and I'm not exactly ancient enough to have the typical elderly forgetfulness. It is starting to really bug me that in the course of a normal conversation, I'll forget really simple words and be struck silent in trying to sort through my mind's files for either THAT appropriate word or an equivalent. By simple, I mean something like "elephant" or "lamp." Can't exactly find an equivalent for such words so I end up describing what it looks like so the other person can figure out to what I'm referring. Admittedly, I rarely talk and, when I'm writing, I don't have this problem. So, it could very well be some kind of mental block when speaking. And, it could have something to do with my having almost daily headaches and a lack of sleep that is wearing me down.

However, it does raise the question about what sorts of things INTPs normally forget and when an INTP should be concerned that it is not just a quirk of his/her personality. How will we know when we're going senile? ;)

[ApeTheDog]

I think as you get older, you get more relaxed. It's that way for me, anyway. I don't sweat things much anymore, problems that seemed so big in the past seem less of a problem now than they did, and I need to be less vigilant and aware now than I did 5 years ago, when I didn't know anything.

Maybe that is the real cause why we get more forgetful as we get older. Because we don't have to use our reasoning skills to figure out the world anymore, rather we do it more from memory, we don't use them as much and it becomes harder to summon them at will, when it's necesary. For example to describe something with the correct word.

But really, it's not your responsability to figure out you've gone senile - let other people worry about that and tell you when it's so.

[SheepDog]

When I'm taking in new information, I often skim over the names of things, since I'm focusing on the concepts, relationships, etc. That is, I don't pay so much attention to the names of things. So it's no surprise that later when I talk about them, I forget what everything is called.

But I also forget the names of things like lamps and elephants, and also do the description thing you do. I just don't think in words that way, so sometimes the translation of thoughts to words doesn't happen correctly, or at least not very quickly. That's strange for some people to understand, since what I'm really saying is that I don't think in language.

Ideas like this will sometimes show up here in the Philosophy and Spirituality forum. Recently, somebody posted something about how a word was not the same thing as the thing it represented. I see this as a philosophical distinction, but I often wonder if some MBTI types are more likely to think that way than others. I have a theory that it takes a strong-ish P to do so, but I don't want to jump to any conclusions. ;)

[nomir_dva]

I'm pathologically absent-minded. I forget words constantly (and when I forget a word, it torments me to the point that I get out of bed at 2:00 to look it up). I forget to answer e-mails. I constantly lose my train of thought. I lose keys and pens. If I stop concentrating on an uninteresting activity for ten seconds, I forget all about it and start thinking about unrelated things until something reminds me that I was doing something important (but by then, of course, I've forgotten what it is). And this is all at the age of eighteen.

And yet, I remember enormous amounts of utterly useless information from years ago. I can still set up the game board for Axis & Allies even though I haven't played the game in many years and had not thought about it until a few days ago.

[Crazy]

Yes, I'm forgetful. I often have to stop and search hard for a word that is quite simple. Also, dates, appointments, and other such scheduling type things often slip my mind. And I always forget to bring something somewhere.

[joecancer]

Part of it is choosing what is important to remember. If something is important to me, I will remember it. But most details really aren't that important to me, so I choose to devote my brain power to pursuits other than simply remembering.
Part of it is also that I often don't acquire the information in the first place, because rather than listening or paying attention to what's going on around me, I'm in my own head thinking of something else. My wife often says I forget things she told me, when really I wasn't paying any attention in the first place.
So either way, it comes down to this: we don't remember because we don't want to remember.

[DeadDove]

With me I wouldn't call it forgetfulness since I always seem to remember things that my co-workers forget. I have a great attention span for knowing what needs to get done and when yet my mind wonders constantly to other tasks when I'm doing something. If I'm reading a book, a thought will come up in my head and I'll continue to "read" and play with that thought in my head and look back and realize I have no idea what I just "read" because I was too busy entertaining another thought. To me, forgetfulness is knowing ahead of time you have something to do, and when the time comes to doing it, just forgetting about it. And that is not me at all, I'm always on top of the things that I know have to get done. But absent minded I definately can be.

[Rhu]

Also, dates, appointments, and other such scheduling type things often slip my mind. And I always forget to bring something somewhere.
I forget routine things all the time, myself. It has gotten to the point that I just simply take it for granted--I'm going to show up wherever I go not having done something. I'll get in the car and say something along the lines of, "Well, I hope whatever I forgot is trivial."

I also forget to eat and drink at times, especially when there is something consuming my interest. This has caused things to get uncomfortable for me in the past. Stopping for a second to realize that the reason I'm having trouble thinking might be because I haven't eaten in over a day or coming to the realization that my heart is racing because I've got insufficient blood to pump are both things that have happened to me before.

Though not finding a word for something common? I can't say that has happened to me.

Edit: I forgot to call you losers for forgetting words. Losers.

[joecancer]

You can go a whole day and forget to eat? Wow. That is impressive, even for an INTP.

[Neppy]

Hey, I've forgotten to eat quite a few times, haha.

I don't know if this is sheer forgetfulness or my Asperger's or what, but whenever I see my friends I'll end up telling them the same things I told them a few weeks ago. They'll just say "yeah Emma, you tell us every single time!" and I'll say "what, I do? Crap..."

I have a horrendous memory and I just don't remember details. I'll remember numbers but I'm pretty bad when it comes to names or what a place/person looked like.

I've had difficulty remembering words too. When I'm trying to recall a word I'll flap my hands and go "errr" continuously until my brain finally locates it. I'm basically as scatterbrained as one can get and I'm pretty well known for it. :unsure:

Maybe part of the problem is that, like most INTPs, my mind is constantly elsehwere, so I don't tend to take in the visual/audible information around me. We'll be driving and my mum will suddenly snap "is that road clear, Emma?" and I'll be startled and just bark "yes!" back at her.

Ah well, I don't really mind. :D I'd much rather be absorbed in my own thoughts than rely completely on my surroundings.

[joecancer]

I don't remember much about my childhood. i think my wife has heard the same four or five stories at least 100 times now. I feel like I've never told the story before, but obviously she remembers.

[geniusndisguise]

My husband and I once took a ride two hours away to give a cd to a videographer. When we got there we realized we left it on the table at home. "You don't have it?" "No! I thought you had it!" We're always doing that.

I also forget words frequently. Sometimes they are very simple words. More often, though, they are adjectives because sometimes I try to be very specific.

That reading thing that DeadDove was talking about I do ALL THE TIME! I swear I could read a book way faster if I could stop my head from going off on a tangent. I've found myself needing to re-read a paragraph, or a whole page, four or five times before I actually pay attention.

[SheepDog]

... My wife often says I forget things she told me, when really I wasn't paying any attention in the first place.My wife says this too. I'm starting to think she is making it up...or is she?!?


The reading thing is big with me, too. Some books in particular spin my thoughts off into all sorts of directions. I have one book that I have been trying to read for months. It's interesting, but I always seem to go off on tangents when reading it.

[Blue]

Apparrently we have a significantly higher then average concentraition of ADD in the INTP group. I remember reading somewhere that "limited auditory memory" was a symptom of ADD. Then again, I never really answered the question about why there is correlation with a classification that has no proven biological source (MBTI).
http://forums.intpcentral.com/showthread.php?t=2617&page=6

I have the same problem with reading. I even used the same wording in my blog about continualy reading tangents off the page. As far as forgetting words - Yes!

+Blue

[coffeezombie]

I definitely have ADD when it comes to remembering people's names, small talk, etc. I have a definite information filter that filters out what I unconsciously consider "useless information," even if it happens to actually be important information such as a VIP's name.

[SheepDog]

I definitely have ADD when it comes to remembering people's names, small talk, etc. I have a definite information filter that filters out what I unconsciously consider "useless information," even if it happens to actually be important information such as a VIP's name.
I don't think that's ADD. But I think that concept is GROSSLY overapplied.

I do the same thing, and I definitely do not have ADD. I have trouble with the term "very important person".

[Blue]

As far as ADD, I'm a little skeptical as well since I don't really understand the mechanisms. I've been diagnosed with it though.

I remember the conversation with the girl before my final. I'm awful with face recognition.
Blue: Hi
Girl: Hi
A moment passes.
Blue: Were we talking over there a few days ago? (Waves in general direction of the quad.)
Girl: Where?
Blue: There, the grass, by the cafeteria.
Girl: I don't remember, it's possible.
Blue: Ah,...

People I've known for years, family - can't assosiate names with faces or faces with names.

+Blue

Edit: But I can remember caffine's chemical name is trimethylxanthine.

[coffeezombie]

I don't think that's ADD. But I think that concept is GROSSLY overapplied.

I know that's not ADD. I was being facetious. I don't care if I trivialize it for people who do have ADD.

[SheepDog]

I know that's not ADD. I was being facetious. I don't care if I trivialize it for people who do have ADD.
I believe you.

[abathur]

I can't remember names until I know the person well enough to want to remember, but I, on the other hand, rarely forget a face. I'll run into people I haven't seen in 10-15 years and recognize them (being only 21, these people have grown up since I last saw them. People who have no-freaking-clue who I am until I can explain, but I recognize them almost instantly.

As far as forgetting things, what to do, etc: all the time. As much as I detest "routines" and the like, a routine is frequently the only way I can remember to get things done, and when my routine gets unexpectedly disturbed I often start dropping the ball and missing things I need to get done.

[Geek Engineer]

I'm pathologically absent-minded. I forget words constnatly (and when I forget a word, it torments me to the point that I get out of bed at 2:00 to look it up). I forget to answer e-mails. I constantly lose my train of thought. I lose keys and pens. If I stop concentrating on an uninteresting activity for ten seconds, I foget all about it and start thinking about unrelated things until something reminds me that I was doing something important (but by then, of course, I've forgotten what it is). And this is all at the age of eighteen.

And yet, I remember enormous amounts of utterly useless information from years ago. I can still set up the gameboard for Axis & Allies though I haven't played the game in many years and have not thought about it until a few days ago.

Ha Ha.. Ditto.. My mom always called me the "absent minded professor." when I was growing up. She still does every once in a while to this day when I forget something basic.

[tinribz]

Names with me too. People I see every day and talk to but if they ring up I can't remember their name if I have to pass over the phone. I have a vivid image of them in my mind and it would be stupid for me to have to describe them as the person who usually sits next to me. "Its someone for you". Of course moments later it is so obvious.

I put it down to poor connections between the left and right parts of the brain or at least those associated with images and those with language where ever you store names. I certainly do most of my thinking in images.

Memory is a weird thing, like when you try to remember a list of objects, you will get the first and last ones but lose it in the middle. Yet when you look at the list again you say “oh yeah I remember that one now”. Or do you?

When learning I can't remember anything unless I understand it completely inside out. And then it is with me forever, no half way measures. Traditional parrot fashion learning of say formulas to calculate the sides of an isosceles triangle was completely lost on me at school. It wasn't until I more or less worked out the formulas for myself that they suddenly made sense.

[nottaprettygal]

I used to forget to eat all of the time. Then again, that could have just been the aneroxia talking.

I've gotten a little better with names by repeating someone's name right after I meet them. I'll try to bring up their name in the coversation. People like that. But often if I'm telling a story I cannot come up with a person's name. It's not that I don't know it...I just can't recall it.

I usually don't forget that I have to be somewhere, but I always forget to bring whatever it is I was supposed to bring with me. My most recent experience with this was forgetting to bring my calculator (that was sitting on the table with all the stuff I remembered to bring) to my micro exam today. Not fun at all. Luckily I didn't actually know how to do any of the problems, so it didn't matter.

Annnnd...It only took 1.5 pages to turn this into an ADD thread. 'Cause you're not cool, unless you can clip another disorder to your belt.

[the_stumpycat]

I don't think I am forgetful at all - in fact i think I have a very good memory.

I tend to forget names, and forget to pay bills or forget to turn up places I should be - but I think its more a case of not seeing these things as important - somewhere I know them and can remember but I almost chose not to .

[psychic hygiene]

I think my short term memory turns into scrambled eggs due to my appalling lack of a reliable sensory memory component. My fleeting sensory memory only ever provides me, at best, with a "general overview" making retrieving any initial fine details virtually impossible to do. In a way, this "general overview" is only making itself aware of chunks/concepts of the situation e.g. I become aware that I'm being introduced to an adult or a child etc and this is the extent of the specific detail my brain initially holds. My main weakness is in recalling people's names (including my kids) and also when I'm under a little stress/or physically tired, or have been off exploring one of my mind tangents, it seems to be in these situations that I tend to misplace the names for common items, as you have described TPol.

[MistWraith]

I'm not forgetful, I just pretend I am, to get out of obligations, or to just be plain lazy.

I'm absent-minded, but even when I'm in a daze, I tend to soak up everything around me. I remember it later on.

[Nadiar]

I can't remember names until I know the person well enough to want to remember, but I, on the other hand, rarely forget a face. I'll run into people I haven't seen in 10-15 years and recognize them (being only 21, these people have grown up since I last saw them. People who have no-freaking-clue who I am until I can explain, but I recognize them almost instantly.

I can't remember faces of people I know. Take a picture of two people, and put them side by side, and I will be able to tell you why they're different, but not apart. Generally I identify people only by their hair, skin tone, and any outstanding characteristics.

As for general forgetfulness, I don't think I'm overly forgetful. I still 'remember' everything. Its more like absent minded-ness. I set something to a low priority and forget to come back to it.

[TPol]

Wow, gang...thank you for all of the responses. I am not as close to senility as I'd feared. ;) I'll think more about your responses when I'm more awake, but my initial thoughts are that the comments here about a mind not necessarily thinking in language is probably the most accurate for what is going on for me. I do think in images much more than I do language. Even when I do think in language, I often see the words scrolling through my brain rather than hear my own voice in my head, as I've heard others describe for their own thinking. More later.

[attila_the_hunny]

I like to think that the things I "forget" aren't that important to remember.

[sbw]

I like to think that the things I "forget" aren't that important to remember.

me too, but the people around me tend to disagree.

Scott

[TPol]

me too, but the people around me tend to disagree.
Scott

* nods * In a business setting, understanding the group's language and being able to speak it by remembering words & speaking them fluently seems to be important....ahem...rather than using my picture-language and sculpting things in the air with my hands on imaginary clay, then stopping long enough to see the blank looks on their faces. I guess that's part of the reasoning behind my starting this thread. It sort of relates to a previous thread I started, too:
http://forums.intpcentral.com/showthread.php?t=7498

I guess I'm sticking out as SUCH an oddity in the business world that I've started pondering if there's something wrong with my brain or whether it traces back to being an INTP or something else of which I haven't thought. Reading the responses here, I am realizing that truly it is kind of a language and/or brain difference. Fascinating.

[attila_the_hunny]

me too, but the people around me tend to disagree.

Scott

Well, then, you should just forget them. :)

[TPol]

Tee hee...well, unless they are paying his salary. ;)

[pangolin]

INTPs are more likely to remember relational data, and more likely to forget factual or 'incidental' data until it becomes well attached to some sort of relational scheme.

I'm not certain, but I think INTP's are more visually oriented, but that could just be me.

I don't usually remember people's names until I know something else significant about them, for which I might wish to speak with them later.

I don't forget faces generally though, particularly if I've had some brief conversation with them.

I also have more difficulty coming up with words when speaking as opposed to writing, and occasionally get a complete block on an ordinary word.

Someone else up the thread mentioned limited auditory memory. That would really apply to me as well. I seldom remember things spoken, unless I stop and associate them in my head, which of course one can't do during the course of a normal conversation. That would probably also explain forgetting things you had told other people.

I also rely on routines to remember to do some things. In particular I have a sequence of moves that I do as I'm parking and exiting my car. If it gets significantly interrupted, or interrupted at the wrong time, I often wind up leaving my lights on.

I also do the mind wandering thing when engaging in a task or reading. Happens a *lot* at work. Fortunately, I think I'm otherwise swift enough at my work to make up for the random pauses, and there are frequent enough external stimuli to alert me back into the normal flow of time. =)

[waxwing]

Letsee.

I occasionally put my keys in the freezer.
I cannot remember the difference between the names Jeff and Greg.
I have put milk on my bookshelf and left it there for a whole day.
I must return to my place of employment nearly every day because I inevitably leave without something I would not like to wait till the next day to retrieve.
Oh, a few days ago I forgot whether I had short hair or long hair even though I cut my hair months ago. I went to twirl my hair down past my shoulders and ended up twirling air.
I forget the words for prepositions, so consistently say things like, "You know, like the space in the middle!" (looking for "between" here)
At least once a week I pour juice onto the bottom of cups, but mostly only when I'm really tired.
I cannot recall even close friends' faces in my mind, so make them up (completely fictional) til we meet again. I mean, sometimes when my mom goes away for the weekend I forget the shape of her face or something. Sadness, I tell you.

[Blue]

I wonder how that is? I consider myself visual spatial but the shape of a persons face just will not stick. Seems like it would be more then just lack of interest.

+Blue

[JustAperson]

I'm pathologically absent-minded. I forget words constantly (and when I forget a word, it torments me to the point that I get out of bed at 2:00 to look it up). I forget to answer e-mails. I constantly lose my train of thought. I lose keys and pens. If I stop concentrating on an uninteresting activity for ten seconds, I forget all about it and start thinking about unrelated things until something reminds me that I was doing something important (but by then, of course, I've forgotten what it is). And this is all at the age of eighteen.

And yet, I remember enormous amounts of utterly useless information from years ago. I can still set up the game board for Axis & Allies even though I haven't played the game in many years and had not thought about it until a few days ago.


I'm the same way. Pens and keys just freakin disappear I will seriously lose them within hours of getting them. In conversation I'll get so far ahead in what I'm thinking about as compared to what I'm talking about that I lose my train of thought and just stop dead and have to reconstruct my whole thought process. If I make plans more than two days ahead of when they take place I will forget all about them unless reminded... it's really terrible.

[wildcat]

When I'm taking in new information, I often skim over the names of things, since I'm focusing on the concepts, relationships, etc. That is, I don't pay so much attention to the names of things. So it's no surprise that later when I talk about them, I forget what everything is called.

But I also forget the names of things like lamps and elephants, and also do the description thing you do. I just don't think in words that way, so sometimes the translation of thoughts to words doesn't happen correctly, or at least not very quickly. That's strange for some people to understand, since what I'm really saying is that I don't think in language.

Ideas like this will sometimes show up here in the Philosophy and Spirituality forum. Recently, somebody posted something about how a word was not the same thing as the thing it represented. I see this as a philosophical distinction, but I often wonder if some MBTI types are more likely to think that way than others. I have a theory that it takes a strong-ish P to do so, but I don't want to jump to any conclusions. ;)
It is curious how symbols for thought have taken the place of thought process. We think that an appellative for a thing is the thing. Well it is not, and many envy your ability to think without words.
The language function of the left hemisphere has done much havoc. Words are a necessary evil and should be saved for communication alone.
We believe that communication taught us to think. Wrong. Thinking taught us to communicate.

[wildcat]

I wonder how that is? I consider myself visual spatial but the shape of a persons face just will not stick. Seems like it would be more then just lack of interest.

+Blue
It is a different brain area that deals with recognition of faces. I am also visual-spatial but I am face blind. When I was young, I sometimes took another girl for my regular girl friend. I could converse with a strange girl for days and take her for another. It did bring about quite a mess sometimes.