Same. I have bad "factual" memory, but very good "conceptual" memory. I might not remember exactly what someone told me, but I probably gathered a keyword, and a feeling and idea of what they told me. Almost like it takes what they said then compresses it into my mind in a nice little multi-key lookup table.
Oh man, I have that too. I am always told by my best friend "well, you go it right, but entirely wrong words" -- or something to the effect I got the feeling, notion, or concept right, but the wrong words.
This has affected me a lot though, I know what is going on in songs, but can't ever remember the right words, but still some how end up sining stuff that means the same thing :/
Yes. "Weak detail recall but strong fluid reasoning, conceptual/gist memory, and adaptive problem-solving" is how GPT sums up what I feel. And "high fluid intelligence" is a label it gave that I won't be using anytime soon... But I like the sound of it.
You might benefit from (proper, not the multiple choice kind) aptitude testing.
What are the benefits? What would/could I do with the results?
Save money on future dates by causing the woman to leave before she even orders dinner after you pull out your Mensa© Membership card.
For me it's one step removed from that: I'll remember exactly what I was told or what I read, but not at all who told me or where I read it. My brain does not care about sources.
Thanks, I feel seen.
In my, admittedly extremely small sample set, concept-focused memory is common for people with any degree or kind of dyslexia. I used to struggle with understanding how people couldn't understand things, now that I'm more mature it makes sense how people struggled with me not being able to spell things :).
Yep, terrible speller -- bad at pronunciation too (by the way I just autocorrected that word) -- and I often wonder how people, who are much more intelligent than me on paper, can't figure out random tasks that just seem obvious.
I do not have dyslexia. I’ve been reading since I was a little kid. I don’t easily recall words or things that I’ve heard. But I’ve got a very good visual memory, especially remembering patterns. And I can easily visualize things too, even the somewhat abstract concepts.
So if I put a visual bend on something I can quickly understand it and remember it, but that bend has to be mind (even when helped by an image on a book). If it’s someone else’s, I’ll be very hard pressed to remember it (but I can easily remember where it was).
So at school, when I had to cram, I fill my head with images and things like that. And with the help of the exams (written) and memory of the classes, I worked out the answers.
Thanks for sharing, I am absolutely fascinated with the differences in people's internal experiences.
For me, I have the bad "factual" memory and good "conceptual" memory but unlike you, I also have aphantasia: a completely "dark" mind with no visuals.
I've always used the metaphor that my brain has really good "compression". Once I learn something it gets compressed into my worldview. I don't know how or why I know it but I can apply it. If academic achievement is any benchmark, I can apply it with above average aptitude.