Looking into it, it seems that perhaps it was not notable until recently. This is likely a limitation of my searches and popular understanding. Does anyone know of ancient Greek writing on the subject? (Perhaps I am too quick to discount the trained memorization of bards and storytellers of old, which I understand typically used memorization and not Total Recall?)
The Wikipedia pages on Eidetic Memory and Hyperthymesia cover different aspects, but neither cites anything older than “Funes the Memorious”. “Total Recall” is also used for the ability, but also does not appear to have a long history.
I never really thought about it, but 19th century novels etc just refer to “excellent” or “exceedingly keen” memory. Like it was part of the memory recall continuum. Eidetic and photographic make it a category difference, like it’s a different thing than the regular memory continuum.
The best that I can gleen is that there really wasn’t any interest in nailing it down until recently. It was just seen as a “quirk”, similar to other disorders that just now are being recognized. As neat as it is, eidetic memory is in fact a disorder, as it typically interferes with a person’s livelihood.
‘Funes’ was apparently inspired by Solomon Shereshevsky, who was ‘active in 1920s’, whatever exactly that means. The article on mnemonists lists a couple more living around that time, but nobody earlier.
He was able to, for example, repeat the Aeneid of Virgil from beginning to end without hesitation, and for every page in the edition he could indicate which line was the first and which was the last even decades after having read it.
The article on ‘memory sport’ says: “Techniques for training memory are discussed as far back as ancient Greece, and formal memory training was long considered an important part of basic education known as the art of memory” and cites ‘Secrets of a Mind-Gamer’ from NYT — but this is of course different from natural eidetic memory. ‘Art of memory’ also discusses techniques from the ancient times.
Looking into it, it seems that perhaps it was not notable until recently. This is likely a limitation of my searches and popular understanding. Does anyone know of ancient Greek writing on the subject? (Perhaps I am too quick to discount the trained memorization of bards and storytellers of old, which I understand typically used memorization and not Total Recall?)
Funes the Memorious was written long after the camera was invented.
The Wikipedia pages on Eidetic Memory and Hyperthymesia cover different aspects, but neither cites anything older than “Funes the Memorious”. “Total Recall” is also used for the ability, but also does not appear to have a long history.
Unrelated but fun: ‘Photographic Memory’ The story of how we stored digital photographs
Borges mentioned. Amazing writer.
I never really thought about it, but 19th century novels etc just refer to “excellent” or “exceedingly keen” memory. Like it was part of the memory recall continuum. Eidetic and photographic make it a category difference, like it’s a different thing than the regular memory continuum.
The best that I can gleen is that there really wasn’t any interest in nailing it down until recently. It was just seen as a “quirk”, similar to other disorders that just now are being recognized. As neat as it is, eidetic memory is in fact a disorder, as it typically interferes with a person’s livelihood.
‘Funes’ was apparently inspired by Solomon Shereshevsky, who was ‘active in 1920s’, whatever exactly that means. The article on mnemonists lists a couple more living around that time, but nobody earlier.
List of people claimed to possess an eidetic memory has two or three people born around 1860-'70, and among earlier murky claims a notable outlier Leonhard Euler:
The article on ‘memory sport’ says: “Techniques for training memory are discussed as far back as ancient Greece, and formal memory training was long considered an important part of basic education known as the art of memory” and cites ‘Secrets of a Mind-Gamer’ from NYT — but this is of course different from natural eidetic memory. ‘Art of memory’ also discusses techniques from the ancient times.