Why Some People Can't See Faces, Not Even Their Own

Have you ever met someone and forgot their name right after being told? What if you forgot their face too? Today's episode concerns a neurological disorder where patients had a hard time recognizing and retaining faces. Let’s get into it.

Sources:

[Zoe Hunn, the Model Who Couldn't Recognize Herself]

[Prosopagnosia, or Face Blindness]

[Other Sources]

[darkfang]

You have no idea how many times I’ve met up with people and I couldn’t make out their name. However, there’s an even more staggering amount of times people know me and I have no idea who they

[kimberleyadaniels]

For some reason Brew scares me, but I could listen to him talk for hours on topics.

[rententee]

I wonder if the mime makeup had something to do with her remembering the guys face.
Like maybe it prevented his face from being recognised as a face, allowing her brain to save his eyebrows to a different part of her memory instead of the facial memory, or something?

[MakenaForest]

"first hand experience"
summons someone with second hand experience

[doktornorton]

My wife has this. We dated for 2 years before she remembered me without hearing my voice.

Sometimes i wonder if she still doesn't recognize me and is just too awkward to ask who the guy living in her house is.

[superbaggybaggy]

I actually have Prosopagnosia: great to see a video by you guys covering the subject!

[Tnm]

Disease: * Something I don't have *

My brain: But what if you DID??

[oak_corvum]

“This video is not meant to be a diagnosis”
Well I think if you couldn’t see faces you’d know if you had this, Brew.

[nima]

I still remember the AHA! moment when I first heard of this.

It is not easy to live with. But it can be comical at times. One of my best friends back then has it too. And the amount of times we've ran into eachother in town and just stood there, staring at eachother, trying to figure out if we know eachother.

My greatest fear is that I'm one day is gonna have to describe someone to the cops. Because I'll be the worst witness/victim/concerned relative ever.

[Solesteam]

available space for:
Face storage: 1kb
Other stuff: 9999+ TB

[Calacene]

I've thought for a few years I might have this mildly. Its mostly an issue when someone changes their hair style, and perhaps dresses differently, for an event or something. But it's also very hard in movies sometimes. If several characters all have similar hair and clothing, or if one character changes hair and outfits, I have to ask my family who is who.

[possumprince]

I have autism and face blindness is one of the related effects. My form is more mild: I can see faces, but asking me to distinguish them is like asking me to distinguish two different pine trees; I can do it if I see those two trees often and i put lots of effort into noticing unusual traits about them, but it's difficult. I just use hair, body shape, and posture/gait to tell people apart. This pandemic is kinda beneficial for me in a way because the masks cover up most of a person's face and now neurotypicals are almost on the same playing field as me, having to tell people apart through other means.

[superbaggybaggy]

I have prosopagnosia: the best way I can describe it is that whilst you still register the fact that you are looking at a face, you don't can't really relate it to other faces. So it is not like you can't "see" faces, it is more like every face you see looks the exact same.

[deviouskyodai]

this is gonna be me going back to school after quarantine is almost over

[timferguson]

Brew: Why can't some people see faces?
Me: They're blind.
Brew: It's due to a neurological disorder that makes it difficult for patients to recognize faces.
Me: Oh.

[rententee]

The closest thing I can imagine to this is how people often have trouble telling people of different ethnicities apart from eachother ("All X people look the same") but with every person.

[Disapointedmellencol]

another fun fact, those with "faceb lindess" while haveing issues with IRL people in Tv shows have almost no issues with things like cartoons or anime

[geebeepman]

when I'd go out for groceries with my girlfriend, she'd go ahead and start buying groceries while I find a spot to park the car. when I'm done and go inside trying to find her, I could not for the life of me remember what she wore, what bag she brought or even her hairstyle so I always spend a much longer time finding her. Its not that odd if this were an isolated event but it happens almost every single time even if I try my hardest to remember beforehand when going out with anyone, not just with my girlfriend but with everyone else, including my closest longtime friends and even my parents. my memory is so bad that I am thoroughly convinced that if a guy kills my loved ones right in front of me, I would not be able to recognize them a day later, especially if they changed their hairstyle.

[libera]

This happened to me, I don't know why and it only lasted for 5 minutes. I didn't recognize my sister. It was one of the creepiest experience I've ever had.

[littledreamerrem]

When I was younger, I remember being at a convention and stressing out because I couldn't remember if my mom wore her hair up or down that day. I couldn't tell if I had gotten lost or if she was just at the booth across the way...

I probably don't have true face blindness, but people arent really distinct to me. If I focus on someone's face for long enough, I can recognize them, but I usually just go off of their hair and clothes.

I guess it's kind of like how people might see dogs' or cats' faces? I can identify my cat from similar looking cats way easier that I could with humans.