Face Blindness, part 1
Summary
TLDRThis script explores the condition of face blindness, or prosopagnosia, a neurological disorder that makes facial recognition extremely difficult. It discusses the challenges faced by those affected, such as not recognizing family members or themselves in mirrors. The script also features interviews with individuals living with the condition, like Jacob Hods, and experts studying it, including Brad Shane. It touches on the historical lack of awareness and understanding of face blindness in the medical community and includes a demonstration of the condition's impact. The script also highlights the unique coping strategies used by those with face blindness and the emotional toll it can take, emphasizing the importance of recognizing and acknowledging the condition.
Takeaways
- 😲 Face blindness, or prosopagnosia, is a condition where individuals cannot recognize faces, even those of loved ones.
- 👨🎓 Jacob Hods, a 31-year-old college graduate with a normal life, struggles with face blindness and cannot identify faces.
- 🤔 Face blindness can be so severe that it prevents people from recognizing their own children or themselves in a mirror.
- 👨🏫 Brad Shane, a Dartmouth professor, has been studying face blindness for 15 years and explains the difficulty of recognizing familiar faces.
- 🔍 A demonstration using upside-down faces shows how difficult it is to recognize people when facial cues are disrupted.
- 🎨 Renowned portraitist Chuck Close, despite being severely face blind, paints faces by breaking them down into small, memorable pieces.
- 👥 People with face blindness rely on non-facial cues like hair, body shape, gait, voice, and clothing to identify others.
- 🤷♀️ Face blindness can lead to social challenges, as people may误以为 you are ignoring them or are uninterested.
- 🧠 Recent studies suggest that up to 1 in 50 people may have face blindness, indicating it's more common than previously thought.
- 🧬 Researchers are investigating the neurological basis of face blindness to better understand and potentially treat the condition.
Q & A
What is face blindness or prosopagnosia?
-Face blindness, also known as prosopagnosia, is a condition that makes it nearly impossible for individuals to recognize or identify faces. It can affect people to the extent that they cannot even recognize their own family members or themselves in a mirror.
How common is face blindness?
-Recent studies suggest that as many as 1 in 50 people may be face blind.
What is the history of recognizing face blindness as a condition?
-Face blindness only got its name in the 1940s when soldiers returned from World War II with head injuries that caused them to be unable to recognize their family members. It took another 50 years for science to discover that people could be born with face blindness.
How does face blindness affect daily life?
-People with face blindness may struggle with recognizing their spouse, children, or even themselves in a mirror. They often rely on other strategies such as hair, body shape, the way people walk, their voice, or style of dress to identify individuals.
Who is Jacob Hods and what is his experience with face blindness?
-Jacob Hods is a 31-year-old man with a college degree and a history of good jobs. Despite appearing normal, he cannot recognize faces. He is unable to identify even very famous faces and relies on other cues to recognize people.
What is the effect of facial hair or hairstyle changes on people with face blindness?
-Changes in facial hair or hairstyle can significantly affect the ability of people with face blindness to recognize individuals. For example, Jacob Hods had difficulty recognizing a colleague named Sylvia until she put her hair into her usual ponytail.
How does the condition affect professional life?
-Professional life can be tricky for those with face blindness. For instance, a doctor may rely on patient charts to recognize patients, and a software products designer might find it challenging to identify colleagues in a cafeteria.
What is the role of famous neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks in understanding face blindness?
-Dr. Oliver Sacks, a renowned neurologist and writer, wrote about face blindness in his book 'The Mind's Eye'. He himself is face blind and has experienced difficulty recognizing faces, including his own.
What strategies do people with face blindness use to cope with their condition?
-People with face blindness often rely on non-facial cues such as voice, clothing, or specific features like ear size to recognize individuals. They may also use strategies like always sitting in the same place or placing themselves in a position where they can easily see others.
How does face blindness impact social interactions?
-Social interactions can be challenging for those with face blindness because they might not recognize friends or acquaintances, which can lead to misunderstandings or being perceived as inattentive or rude.
What is the role of Chuck Close, a renowned portraitist, in the context of face blindness?
-Chuck Close, despite being severely face blind, has spent his career painting faces. He works from a gridded photograph, breaking down the face into small, memorable pieces to create his portraits.
Outlines
😲 The Struggles of Face Blindness
This paragraph introduces the condition of face blindness, or prosopagnosia, which affects the ability to recognize faces. It describes the automatic nature of face recognition for most people and contrasts it with the difficulties faced by those with face blindness. The paragraph also introduces Jacob Hods, a 31-year-old man with the condition, who despite having a college degree and successful career, struggles with recognizing faces. The script discusses the challenges of living with face blindness, such as not recognizing family members or oneself in a mirror. It also touches on the fact that face blindness is not widely known or understood, even within the medical community.
🤔 Coping Mechanisms and Artistic Expression
The second paragraph delves into how individuals with face blindness rely on non-facial cues to identify people, such as hair, body shape, and voice. It discusses the challenges that arise when these cues change. The paragraph also features Chuck Close, a renowned portraitist who is also face blind. Despite his condition, Close has dedicated his career to painting faces by breaking them down into smaller, memorable pieces. The script includes a quiz where Close attempts to identify famous faces from partial views, highlighting the puzzle-like nature of face recognition for those with face blindness.
🧠 The Science and Social Impact of Face Blindness
The final paragraph discusses the scientific exploration of face blindness, including its recent identification and the search for neurological clues. It mentions the work of Dr. Oliver Sacks, who wrote about face blindness in his book 'The Mind's Eye'. The paragraph also explores the social implications of face blindness, such as the potential for miscommunication and misunderstanding in social interactions. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing and admitting to having face blindness to avoid social faux pas and misunderstandings. The script ends with a teaser about 'super recognizers', hinting at the diversity of human facial recognition abilities.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Face blindness
💡Prosopagnosia
💡Facial recognition
💡Strangers
💡Automatic
💡Twilight Zone
💡Demonstration
💡Identify
💡Strategies
💡Chuck Close
💡Super recognizers
Highlights
Face blindness or prosopagnosia is a condition that makes it nearly impossible to recognize or identify faces.
People with face blindness can't recognize even their own family members or themselves in a mirror.
Face blindness is largely unknown to the medical world until very recently.
Jacob Hods, a 31-year-old man with a college degree and successful career, struggles with face blindness.
Brad Shane, a professor at Dartmouth College, has been studying face blindness for nearly 15 years.
People with face blindness can't create a memory of a face, so they rely on other strategies like hair, body shape, or voice.
Famous portraitist Chuck Close is also face blind and paints faces by breaking them down into small pieces.
Face blindness can make social situations difficult, as it's hard to recognize people even after meeting them.
Recent studies suggest that as many as 1 in 50 people may be face blind.
Dr. Oliver Sacks, a neurologist and writer, revealed that he himself is face blind.
People with face blindness often go undiagnosed because they assume everyone experiences faces the same way they do.
Face blindness can lead to social misunderstandings, as people may think you're ignoring them when you don't recognize them.
Individuals with face blindness use unique strategies to identify people, like recognizing specific features or mannerisms.
The condition can be both comic and serious, affecting how people interact with the world around them.
Researchers are searching for clues inside the brains of people with face blindness to understand the condition better.
There are also 'super recognizers' who have the opposite ability, never forgetting a face.
Transcripts
most of us take for granted that we can
instantly recognize people we know by
looking at their faces it's so automatic
it almost sounds silly to even say it
friends can put on a hat cut their hair
and still we know them by their face we
can do this for thousands upon thousands
of faces without ever giving it a
moment's thought but imagine for a
second what life would be like if you
couldn't if your wife or husband look
like a stranger you couldn't tell your
kids apart couldn't recognize yourself
in a mirror well that's what life is
like for people who suffer from a
mysterious condition called face
blindness or
prosopagnosia that can make it nearly
impossible to recognize or identify
faces if you've never heard of face
blindness you're not alone chances are
your doctor hasn't either it's been
unknown to most of the medical world
until very
recently hearing about it can feel a
little like entering the Twilight Zone
but for people who are face blind the
condition is very
real the story will continue in a
moment Jacob hods is one of them he's 31
years old he has a college degree has
had great jobs and he seems perfectly
normal just don't ask him to identify
any faces we're going to put up the
first one even very famous
ones no
idea oh we showed Jacob faces without
hair uh a pure test of facial
recognition
no nope can't say if I've ever seen that
person he has seen Jimmy Carter plenty
of times and knows Michael Jordan too oh
Lord he just can't recognize their faces
now that's just impossible I mean you
describe my face you're staring right at
it high cheekbones light eyes clearly
Jacob could see my face but he says if
we happened to run into each other in a
few days he wouldn't know me from any
other woman with short blonde hair they
meet somebody they have a good time with
them they have a nice relationship then
a week later they walk past them Brad
Shane is a professor at Dartmouth
College who's been studying face
blindness for nearly 15 years he says
the hardest thing to understand is how
people can see a familiar face but not
recognize it so he created a
demonstration to give me a little taste
faces turned upside down so here are
some famous faces you're going to be
tempted to twist your head but don't do
it okay can you identify any of these
people I was completely at a loss you
think I'd know all of these people
you've seen them all a
lot I can't I don't know any of these
people I really don't you want to see
him upright
sure it was astonishing with just that
click they became recognizable people
before my eyes I know John Travolta I
know Morley and there was Denzel
Washington Jennifer Aniston Sandra
bulock but the one that really got me
was the young woman on the lower right
my daughter I didn't know my own
daughter yeah I didn't know my own
daughter so there she is wow so is this
am I getting a feeling for what people
with face blindness have this is when
you look at that there's clearly there's
a face there there are Parts there are
eyes there's mouth but you just can't
put it together wow that's stunning I
feel terrible for them now yeah it's
really difficult and largely Unown
known proa Pagosa only got its name in
the 1940s when a couple of soldiers came
back from World War II with head
injuries and couldn't recognize their
wife or parents and it took another 50
years for science to discover that
people could be born face blind like
Jacob Hodes and Joe Livingston a retired
teacher Benda Browski a software
products designer and Meg novotney a
doctor
if I were your patient we I you'd spent
a long time with me discussing a problem
I come back the next time oh no no no
you walk out to the window at the front
and start checking out and I walk out of
the room and I don't know who you are
come on she relies on patient charts she
told us but there aren't any of those in
Ben's office where lunch in the
cafeteria can be tricky sitting down at
lunch having a discussion with someone
about one of my projects and the guy
across the table gets up from lunch and
says God that's really interesting when
you have that can you invite me thanks
C who is it I don't know who is it I
have no idea is it a memory issue what
what is it the memory is never created
the the face doesn't get put it doesn't
get filed so they have to rely on other
strategies to identify people hair body
shape the way people walk their voice
even style of dress but Jacob told us
that it can all fall apart when someone
changes their hair like a colleague
named Sylvia who he couldn't find one
day until she started putting her hair
into her usual ponytail and she like put
it into the ponytail and once it was in
place that was Sylvia it clicked then
she took her hair back out of that
ponytail and right then and there yep
she just put it in and then took it out
so she went from Sylvia and not syia not
she disappeared come on yeah to him it
was as though her face had changed into
someone else's before his eyes so now
I'm confronted the situation that that
got weird because I knew this person was
Sylvia but it didn't feel like Sylvia
faces mean so much to us identity Beauty
character a place to hang all our
memories about a person faces have
captivated artists forever so it may
surprise you to learn that the man who
painted these faces renowned portraitist
Chuck Close is also face blind and
severely so let's say you went out to
have dinner with somebody and then you
saw her the next day wouldn't remember
her and yet he has spent his career even
after a collapsed spinal artery left him
mostly paralyzed painting well faces yes
Chuck Close has face blindness and he
paints faces right the the reason I
think I was driven to it was to to uh
take images of people that matter to me
and commit them to Memory in the best
way I can which is to slow the whole
process down break it down into lots of
little memorable pieces which is exactly
how he creates these Works he can't make
sense of a whole face so he works from a
photograph with a grid on it and
translates what he sees Square by square
onto his canvas well guess what we've
done I don't know we've put together a
quiz for you we brought some of our
famous faces along to show him uh from
the chin I think it's um Leno and we're
surprised that he did pretty darn well
well from the lips I think it's Tiger
Woods yeah well you're pretty good but
of course not
perfect I don't have a clue that's Tom
Cruz right now my guts are tied in knots
because this very activity is the thing
that makes me most nervous oh now I have
to figure out who this person is because
he isn't recognizing these fa the way
most of us do every face is a puzzle he
has to solve what I'm thinking you don't
see too many people with just a mustache
anymore so that means it's probably
somebody who's not alive so if it's an
African-American of a certain age with a
mustache it it might be Martin Luther
King you're amazing you deduce deduce
deduce you're like Sherlock Holmes here
yeah this is how I get through life of
course he knew we were showing him
famous faces with our group we threw in
a trick one a photo of Joe's daughter
does anybody know who that is no
way Joe work on it because it's somebody
that Joe
Knows uh well it may be but nothing's
coming it's someone in your
family
oh but still she didn't get it it's your
daughter
now can you see it is it clear now it is
believable now we were baffled that a
condition so extreme it could keep
people from recognizing their own
children could have been almost
completely unknown until very recently
World reenan neurologist and writer Dr
Oliver sax we asked Dr Oliver Sachs the
famous chronicler of fascinating and
bizarre neurological conditions who
wrote about face blindness in his latest
book The Mind's Eye it is without faces
that we Face the world how do you
explain that the medical world did not
identify this problem it is not usually
a complaint of people people do not
bring it up many people who are
colorblind do not know of it until they
take an Army Medical one sort of assumes
that other people are the way one is it
never ever ever in my life occurred to
me that people would look at a face and
just get it like that I believe that I
was not good with people but I had no
idea of the reason I just thought I was
stupid Joe only learned there was such a
thing as face blindness when she
stumbled across this article and came in
to be tested in duan's lab a few hours
after her second visit no in a bizarre
coincidence she and duain ended up
attending the same event I kept placing
my face in a position where she could
see it I realized that one of the group
was staring at me in a way that people
don't normally and so finally at one
point I said you know do you know who I
am and she put it all together do Shane
had seen face blindness in action Joe
had seen the misconnections of her life
if that had been anybody else they would
have been presumably Furious would not
have spoken to me and would probably
never have spoken to me again but I
would never have known they were there
yeah it made me realize how many times
have I done this right how many friends
have you offended how many people people
aren't talking to you and you don't know
why and we'll never know yeah people do
think you may be snobbing them or or or
stupid or mad or inattentive that's why
it's so important to recognize what one
has and to and to admit it which is
exactly what sax himself has just done
written about the fact that he too is
face blind I have had difficulty
recognizing faces for as long as I can
remember my problems extends not only to
my nearest and dearest but also to
myself I've sometimes had the experience
of apologizing to someone and realizing
it's a
mirror um no I have indeed cuz you
didn't know it was you I could see that
it was a a large clumsy man with a beard
now I've now found a way of dealing with
this I have one special feature I have
rather large
ears and um if the large clumsy man with
a beard has has extra large ears it's
probably me I shouldn't be smiling but
it's funny oh well well it is fair I
mean these things are about both comic
and serious and surprisingly common
recent studies show as many as 1 in 50
people may be face blind and the search
is on for Clues inside their brains
we'll show you what the researchers
finding plus would you believe super
recognizers I would say Mike Wallace
that is Mike Wallace who never forget a
face I don't even know how to get rid of
people when we come back
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