Television Do you need a photographic memory to be good on Jeopardy?

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

I don't know what it is, but I'm not good with trivia, crosswords and especially Jeopardy.

I find it very difficult to respond to the clues. It amazes me how great these players are, who could win at least 5 in a row.

My guess is that they have a photographic memory.

Thoughts?

 

[Woldog]

You need a memory that's good at retaining otherwise pointless information.

Similar to mine.

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

You need a memory that's good at retaining otherwise pointless information.

Similar to mine.

lol I see.

 

[Woldog]

lol I see.

I'm so good at trivial pursuits no one wants to play me after they've played me once.


Now imagine if I could put those skills towards something that's actually useful in my life.

 

[RogerB08]

Gonna be that guy and point out the the term is eidetic memory.

 

[Tone C]

What is Jeopardy ?

 

[youngsteinel]

If there’s 20 questions in a round of Jeopardy, I’ll know 5 if I’m lucky. I have no idea how these people know all this generally useless information.

 

[cowboyjunkie]

I’m pretty good at general trivia but my memory is shit. I was tested as an adult for ADD symptoms I discovered I had had my whole life.

Part of the test included general knowledge and intelligence questions.

Questions like, “who was Catherine the Great?” Honestly, I don’t give a shit about history. I’m unable to retain most things I’m taught in school, so I barely managed to graduate high school.

Anyway, I answered, “I don’t know but I think she was Queen of Russia”. I have absolutely no idea how I knew that. I ended up scoring in the 89th percentile on the intelligence portion of that test. I laughed and told her, “I never scored an 89 on a test in my life”.

Anyway, I’m not knowledgeable enough to make it to Jeopardy but anyone with a normal functioning brain can probably do well as long as they’ve got the reflexes.

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

Gonna be that guy and point out the the term is eidetic memory.

Oh wow is that what they call it? Thanks for letting me know. Makes sense now.

 

[traditionally_irreverent]

I'm so good at trivial pursuits no one wants to play me after they've played me once.


Now imagine if I could put those skills towards something that's actually useful in my life.

Not just anyone could provide Fun Facts.

 

[Tentacle Grape]

I don't think there is such a thing as a photographic memory. My middle school teachers actually thought I had one. But no.
When you are a baby you have something like a photographic memory but your brain develops more efficient ways of remembering.

!!
The intuitive notion of a “photographic” memory is that it is just like a photograph: you can retrieve it from your memory at will and examine it in detail, zooming in on different parts. But a true photographic memory in this sense has never been proved to exist.

Most of us do have a kind of photographic memory, in that most people's memory for visual material is much better and more detailed than our recall of most other kinds of material. For instance, most of us remember a face much more easily than the name associated with that face. But this isn't really a photographic memory; it just shows us the normal difference between types of memory.

Even visual memories that seem to approach the photographic ideal are far from truly photographic. These memories seem to result from a combination of innate abilities, combined with zealous study and familiarity with the material, such as the Bible or fine art.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/i-developed-what-appears-to-be-a-ph/

You need a memory that's good at retaining otherwise pointless information.

Similar to mine.

you don't need to be smart at all but just memorize facts.

Gonna be that guy and point out the the term is eidetic memory.

but that is not what people mean by photographic memory. just the PM does not exist, I guess EM does.