Guppy,

Guppy Guppy Guppy...finally getting back to you.

Sorry I didn't answer your question about remembering faces from the evolution thread. I was distracted. Fascinating question, worthy of its own thread. I think different people remember different things with different amounts of clarity.

Memory is usually about attention, repetition and association. We often remember a thing by first remembering something that is easier to remember that reminds us of that thing.

If you actually made a conscious effort to look at and remember important faces, you might be able to ...or not. Some people remember faces, some names, or numbers...

I personally, absolutely suck at remembering birthdays, or "special dates." I can remember my birthdate, my son's birthdate, my deceased brother's birthdate, and Jesus' putative birthdate. And that's it. I am slightly annoyed that I should have to remember any other person's birthdate. But if I tried, I could probably learn to remember the most important birthdays.

Names, I am almost as bad at. Seems like I remember a name better if I think the poerson is "important." A girl I met at a cocktail party? Forget it. More on name memory later.

My best thing is remembering SOUNDS.