I have actually failed to recognize people. Usually it's a context thing

That happened to me freshman year at college. I rounded the corner in the campus convenience store and, ran into this guy, and I stood there with my mouth hanging open, because I 100% knew I knew him, but I could not make my brain get there. He was a guy I knew from high school - not a close friend, obvs. He seemed pretty annoyed when he said, "it's Paul. From A.I." Not my most graceful moment ever. We chatted a bit, but I think he remained kind of offendedish. Sorry, Paul.

ETA: It's happened with people I've met briefly, too, but Paul was totally a context thing. If I'd seen him at home, I wouldn't have choked like that.

See, it never occurred to me to worry that I wouldn't recognize people if I saw them. It just disturbed me that I would try to picture, say, my mom's whole face and get pieces instead of the whole thing.

The context thing does make a difference, too.

I don't really worry about either thing. Watch, I'll have a dream tonight about sudden onset face blindness because of you all...

My oldest brother showed up out of the blue in my dorm room my freshman year of college, and I honest to goodness didn't recognize him for a moment, because he was so completely out of context. Very strange.

Right? Context is very helpful,

(Edited. Wrong thread.)

I don't think I've had that problem--well not one I could resolve, anyway. If I can't recognise you out of context, you are not in my facial recognition system, period. I needed that space for someone else, and you and I, we're going to have to start from scratch. But that's an interesting issue.

And, wow, is this ever matter...

Here's my attempt at bringing it back around...

They demonstrated on the show that people with face blindness use other clues about a person that might help them recognize, so I didn't really buy the friend being mistaken for the wife long term. Once, I could see, but the wife now living as the maid - her voice, or something, no recognition there at all? He "recognized" a stranger in a line up from a widow's peak and a voice recording. Show is not selling me on its plots.

I've had trouble recalling someone's name when meeting them out of context, but I recognize faces unless they've changed drastically since the last time I saw them, so not a worry for me.

I recognize people who were customers, fellow bus riders and who moved out of my district in kindergarten. I do not have the face blind worry. I do sometimes replace actors in movies with other actors in my memory. For example movie Buffy is Chriatina Applegate and the boy in Blue Lagoon in Willy Aames

I think the problem might be more that he recognised anyone in the lineup with those helpers, honestly. I'm not seeing anything in my reading that indicates voice is a particularly good cue for people to work from, otherwise lots of them would work from it lots and it wouldn't be a big problem.

My main issue with the show is--how long is the season taking place across in real time? Where do they live that, say, one witness a month comes across their desks with an Oliver Sacks-level mental issue, and they call him in for that one? And that's assuming a 1:4 ratio.