INFJ forgetfulness

I have very good spatial memory. Rarely do I lose things or get lost. But I'm forever forgetting, names, dates, phone numbers, passwords and PINs. And for the life of me I can't learn new languages including computer languages. In my more self centered moments, I'm sure the first GUI was developed for me.
 
I'm honestly not all that forgetful, more so in the long term sense though. I do often put down objects or forget things that were recently told to me, but within 5 minutes or so I recover it. Once I commit something to memory it's pretty much locked in in the majority of cases. People tend to think I am forgetful and scattered because my thinking process is not linear usually.
 
IndigoSensor said:
I'm honestly not all that forgetful, more so in the long term sense though. I do often put down objects or forget things that were recently told to me, but within 5 minutes or so I recover it. Once I commit something to memory it's pretty much locked in in the majority of cases. People tend to think I am forgetful and scattered because my thinking process is not linear usually.
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I am the same with longterm memory, but if I am focused on my car keys, and the dog barks downstairs, I will completely forget what I was thinking of. And so I walk around wondering, remember its the keys I need, and forget where I was when I last saw them, which was on my bed, right when the dog barked.


And my thought process isn't linear at all, which makes writing essays hard, lol.
 
I think there's a serious problem with INFJs who are forgetful. I mean, where's your J, man? (or lady). I think that the only way... to...

Wait, what was I saying? I was just off in my INFJ fantasyland.
 
arbygil said:
Wow, this is interesting...do you think this is indicative of the ISFJ in general, or is it just your sister? When I remember the past, I know exactly when it happens (or the round ballpark figure) but I've never heard of not knowing when a memory happened. That's amazing to me.
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I don't know. She is not exactly the standard ISFJ though. Her Te is almost as strong as her Fe, and seems to act as the relief role instead of Ti. Both Ti and Se came up as Unused.

Her personality might be influenced by her Bipolar and OCD, as well as by the medications for those. I used to think that she was naturally an INFJ whose personality had been changed by the medication, but thinking back to some tapes we made when we were kids I think Si was probably stronger than Ni then too. I do tend to think that her intuition and introverted thinking may have been weakened by the meds though. (Well, I suppose you could say both types of intuition were greatly strengthened during those 2 real manic episodes years ago when she went for days speaking almost nonstop in rather rapid rhymes, but that is far from common.) When she was young she used to love staying up reading, but since being put on lithium (and a couple other things at the same time, I'm not really sure which might be responsible) she has to reread the same passage several times to have a clue what it meant and is often put to sleep by books that would once has fascinated her. She is no where near as bad about that now as she was a year or two ago though, as her dosages have been reduced since then.





Saying that she confuses a week ago with a decade ago was hyperbole, but she definitely does have trouble putting events from several months and several years ago in order. She acts amazed when I describe memories in a set timelines including dates from years ago, claiming that she requires context clues like whose classes she was taking at the time to help her out. She also forgot about my grandfather's death about 3 weeks after it happened, which made it hit hard again once she remembered.
 
arbygil said:
Wow, this is interesting...do you think this is indicative of the ISFJ in general, or is it just your sister? When I remember the past, I know exactly when it happens (or the round ballpark figure) but I've never heard of not knowing when a memory happened. That's amazing to me.
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Actually, that's exactly like me. If I don't have a visual cue such as a hallway class room I have no idea when it happened. I remember the memory perfectly, I mean to the dot, but I have no idea when it happened.
 
thanks to everyone who replied on this thread! i tried to rep you all but then i got this message that said i'd given too much rep in the past 24 hours and try again later.
 
invisible said:
thanks to everyone who replied on this thread! i tried to rep you all but then i got this message that said i'd given too much rep in the past 24 hours and try again later.
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Yeah annoying when it won't let you rep the same person twice in a row too.

I didn't know about that one though
 
I have excellent memory for small details. In fact I can recall conversations perfectly years later. But the whole key thing...yeah forget it. If I don't make myself put them on my special key hook then I'm screwed the next day. My memory is relative to the importance of the object being remembered.
 
I'm forgetful. My roommate just texted me to ask if there was supposed to be a date on my rent check. :/
 
I never lose my keys and I remember where things are. I even remember where my wife left HER keys and can usually rattle it off the top of my head. I can also remember conversations and things people have told me about themselves and their family members perfectly. Where I have problems is remembering appointments. I often forget them multiple times. I have a poor concept of time and most things having to do with the future I'm likely to forget.
 
magister343 said:
I don't know. She is not exactly the standard ISFJ though. Her Te is almost as strong as her Fe, and seems to act as the relief role instead of Ti. Both Ti and Se came up as Unused.

Her personality might be influenced by her Bipolar and OCD, as well as by the medications for those. I used to think that she was naturally an INFJ whose personality had been changed by the medication, but thinking back to some tapes we made when we were kids I think Si was probably stronger than Ni then too. I do tend to think that her intuition and introverted thinking may have been weakened by the meds though. (Well, I suppose you could say both types of intuition were greatly strengthened during those 2 real manic episodes years ago when she went for days speaking almost nonstop in rather rapid rhymes, but that is far from common.) When she was young she used to love staying up reading, but since being put on lithium (and a couple other things at the same time, I'm not really sure which might be responsible) she has to reread the same passage several times to have a clue what it meant and is often put to sleep by books that would once has fascinated her. She is no where near as bad about that now as she was a year or two ago though, as her dosages have been reduced since then.





Saying that she confuses a week ago with a decade ago was hyperbole, but she definitely does have trouble putting events from several months and several years ago in order. She acts amazed when I describe memories in a set timelines including dates from years ago, claiming that she requires context clues like whose classes she was taking at the time to help her out. She also forgot about my grandfather's death about 3 weeks after it happened, which made it hit hard again once she remembered.
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Poor sweetheart! :( I am glad she's getting better. But that has to be really difficult on her. That sounds horrific, and a bit scary. I hope she can find a middle ground.
 
Great thread. Yes I have been very forgetful in the past. I am better now that I've made an effort to work on my Se and Si. I don't get speeding tickets anymore either since I decided to stay in the here and now a bit more.
 
Questingpoet said:
Great thread. Yes I have been very forgetful in the past. I am better now that I've made an effort to work on my Se and Si. I don't get speeding tickets anymore either since I decided to stay in the here and now a bit more.
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I avoid speeding tickets by using my cruise control even when I'm in town. :becky:
 
I have a horrible memory when it comes to names and faces.
 
magister343 said:
I'm good with faces, but horrible with names.

My real life INFJ friend is amazing with names, but bad with faces.
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I wonder if that's more attributable to learning style, than anything else. Perhaps you're more of a visual learner (sees the face, doesn't hear the name), and she's more auditory (hears the name, doesn't see the face).
 
I am often able to remember past events, I can recall experiences easily. Though I may not be aware of the details, the general idea stays behind. This has proven to be helpful in academics for me. When its comes to short term however, I struggle a lot. If you tell where a certain items is, minutes later I would not remember where it is. I often loose my things because of this reason, and have to constantly go on a search quest around my house. I am known for forgetting daily my keys, my phone, my homework. There's always something that if I don't make a checklist I would totally never find it.
 
I tend to forget peoples names alot and can't remember someones name i could earlier recall. I Also am not good at retaining details and thinking of them on the spot. it just doesn't come to me in that momment. anyone else relate?
 
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