[HN Gopher] A Guide Dog for the Face-Blind
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       A Guide Dog for the Face-Blind
        
       Author : arto
       Score  : 19 points
       Date   : 2025-08-08 20:26 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (asimov.blog)
 (TXT) w3m dump (asimov.blog)
        
       | tantalor wrote:
       | > The test shows famous people with these features removed
       | 
       | Article links to this test: https://www.testmybrain.org/face-
       | blindness/face-blindness.ht...
       | 
       | But this isn't the "famous faces" test.
       | 
       | I think they meant to link to this one:
       | https://v3.testmybrain.org/digitallab/?study=digitallab_s4_2...
       | 
       | That website does some funny stuff with sessions.
        
         | simplulo wrote:
         | Crikey, you're right. Thanks for that.
        
       | coderintherye wrote:
       | >Anyone reading War and Peace will need at the very least a list
       | of characters
       | 
       | Indeed, I almost gave up on it for that reason. Great story but
       | does the character really need 6+ different ways to refer to
       | them. "Too Like the Lightning" and its sequels are also great but
       | Ada Palmer suffers from same of the same desires to refer to
       | characters in far too many different ways to keep up with. That
       | said, I also scored poorly on the face blindness test so maybe
       | it's a cognitive inability keep up with too many names on my
       | part.
        
         | geoffpado wrote:
         | Glad to see I wasn't the only one with that problem with the
         | Terra Ignota series. I describe them to people as "my least
         | favorite favorite books" since they're quite good, but
         | infuriating to read.
         | 
         | Brandon Sanderson is another who has started to dip into this
         | well and it's annoying there, too. Do I really have to remember
         | that this character is named this amongst this group of people
         | and named another thing amongst another group of people? Often,
         | it's never even really explicitly stated that these two
         | characters are the same and you end up having to refer to some
         | wiki that probably has spoilers just because you find yourself
         | wondering "am I supposed to know who this is?"
        
           | ajmurmann wrote:
           | I think it's quite excusable in Russian novels, since that
           | seems to be the natural way people address(ed?) each other in
           | different contexts in Russian culture. A fantasy novel has
           | little excuse though.
        
       | CobrastanJorji wrote:
       | > "You scored higher than zero out of every ten people who took
       | this test"
       | 
       | Oh no. This explains some things.
        
         | ethersteeds wrote:
         | I'm right there with you.
        
       | lpghatguy wrote:
       | I've long felt that I am face blind. I took the face blindness
       | test with my girlfriend.
       | 
       | I scored right in the middle, but she scored better than nine out
       | of every ten people. How about that!
        
         | bnjms wrote:
         | Sometimes we learn we're just fortunate to be mediocre amongst
         | remarkable people.
        
       | amelius wrote:
       | That opening image ... finally an article where the Corporate
       | Memphis style fits.
        
       | selimthegrim wrote:
       | Is it just me or this sounds like a solarpunk book title?
        
       | sixhobbits wrote:
       | I think prosapagnosia is more common than people think. I thought
       | I was just kinda dumb/incompetent for years before I learned it
       | was A Thing.
       | 
       | Once you understand it there are quite a few coping mechanisms. I
       | recognize people by their gait, voice, and clothing in addition
       | to the glasses, hair etc that the author mentions.
       | 
       | I do think mine is somehow improving. I still scored badly but
       | tbh I'm not really into celebrities so about half of them I
       | either haven't heard of or I know about but have seen very
       | seldom.
       | 
       | --
       | 
       | Your score ....................... 23
       | 
       | Average score .................. 30.87
       | 
       | You scored higher than zero out of every ten people who took this
       | test: >
        
       | Terr_ wrote:
       | > Stunned, I said, "Wait--tell me about this," and he proceeded
       | to explain prosopagnosia.
       | 
       | Tangentially related: As a nearsighted kid--and _unaware_ of it--
       | I would mentally catalogue what color clothes my friends were
       | wearing in the morning so that I could improve my odds of finding
       | them during outdoor recess.
       | 
       | Naturally, the first time I got glasses was a: "Holy Moly you
       | mean _everybody_ sees like this!? "
        
       | OJFord wrote:
       | I had a flatmate with this at university. On campus he'd totally
       | blank me (different departments), like I'd left something awful
       | in the sink. At home Hey y'alright how's it going like nothing
       | had happened. Bit weird, but you get used to it.
       | 
       | (Basically I just learnt to ignore him out of context too. It was
       | only politeness that would otherwise incline me to acknowledge
       | someone like that, so if they don't recognise me that just
       | doesn't really apply, no need.)
        
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       (page generated 2025-08-11 23:00 UTC)