Here’s Why Remembering Names Is Difficult — Dave’s Diary

And you are ...? Man, I hate not being able to remember names. And it’s getting worse! There is an old joke about a technique for remembering names along the lines of:

"Every time I meet somebody new, I ask them their name and when they tell me, I say 'What a coincidence, that’s MY name too!'  Then later, when I see them on the street and they say hello to me, they’ll use their name and then I’ll know who they are! When they say 'Hi, Bob' to me, I’ll know their name is Bob. Or 'Hi, Jerry,' then I know their name is Jerry!  It gets a little awkward when they say 'Hello Caroline' …but hey, nothing’s perfect!"

That’s a rather outlandish approach to solving a problem that happens to just about everyone -- you are introduced to someone new, and then forget their name within a few seconds.

Experts are now explaining why it's easier to remember faces than it is to remember names. In a new video from ASAPScience, producers Mitchell Moffit and Greg Brown explain that our brains are hardwired to recognize facial details, but not to process arbitrary data.

In other words, because names are random and hold no specific information, the brain struggles to remember them. Additionally, when you meet someone brand new, your brain is worrying about what you'll say next, and what the person will say next, and isn't totally focused on what the other person is saying in the moment. The effect is amplified if you're not totally interested in the new person you're meeting.

So if they don’t remember your name, it may not be because you aren’t interesting — but then again,

it might!