There are times when I'd die for a photographic memory, especially since my own memory is particularly bad. (For example, it can be a stretch to tell you what I ate for breakfast, or what particularly big things happened in my life when I was 8. Or 12. Or 16. And so on.)
Stephen Wiltshire, however, has the gift -- after only one helicopter view of Rome (as in the video), he was able to create a near-perfect panorama... from memory, with no help. Wow...
But that comes at quite a price -- he's an autistic savant, which means that his brain, while particularly suited to these kinds of mind-boggling tasks, isn't particularly suited for normal, every day life -- i.e., the kind of social interaction we tend to expect from most people. Stephen is able to communicate now (as shown in the video), but it came as quite a struggle, as his website indicates.
If you'd like to learn more, here's his website: http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/
Stephen Wiltshire: The Man Known as ‘The Living Camera’
Read more at www.petapixel.com
[...] when he was only eleven, he drew a perfect aerial view of London after only helicopter ride. Even the number of windows in all the major buildings was correct.
