What would happen if we couldn't recognise anyone?

[Blobbenstein]

If a mad scientists released a virus that destroyed the part of the brain that dealt with facial recognition, for everyone, how would that affect the world?

I think we take the ability to recognise people a bit for granted, but I think a lot of the structure of society is based upon our ability to recognise the people in our lives.

 

[Danielle]

o_o it's hard to think of what would happen.. omg

 

[Blobbenstein]

I remember hearing about how BBC news readers on the radio, in world war 2, started giving out their names at he start of the broadcast, because people were worried that it might actually be a trick German broadcast......

What if one couldn't recognise political leaders, people you worked with, relatives..........who else is it important to be able to recognise?

There are other ways to recognise someone, like the rest of their body, their body language, their voice, etc, but facial recognition is probably pretty high in importance.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I watched an episode of Criminal Minds and a character was suffering from a disorder that made him believe that his family and co-workers were replaced by imposters as he didn't recognise their faces.
Capgras delusion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Alice-Bee]

To a degree this happens...Its called alzheimers/dementia.

Granted not the same as what youre talking about but, you know. Its distressing to the person knowing they know the person but not being able to work out who it is. So that is how I imagine it would be. Distressing.

 

[Amy SF]

There is also a rare brain abnormality that people can have that doesn't allow them to recognize faces. I saw a special TV program hosted by John Cleese about it. I can't remember what it was called, but I thought it was sad. It showed a father who had to recognize his kids by what they wore because he couldn't recognize them by their faces.

Thank goodness for Google. I believe this is the program in question: http://www.amazon.com/The-Human-Face-John-Cleese/dp/B00005LC1B

 

[RabbitLuvr]

Neuroscientist Oliver Sacks can't recognize faces. Listen to this bit on RadioLab!

 

[cornsail]

Everyone would wear a name tag with a picture avatar above it. It would be sort of like veggieviews.

 

[Blobbenstein]

but what if someone nicked your name tag?

 

[Danielle]

but what if someone nicked your name tag?

Identity theft?

 

[Amy SF]

Identity theft?

Good one!

 

[Pirate]

This is a real disorder called Prosopagnosia https://www.faceblind.org/research/ they have linked it to certain parts of the brain and can be caused by brain injury. Sooo if you managed to create a virus which attacked that part of the brain itd be possible (or did some lobotomising!)

Im crap at recognising faces, to the point where it can affect me socially (ie wont approach someone because im not confident that its really the person I think it is, or ignore people and they think im rude). I tend to go by hair or other features (ie glasses) so lost when people change it. Thats bad enough, I'd hate to be completely faceblind. I think society would learn to cope (we could tattoo our names on our heads)

 

[Danielle]

Do you mean on our foreheads? No thx

 

[das_nut]

There's a book called something like "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" about people who can't recognize faces.

I never read the book myself.

 

[mlp]

There's a book called something like "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" about people who can't recognize faces.

I never read the book myself.

It's not just about that, but rather about a number of different neurological disorders. Apparently, there are some people who can't recognize one of their own body parts, such as an arm - it appears as something completely alien to the afflicted person.

 

[yally]

This is a real disorder called Prosopagnosia https://www.faceblind.org/research/ they have linked it to certain parts of the brain and can be caused by brain injury. Sooo if you managed to create a virus which attacked that part of the brain itd be possible (or did some lobotomising!)

Im crap at recognising faces, to the point where it can affect me socially (ie wont approach someone because im not confident that its really the person I think it is, or ignore people and they think im rude). I tend to go by hair or other features (ie glasses) so lost when people change it. Thats bad enough, I'd hate to be completely faceblind. I think society would learn to cope (we could tattoo our names on our heads)

I'm just like you! When I'm meeting people for dates I try to get them to stand under a landmark so I know it's them. They always end up standing NEAR the landmark though so I'm never sure it's them and I need to pretend I haven't seen them and wait under the landmark for them to approach me and act surprised when they do

 

[Pirate]

I'm just like you! When I'm meeting people for dates I try to get them to stand under a landmark so I know it's them. They always end up standing NEAR the landmark though so I'm never sure it's them and I need to pretend I haven't seen them and wait under the landmark for them to approach me and act surprised when they do

Thats a good idea! I tend to meet people outside stations and things and that doesnt work. You can be president when everyone goes faceblind

 

[Amy SF]

I know this doesn't really have anything to do with recognizing faces, but I have a terrible time recognizing voices on the phone. I do recognize some voices, but I've embarrassed myself quite a lot when I mistake one person I hear for another one. In fact, not too long ago I got a wrong number phone call, and when I answered, I heard a guy who sounded a lot like my brother, so I thought it was him and we talked for a minute before I realized it was a stranger calling the wrong number. To be fair, he thought I was someone else, too. I'm sure we were both embarrassed.

 

[Blobbenstein]

someone I know sounds like my grandmother, on the phone, and when she rings me up I think 'what's she ringing me for?'...haven't spoken to my GM for 10 years.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

There's a book called something like "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" about people who can't recognize faces.

I never read the book myself.

It's written by Oliver Sacks, who appears on the show RadioLab speaking about his faceblindness. Link above.