Posted on 06/14/2025 5:00:37 PM PDT by fwdude
I’ve done online searches to see if there is any veracity to this seemingly strong tendency in the black population to fail to note, remember, or use names of others who come across their path, at least not people who are celebrities. I call it “name blindness,” after another psychological phenomenon known and “face blindness.” This tendency doesn’t seem to be limited to specific sociological strata in the black population, but seems to be extant throughout.
I’ve noticed this in college classes, where professors names are not remembered or used, on online forums and in debates and speeches, where black presenter seem to resort to pronouns to refer to a person in question.
My interest is in sociological phenomena and this seems to be consistent across generations and socioeconomic groups. Does anyone know of any scholarly studies on this, or is this question not allowed to be asked, buried by political correctness?
Never heard of it and DOUBT IT EXISTS. Just IMHO, of course.
It is probably not a black thing specifically, but a tribal thing. You want to remember most what is closest to you.
“Name blindness” does seem to exist as a neurological condition. Look it up.
It’s not a black thing specifically, but it does appear to affect black at far higher rates proportionally than other non-black races.
That’s probably reflects theur level of tribalism. The average person is built to only know 150 people well. The rest cannot be known well. That is right across the human race.
Sounds like Ron Swanson.
That’s an interesting point.
I lost much of my ability to remember newly met names and faces in my 40s. I use attributes as a memory jog now.
I kinda have that a lot. Should I identify as black.
“”I kinda have that a lot. Should I identify as black.””
I have it but it’s because I am old and names don’t always come easy. That, or I don’t care. Something like that.
“Name blindness” does seem to exist as a neurological condition. Look it up.
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No, I know it exists, I just doubt that it disproportionally affects black people.
As a point of interest I’ve ALWAYS been bad at remembering names and I’m not black. So I’ve always felt sympathetic whenever I’ve seen someone with an episode of name forgetfulness.
Yep. Something like that.
Maybe you misunderstood. I’m not referring to difficulty or inability to remember names of people you just met for the first time. Most people experience that to a high degree. I’m talking about names that are presented to a person in a persistent fashion, such as in a movie, story or novel, names that are an intrinsic part of a story line.
I’m a keen social observer, so forgive me if I seem obsessed with subtle nuances in behavior, but I think it is significant.
I’ll sometimes watch first-time movie reactions on YouTube of movies I really like and think others should see. The white reviewers almost always connect with the characters enough to remember their names. The black reviewers seldom do, even with major characters.
I am terrible at remembering names—particularly when I don’t care what the name of the person is...
Lol.
It’s stupid lazy, rude behavior.
They don’t give a shiiite about anyone but themselves.
I see it all the time.
Pop Culture unite: “Blast from the Past” had it right.
Exactly right, billions of mohammedheads call each other the same name across every conceivable color and size humans have.
Another commenter characterized it as tribalism, which seems to be much stronger in the black population in general. You don’t see whites calling each other “brother” or “sister,” after all.
Yup. It is not that I don’t remember your name....it is just that I don’t care.
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