Well, the TV "star" shows up and he asks for the script. Then he excuses himself and goes into another room. We can see him through some glass and he's reading the script. We could see his lips move but not hear him.
So, the guy reads the script then comes out. They get him ready then he walks away for a second then comes back and says he's ready to go. They say "action" and this guy does the long monologue (it was a technical training film) and gets every word 100% right! One take! Amazing!
Well, we all thought "this guy is a genius". He's some kind of super brainiac. Well, he was not. Actually, he was not that sharp. He just read whatever they put in front of him on TV when they told him to.
Who can tell me how he did what I describe above?
Some people just have that type of photgraphic memory, but it doesn't necessarily equate to intelligence. He may be able to read and memorize a Wiliam F. Buckley article, or a chapter of "Wealth of Nations", but he may not understand what he has read. I remember an episode of the Paper Chase where there was a student who had a photographic memory and could memorize every case assigned by Professor Kingsfield. However, he was unable to take the rulings in those cases and apply them to other sets of facts. He could memorize text, but he couldn't reason from analogy.