In contrast let's say I am shown 100 American women all from large metropolitan cities. They may have different haircuts, clothes, distinctive features but my brain goes "face round like potato, this distinct complexion, a This is a Brunette White American Woman". That's it. No further helpful information on that face. It's one kind of vague image that literally every brunette with light skin looks like to me if they are roughly average in hight and/or build. I can recognize with certainly from any mainly white culture (Specifically I'm thinking America, Canada, England) maybe 2% of the faces I see. When they aren't white I have a higher chance of being able to recognize them.
In contrast if you show me 300 Korean actors, singers, bit comedians, I can say with 80% certainty if I've seen them before. I may even be able to tell you who they are, what I saw them in, and some details about their likes, dislikes, and personality. ALL OF THAT INFORMATION IS LESS THAN 5 YEARS OLD TO ME.
Do I recognize someone I worked with or went to school with in Texas? Unlikely, unless they are not white.
Do I remember my FAR more ethnically diverse coworkers, colleagues and fellow students from Virginia? 90% likely.
I've determined the thing that "feeds" my faceblindness is the cultural need to conform physically and aesthetically with the "herd". While that probably happens in other specific groups, I don't have as hard a time remembering other ethnic groups. In Texas because of the population density I struggle a little with telling Latin folks apart but not as much as their white counterparts, and if I'm mistaken I apologize and explain that I deal with faceblindness and please do tell me if I mistake you for another person. Like if there are two similar build nurses with same hair/eye color, I might use their scrub styles to differentiate, or accessories like jewelry or watches.
Basically I hadn't quite found the words yet when I posted my almost figured it out discovery.
I explained to Mom in particular that when I'm watching Men on Mission while I can't recognize a dialect exactly, I can recognize the idols even when their hair changes length, color, style. I do NOT have that working for me with any other distinct culture. It's almost like I'm not faceblind at all for South Korea.
I can also tell based on what I've learned if a family or clan orginated in Northern Korea closer to Japan (I think, my geography is spotty) or Southern Korea. There is a percentage where I can recognize distinct genetic markers in facial shape, skin tone, color and shape, from Mongolian ancestry in addition to their Korean roots.
There are also naturally curly haired people all across Korea and while it seems like a low percentage its not super uncommon for boys during a sudden growth spurt to suddenly have curly hair when it was mostly straight until then. I've seen this phenomenon in some men with delayed puberty in America and England so I know there is a hormonal precedent for that specific trait.
My own hair got much more loose curly before it thinned severely, and I had curls as a baby but when Jenni cut off my baby curls my hair was almost completely straight and would not hold curl from a curling iron at all. 5 years ago my hair was just beginning to thin from stress and also thyroid issues but the hair that is still thick (on the sides mainly) is quite curly compared to anything from youth.
So basically I was really excited because I can recognize Korean people with about 80% accuracy. The actors and entertainers at least. Even when I "woke up" at 3am because my stimulant unexpectedly kicked in as I was trying to sleep my brain went "oh oh! That idol from that group 3 episodes ago, he was the older brother of Lieutenant Park in Signal in their childhood/past scenes. I knew that I knew his face and that he had played a major minor role and his character had been very kind. I started re-watching Signal a week or so ago and took a break before the next heavy part of the main story.
No comments:
Post a Comment