Comment This principle has been understood for 80 years (Score 1) 191
The reason is that people with exceptionally good memories often have difficulty seing even simple patterns within the strings of numbers (etc.) they are looking at.
I read once of an amazing story from the 20's or 30's about an extreme case of this, a guy who could remember whole books full of numbers or recite entire transcripts of old business meetings... but he was unable to perceive even the simplest of patterns as such, e.g.
12345
23456
34567
I'm having trouble tracking down a link because the guy's name is so obscure... I think he is referred to as 'Mr.S' in the physch literature on memory.
