Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Clark's Memory

Because Clark has an eidetic (photographic) memory does that mean he can remember his dreams instead of forget them when he awakes, like the rest of us?

Isn't an eidetic memory the ability to remember everything you hear?

Dictionary.com defines as: WORD's Dictionary defines it as: Which would explain how he's able to draw Gene Newtrich's face (after the Red K wears off) in "Individual Responsiblity".

I poked around online. I couldn't find anything that suggested he would be able to remember every single dream (and we dream A LOT during a typical sleep). But some people claimed they could remember dreams from as far back as 3 or 4 years old.

Of course, Clark is Kryptonian, so you can make him do whatever you want, really.

Oooh. In Criminal Minds, Spencer Reid is said to have an eidetic memory, and I always thought it referenced to things he's heard, but I just watched a clip, and it seems he remembers everything vividly, not just things he heard.

Ugh. You've got to be kidding me. Internet crashed just as I clicked "add reply" T___T

Anyways. To paraphrase what I had before... there are different types of memories. Tonal eidetic (that may be backwards) means you can remember everything you hear, versus the accepted definition of eidetic where it's a photographic memory.

Virginia, I think whatever you want is game. I don't think in general the remembering dreams thing applies to eidetic memories because (a) it's not technically a visual, it's all in your head, and (b) it would be impossible to prove you could remember every dream. You can say you do, but we dream so often and briefly that there's no way you could recall each one, and even if you did there's no way to check your answer against a rubric or something. You might remember a lot of your dreams, or even truly remember them all, but you couldn't really say so and it wouldn't make a difference. Clark is different though, so you could probably make it fly.

I had a question about how you would have him go about remembering his dreams. Would they be as intense in his sleep as if he were living it, or would every dream have the power of a dramatic nightmare? Or would the dreams be completely normal and the only difference would be his memories of them the next morning? Or would the memories have to be triggered by something, like a moment of deja vu that suddely reminds him of the vivid dream he had...? In any of these cases, how would this effect his sleep patterns, or even his mental health in general (if Clark's dreams are as intense as reality, how would his mind ever catch a break)?

Just food for thought.

PS: Now you've got me thinking an LnC/Inception crossover. I don't know how or why and I know I can't do it, but you've planted the seed...

I agree that dreams are a their own thing and you can do what you want.

I think there are different types and degrees of eididic memory, too. I can remember images well but I can't read the text of page I saw from memory. I may remember what the page said but I can't visualize it. Some things stick, some things don't without effort. I guess even with a photographic memory, sometimes you don't bother to load the film.

Also, having an eididic memory doesn't necessarily mean you have total recall. I had a counselor at my university that had total recall. I could drop in unannounced after 6 months and he could pick up the same conversation we'd had the last time I saw him. It was really weird and interesting at the same time.

If Clark had total recall then the Never on Sunday plot wouldn't have worked since Clark would have remembered being placed into the ship.

I do remember one of those dreams from when I was 4 or 5 years old - but can't usually remember any recent dreams.

I remember dreams from when I was in between 4 and 6 (ish), but they were the direct result of my parents losing me at the amusement park, so I think that's more trauma related than having a good memory.

I had a vivid dream where I'm flying around my bedroom, just floated off my bed and floated around the room. I was somewhere between 4-6 at the time. Very happy dream.... or was it real?

I also had lots of nightmares based on movies I shouldn't have watched, but snuck into the living room when I wasn't supposed to. That's a lesson that one can only learn by living it, I'm afraid. (I've got a couple of TV sneaks in my house, too.)

The first dream I remember, I was about 4, so that sounds right. I think it stuck with me because it was an odd nightmare. (I say odd because in describing it, it doesn't sound nightmarish, but I woke up crying for my mom)

LOL, I had something similar. I'd wake up in the middle of the night and look towards my toes, and my eyes were on the level with the top of the closet. And no, I did not have a bunk bed. In the morning, I was still under the covers.

Well, since he was placed on the ship back on Krypton under the red sun, and the extreme level of Clark's memory is apparently part of his Superpowers, it makes sense that he would not fully remember it, since he had not had even the start of his Superpowers yet.

Actually, I think "All Shock Up" is maybe a bigger problem for assuming Clark has exceptional memory, which is possibly why many rewrites of it make the astroid partially of Kryptonite/some other implimentation of Kryptonite in the rescue process.