damn you..you hacked my Google password? :D

i set the padlock code on this hunting ranch to the flat six firing order..the rancher/owner thought i was retarded. his was "1 1 1 1 1 1"

true story.

we were having a company tailgate safety meeting. we were discussing things, things that happened to us. one guy had his truck broken in and his gas card stolen. the fool had the PIN# on the card and the perp got off with a free tank of super unleaded before the card was deactivated.

the talk switched to great places, and ways to hide the pin#. these guys got elaborate. like writing a phone number down with the middle digits being the PIN. or sharpie # on the inside of gas cap lid..iphone notes..etc. it went on and on.

i interrupted them and asked.."why not go old school?"
"what? what is old school? how do you do it Cliff?"

"err..i memorized it?"

it is six digits..took me one time at the pump and it was burned into my memory. stashed it right there next to my first home number..my wife b-day and her new cell #.

my memory superpower is faces. i can remember a face from any timeline in my life.

Well my Garmins have an integrated camera, don't leave home without them. I also ear a body cam at my sports official assignments. CYA.

But I agree with you, my need to memorize addresses and phone number is a lost art.

My kid and I were looking at his new Monster 696 yesterday, planning on what we would need to do an oil change this weekend. His first impulse was to watch a Youtube video of an oil change. I told him it would be better if we studied the bike and talked about what needed to be done, then figured out which tools to use, which filter and oil to buy, etc.

I agree that the online videos for fixing things are a great resource, but I wonder if they will replace basic troubleshooting skills and know-how.

Last summer, the main fuse blew on my KLR650 while we were out on a trail in Montana. No cell coverage, so we had to figure it out on the trail. Good stuff for him to learn!

That is a good ability and I am the opposite. I struggle with faces and names even after a short time.

That's assuming humans of the future will have any problem-solving ability left after generations of dependence on technology to do most of their thinking.
I recently read an article suggesting that the use of autonomous vehicles might play a role in reducing people's ability to think 'on their feet'. Driving is an activity that requires the brain to closely monitor a continually-unfolding series of events and interact on-the-fly with an ever-changing landscape filled with other moving objects...some of which will behave unpredictably from time to time. Even though we do this all quite automatically, the act of driving can be thought of as 'exercise' for the brain.
The first generations of autonomous vehicles will still require a person to step in and take control if a situation should arise that the computer's algorithms can't handle. The fear is that 'drivers' won't be up to the task of driving any more once they can spend most of their time in a vehicle just glued to their phones instead of paying attention to what's going on around them.
As technology continues to reduce the brain's role in problem solving and creative thought, will it eventually become an organ that just keeps our hearts pumping and our lungs breathing?

I'll remember their face but just under 10 seconds for their name... Of course they all remember JJ

If I make it a conscious effort when they tell me their name I can...otherwise I probably won't be able to repeat it immediately...faces....fuggetaboutit :(. Clinically, my memory was nearly photographic for things I looked at on a printed page and long strings of alphanumerics when I was younger....the brain is a funny thing.

edited...Oh yeah, my sense of direction, etc. and finding my way around is excellent...no GPS for me....just let me glance at a map first :)