How I knew your name (or, my devious and subtle powers)

By dkl9, written 2023-316, revised 2023-360 (1 revisions)


I learn the names of people I meet in real life, usually including their surname, without asking them, even sometimes before meeting them. I may have done this to you.

In no particular order, I probably learned your name from one or more of the following sources:

The whole process is far less effortful than it seems, sith I have a good memory. Some names, I learn accidentally; some, I deliberately look for. You will not know which it was in your case — I might not know myself.

My "creepy" knowledge of your (full) name should not be taken to imply creepy knowledge of many more personal details. Information beyond names is visible less often and more ambiguously, and I make less effort to remember it.