paisley Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 what its like to be an autistic savant interesting Since his epileptic fit, he has been able to see numbers as shapes, colours and textures. The number two, for instance, is a motion, and five is a clap of thunder. "When I multiply numbers together, I see two shapes. The image starts to change and evolve, and a third shape emerges. That's the answer. It's mental imagery. It's like maths without having to think." "It isn't only an intellectual or aloof thing that I do. I really feel that there is an emotional attachment, a caring for numbers. I think this is a human thing - in the same way that a poet humanises a river or a tree through metaphor, my world gives me a sense of numbers as personal. It sounds silly, but numbers are my friends." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Evil_Mouse Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 Totally intriguing. Reminds me of Oliver Sacks' book "An Anthropologist on Mars" - so much to be gained from just working with what's given. There's an interesting chapter in that book (kinda tragic, actually) is the guy who developed a brain cyst around 1970, which entailed all his long-term memories coming to an end roughly with the last Dead show he ever saw - he could rhyme off lyrics, describe the mood of each of the guys in the band, everything, but would be at a total loss if you asked him what he'd had for lunch the day before. He ended up being roped into a new age outfit who treated him as if he'd achieved enlightenment, when in fact he had few options besides being totally blissed out (never hurts, I suppose, if you're completely unable to hold on to grudges and so on). He might have even been able to partially recover, had they not refused his family access for the longest time. What weird brains (and cultures) we have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaidy Mae Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 Awww, that's an awesome article. Thanks Paisley! I love this cat (especially his obsessions/compulstions, which I can certainly relate too). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 It is pretty wild to think that the potential is there for everyone to be able to instantly understand numbers (among other things) but clearly it sounds like the brain has to sacrifice rudimentary tasks to acheive that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisley Posted February 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 the article made me think of hallucinations and when "your mind is playing tricks on you" and such... and how little we really know about the mind (as was made painfully obvious to me in first-year Psych at McMaster) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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