What are the implications? For the nature of consciousness, perhaps for reincarnation?
First paragraph of an excerpt from the book "Struck By Genius: How a Brain Injury Made Me a Mathematical Marvel" http://www.amazon.com/Struck-Genius-Injury-Mathematical-Marvel/dp/0544045602/?tag=saloncom08-20 at Salon.com: If you could see the world through my eyes, you would know how perfect it is, how much order runs through it, and how much structure is hidden in its tiniest parts. We’re so often victims of things—I see the violence too, the disease, the poverty stretching far and wide—but the universe itself and everything we can touch and all that we are is made of the most beautiful geometric patterns imaginable. I know because they’re right in front of me. Because of a traumatic brain injury, the result of a brutal physical attack, I’ve been able to see these patterns for over a decade. This change in my perception was really a change in my brain function, the result of the injury and the extraordinary and mostly positive way my brain healed. All of a sudden, the patterns were just . . . there, and I realize now that my injury was a rare gift. I’m lucky to have survived, but for me, the real miracle—what really saved me—was being introduced to and almost overwhelmed by the mathematical grace of the universe. Read more: http://www.salon.com/2014/04/20/the_brain_injury_that_made_me_a_math_genius/ http://www.salon.com/2014/04/20/the_brain_injury_that_made_me_a_math_genius/ It's an astonishing story; I have no idea what to make of it. Seems like the guy acquired OCD along with his new math abilities, but he doesn't seem to mind.
