[FairfieldLife] Re: Brain injury makes man a math genius
Fascinating. Less is generally so not more with brain injury. I've had experience of someone close to me suffering serious brain damage, depending which part is damaged they generally have a period of confusion, even psychosis, until the rest of the brain takes over whatever functions are missing. I met a lot of people in various stages of recovery while helping my friend and only one of them had their life improved, for everyone else it's a major struggle. She had been in a destructive relationship and had an unfulfilling career. But then she had a stroke and it seemed to knock out that part of the brain that kept her insecure enough not to try and change anything. After rehab she ditched the crap bloke, retrained as a teacher and now works at the local high school. That's very unusual though. And it's obviously completely different to this guys experience. Immediately I wonder what stops the rest of us having these experiences all the time if it's a matter of brain wiring. Here's a thought: we all have innate mathematical abilities, they help us do the calculations to catch say, a ball in mid air, or cycle down a path in the woods. There must be millions of complex working outs going on subconsciously to help us deal with every aspect of life that don't reach the threshold of consciousness. Maybe this guy had some part of his brain that regulates that removed or altered in some way and he now sees the world partly how his unconscious mind does. I'm sure we've all had that experience of someone buying a particular type of car and suddenly we see them everywhere, it's being brought to our attention by some unconscious process. We know that we are only conscious of things that are deemed useful or relevant to us, maybe we could see it all but evolution has given us only the capability we have to stop us getting overwhelmed. Actually, a lot of what he says sounds like an LSD trip and that seems to involve a breakdown between what we are normally allowed see and some dream-creation centre taking over the running of conscious awareness. Total speculation but like LSD, it reminds us that we only get a limited view of the potential that is there. Interesting stuff. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend@... wrote : 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.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Brain injury makes man a math genius
Did you ever see the film Phenomenon? It stars John Travolta (yeah, I know, but this *was* one of his best performances) as a guy who is out one night, looks up into the sky and sees a bright light coming down at him. It strikes him, knocks him unconscious, and when he wakes up he's vastly different -- genius-level IQ, able to learn entire languages just by reading a textbook once, able to perform telekinesis and telepathy, etc. Natch, everyone thinks it's because of an alien encounter. The truth is actually more interesting. Worth a watch if you've never seen it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3woaPZowmM From: salyavin808 no_re...@yahoogroups.com To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, April 21, 2014 10:57 AM Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Brain injury makes man a math genius Fascinating. Less is generally so not more with brain injury. I've had experience of someone close to me suffering serious brain damage, depending which part is damaged they generally have a period of confusion, even psychosis, until the rest of the brain takes over whatever functions are missing. I met a lot of people in various stages of recovery while helping my friend and only one of them had their life improved, for everyone else it's a major struggle. She had been in a destructive relationship and had an unfulfilling career. But then she had a stroke and it seemed to knock out that part of the brain that kept her insecure enough not to try and change anything. After rehab she ditched the crap bloke, retrained as a teacher and now works at the local high school. That's very unusual though. And it's obviously completely different to this guys experience. Immediately I wonder what stops the rest of us having these experiences all the time if it's a matter of brain wiring. Here's a thought: we all have innate mathematical abilities, they help us do the calculations to catch say, a ball in mid air, or cycle down a path in the woods. There must be millions of complex working outs going on subconsciously to help us deal with every aspect of life that don't reach the threshold of consciousness. Maybe this guy had some part of his brain that regulates that removed or altered in some way and he now sees the world partly how his unconscious mind does. I'm sure we've all had that experience of someone buying a particular type of car and suddenly we see them everywhere, it's being brought to our attention by some unconscious process. We know that we are only conscious of things that are deemed useful or relevant to us, maybe we could see it all but evolution has given us only the capability we have to stop us getting overwhelmed. Actually, a lot of what he says sounds like an LSD trip and that seems to involve a breakdown between what we are normally allowed see and some dream-creation centre taking over the running of conscious awareness. Total speculation but like LSD, it reminds us that we only get a limited view of the potential that is there. Interesting stuff. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend@... wrote : 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 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/ 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.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Brain injury makes man a math genius
Most people don't want to get hit in the head in order to be a genius. But if a bad experience does occur, one can say something good can happen out of this incident--good or bad. At least, there is hope for the best outcome. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend@... wrote : 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.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Brain injury makes man a math genius
For every autistic savant, there are many, many who simply suffer degradation of cognitive abilities. Stroke victims and other people with brain damage show the same trend: just about everyone suffers, but a few benefit in some way. All my problems add up to... problems. I may have compensating gifts of some kind but they have never manifested strongly or consistently enough to say that I'm happy with being different. L ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend@... wrote : 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.
