On 9 Dec 2012 at 11:33, Mike Palij wrote: > Given Professor Black's history of posts on Tips, it is not always > clear when he is serious or joking, serious about facts or joking > about facts, thinking that some statement is a fact when in fact it is > a joke, and so on. Case in point, see, for example: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg28190.html
and a bit farther down: > So, when Prof. Black speaks, it is not always clear what he means. > Especially if he leaves out emoticons. I'm pleased to discover how much Mike P. has missed me, and particularly pleased that he continues to treasure posts of mine almost three years old, which even I had forgotten about. On his complaint and confusion, I've always felt that a good joke doesn't need the help of tiresome emoticons. In fact, it spoils the joke and insults the intelligence of the reader. No risk of that in Mike's case, of course :-) In that old post, I reported a film to be made about H.M., the late patient with tragically-impaired memory. I had speculated (tongue-in-cheek, Mike) about which actress might play Brenda Milner. Mike commented: > Where Prof. > Black got the idea that Milner was involved is/was a mystery and > Turns out that the planned film (which as not yet been made) > was to be based on Suzanne Corkin's book on H.M. First, it seems that Mike is unaware that Brenda Milner was the first to appreciate the enormous importance of H.M. to neuropsychology and the first to to initiate systematic study of his staggering memory impairment (See Scoville and Milner, 1957). Suzanne Corkin was Milner's student. So any halfway decent retelling of the H.M. story with a degree of historical accuracy would have to include some portrayal of the important contribution of Milner. Picture it. Milner rises from her office chair, fixes Corkin with a steely gaze, and says, "He's yours. Go forth and study him. Neuropsychology depends on it." As for choice of actress, I still favour Kidman or Winslet if a young Milner is to be portrayed. For an older scientist remembering how it all began, I suggest the ineffable Judi Dench. After all, she's going to have time on her hands now that her contribution to Bond pictures is over. Finally, this nitpick from MIke: > (nor is it clear why he [that's me] though Rudin directed "No Country for Old Men" when it was the Coen brothers who directed it). Let the record show that in my old post to which Mike refers: a) I correctly identified Rudin as the director of the new film on H.M. b) I correctly identified Rudin as associated with the film "No Country for Old Men" c) I never said that Rudin was the director of "No Country for Old Men". So what was MIke going on about? Stephen Scoville, W., and Milner, B. (1957). Loss of recent memory after bilateral hippocampal lesions. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiat. 20, 11- [ available on-line at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC497229/?page=1 ] -------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca --------------------------------------------- --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=22271 or send a blank email to leave-22271-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
