Unit 4 Brain Man.docx

Unit 4 Brain Man.docx

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Unit4BrainMan

Unit4BrainMan

Almost25yearsago,60MinutesintroducedviewerstoGeorgeFinn,whosetalentwasimmortalized使名垂千古inthemovie"RainMan."Georgehasaconditionknownassavantsyndrome学者症候群,amysteriousdisorderofthebrainwheresomeonehasaspectacularskill,evengenius,inamindthatisotherwiseextremelylimited.

MorleySafermetanothersavant,DanielTammet,whoiscalled"BrainMan"inBritain.Butunlikemostsavants,hehasnoobviousmentaldisability,andmostimportanttoscientists,hecandescribehisownthoughtprocess.HemayverywellbeascientificRosettastone罗塞达石头比喻可靠线索,akeytounderstandingthebrain.

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Backin1983,GeorgeFinn,blessedorobsessed着迷的withcalendarcalculation,couldgiveyouthedayifyougavehimthedate.

"WhatdayoftheweekwasAugust13th,1911?

"SaferquizzedFinn.

"ASunday,"Finnreplied.

"WhatdayoftheweekwasMay20th,1921?

"Saferasked.

"Friday,"Finnanswered.

GeorgeFinnisasavant.Inmorepoliticallyincorrecttimeshewouldhavebeencalledan"idiotsavant"-amentallyhandicapped＝disabilityorautistic自闭症personwhosebrainsomehowpossessesanislandofbrilliance.

Askedifheknewhowhedoesit,FinntoldSafer,"Idon'tknow,butit'sjustthat,that'sfantasticIcandothat."

Ifthisallseemsfamiliar,thereisareason:

fiveyearsafterthe60Minutesbroadcast,DustinHoffmanimmortalizedsavantslikeGeorgeinthemovie"RainMan."

Whichbringsustothatothersavantwementioned:

DanielTammet.HeisanEnglishman,whoisa27-year-oldmathandmemorywizard＝talent.

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"IwasbornNovember8th,1931,"Saferremarks.

"Uh-huh.That'saprimenumber.1931.AndyouwerebornonaSunday.Andthisyear,yourbirthdaywillbeonaWednesday.Andyou'llbe75,"TammettellsSafer.

Itisestimatedthereareonly50truesavantslivingintheworldtoday,andyetnonearelikeDaniel.Heisarticulate善于表达的,self-sufficient自给自足的,blessed/obsessedwithallofthespectacularabilityofasavant,butwithverylittleofthedisability.Takehismathskill,forexample.

Askedtomultiply31by31by31by31,Tammetquickly-andaccurately-respondedwith"923,521."

Anditisnotjustcalculating.Hisgiftofmemoryisstunning令人震惊的.Brieflyshowhimalongnumericalsequenceandhewillreciteitrightbacktoyou.Andhecandoitbackwards,toboot并且，除此以外.

Thatfeat＝skillisjustawarm-upforDanielTammet.HefirstmadeheadlinesatOxford,whenhepubliclyrecitedtheendlesssequenceofnumbersembodiedbytheGreekletter"Pi."Pi,thenumbersweusetocalculatethedimensionsofacircle,areusuallyroundedoffto3.14.Butitsnumbersactuallygoontoinfinity.

Danielstudiedthesequence-athousandnumberstoapage.

"AndIwouldsitandIwouldgorge狼吞虎咽onthem.AndIwouldjustabsorbhundredsandhundredsatatime,"hetellsSafer.

IttookhimseveralweekstoprepareandthenDanielheadedtoOxford,wherewithnumbercrunchers会计师等捣鼓数字的人checkingeverydigit＝number,heopenedthefloodgates防洪闸门ofhisextraordinarymemory.记忆如洪水猛兽

Tammetsayshewasabletorecite,inaproperorder,22,514numbers.Ittookhimoverfivehoursandhediditwithoutasinglemistake.

Scientistssayamemoryfeatlikethisistrulyextraordinary.Dr.V.S.RamachandranandhisteamattheCaliforniaCenterforBrainStudytestedDanielextensivelyafterhisPiachievement.

Whatdidhemakeofhim?

"Iwassurprisedathowarticulate善于表达的andintelligenthewas,andwasabletointeractsociallyandintrospect内省内观onhisown-abilities,"saysDr.Ramachandran.

Andwhilethatintrospectionisextremelyrareamongsavants,Daniel’sabilitytodescribehowhismindworkscouldbeinvaluabletoscientistsstudyingthebrain,ourleastunderstoodorgan.

"EvenhowyouandIdo17minusnineisabigmystery.Youknow,howaretheselittlewispsofjelly胶状物inyourbraindoingthatcomputation?

Wedon'tknowthat,"Dr.Ramachandranexplains.

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Itmayseemtodefy违背逻辑logic,butRamachandranbelievesthatasavant’sgeniuscouldactuallyresultfrombraininjury."Onepossibilityisthatmanyotherpartsofthebrainarefunctioningabnormallyorsub-normally低能的.Andthisallowsthepatienttoallocate分配allhisattentionalresources注意力totheoneremainingpart,"heexplains."Andthere'salotofclinical临床数据可以佐证evidenceforthis.Somepatientshaveastrokeandsuddenly,theirartisticskillsimprove."

ThattheoryfitswellwithDaniel.Attheageoffour,hesufferedamassiveepilepticseizure突发癫痫.Hebelievesthatseizurecontributedtohiscondition.Numberswerenolongersimplynumbersandhehaddevelopedararecrossingofthesensesknownassynesthesia通感.

"Iseenumbersinmyheadascolorsandshapesandtextures.SowhenIseealongsequence,thesequenceformslandscapesinmymind,"Tammetexplains."Everynumberupto10,000,Icanvisualizeinthisway,hasit'sowncolor,hasit'sownshape,hasit'sowntexture."

Forexample,whenDanielsaysheseesPi,hedoesthoseinstantcomputations,heisnotcalculating,butsaystheanswersimplyappearstohimasalandscapeofcolorfulshapes.

"Theshapesaren'tstatic静态的.They'refullofcolor.They'refulloftexture.Inasense,they'refulloflife,"hesays.

Askedifthey’rebeautiful,Tammetsays,"Notallofthem.Someofthemareugly.289isanuglynumber.Idon'tlikeitverymuch.Whereas333,forexample,isbeautifultome.It'sround.It's."

"Chubby圆满的,"Saferremarks.

'It's-yes.It'schubby,'Tammetagrees.

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Yetevenwiththedevelopmentoftheseextraordinaryabilitiesasachild,nobodysensedthatDanielwasaprodigy天才,includinghismother,Jennifer.Buthewasdifferent.

"Hewasconstantlycountingthings,"Jenniferremembers."Ithink,whatfirstattractedhimtobooks,wastheactualnumbersoneachpage.Andhejustlovedcounting."

Askedifshethinksthere’saconnectionbetweenhisepilepsy癫痫andhisraretalent,shetellsSafer,"Hewasalwaysdifferentfrom-whenhewasreallyafewweeksold,Inoticedhewasdifferent.SoI'mnotsurethatit'sentirelythat,butIthinkitmighthaveescalated加剧增强it."

DanielwasalsodiagnosedwithAsperger’sSyndrome阿斯伯特征状群轻度孤僻症-amildformofautism.Itmadeforapainfulchildhood.

"Iwouldflapmyhands拍手sometimeswhenIwasexcited,orpullatmyfingers,andpullatmylips,"Tammetremembers."Andofcourse,thechildrensawthesethingsandwouldrepeatthembacktome,andteasemeaboutthem.AndIwouldputmyfingersinmyearsandcountveryquicklyinpowersoftwo.Two,four,eight,16,32,64."

"Numbersweremyfriends.Andtheyneverchanged.So,theywerereliable.Icouldtrustthem,"hesays.

Andyet,Danieldidnotretreat并未彻底撤退摆脱fullyintothatmysteriousprisonofautism,asmanysavantsdo.Hebelieveshislargefamilymayhaveactuallyforcedhimtoadapt.

"Becausemyparents,havingninechildren,hadsomuchtodo,somuchtocopewith,IrealizedIhadtodoformyself,"hesays.

Henowrunshisownonlineeducationalbusiness.HeandhispartnerNeiltrytokeepalowprofile保持低调,despitehisgrowingfame.

Yetthelimitsofhisautismarealwaysthere."Ifinditdifficulttowalkinthestreetsometimesiftherearelotsofpeoplearoundme.Ifthere'slotsofnoise,Iputmyfingersinmyearstoblockitout,'hesays.

Thatanxietykeepshimclosetohome.Hecan’tdrive,rarelygoesshopping,andfindsthebeachadifficultplacebecauseofhiscompulsion冲动tocountthegrainsofsand.Anditmanifests表明证明itselfinotherways,likemakingaveryprecisemeasurementofhiscereal谷类eachmorning:

itmustbeexactly45gramsofporridge,nomore,noless.

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DanielwasrecentlyprofiledinaBritishdocumentarycalledBrainman.Theproducers制片人posedachallengethathecouldnotpassup:

Learnaforeignlanguageinaweek-andnotjustanyforeignlanguage,butIcelandic冰岛语,consideredtobeoneofthemostdifficultlanguagestolearn.

InIceland,hestudiedandpracticedwithatutor.WhenthemomentoftruthcameandheappearedonTVlivewithahost,thehostsaid,"Iwasamazed.Hewasrespondingtoourquestions.HedidunderstandthemverywellandIthoughtthathisgrammarwasverygood.Weareveryproudofourlanguageandthatsomeoneisabletospeakitafteronlyoneweek,that’sjustgreat."

"DoyouthinkthatDaniel,inacertainway,representsarealpathwaytofurtherunderstandingthebrain?

"SaferasksDr.Ramachandran.

"Ithinkonecouldsaythattimeandagaininscience,somethingthatlookslikeacuriosityinitiallyoftenleadstoacompletelynewdirectionofresearch,"Ramachandranreplies."Sometimes,theyprovidethegoldenkey.Doesn'talwayshappen.Sometimesit'sjustmumbo-jumbo莫名其妙的.Butthatmaywellbetruewithsavants."

Danielcontinuestovolunteerforscientistswhowanttounderstandhisamazingbrain.Butheisreluctanttobecomewhathecallsaperformingseal驯养表演的海豹andhasrefusedmostofferstocashinon变现。

拒绝了许多靠他的特殊技能赚钱的邀请hisremarkableskills.

"Peopleallthetimeaskingmetochoosenumbersforthelottery.Ortoinventatimemachine.Ortocomeupwithsomegreatdiscovery,"heexplains."ButmyabilitiesarenotthosethatmeanthatIcandoateverything."

Buthehaswrittenabookabouthisexperiences,entitled"BornonaBlueDay."

Healsodoesmotivationalspeechesforparentsofautisticchildren-yetonemoregiftofhisremarkablebrain.

Butattheendoftheday-geniusornot-thatbraindoesworkalittledifferently.

"Onehourafterweleavetoday,andIwillnotrememberwhatyoulooklike.AndIwillfinditdifficulttorecognizeyou,ifIseeyouagain.Iwillrememberyourhandkerchief手帕.AndIwillrememberyouhavefourbuttonsonyoursleeve.AndI'llr