Posted on 05/20/2012 12:27:30 AM PDT by Nachum
How can we explain “acquired savants” — people with extraordinary talent who’ve miraculously developed artistic, musical, or mathematical abilities as a result of a brain injury, or temporarily from a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) session — since they weren’t born with the talent and didn’t learn it later?
For example, how is it that somebody like Derek Amato (video below), who’d never demonstrated any musical talent before hitting his head at the bottom of a pool, could suddenly handle jazz and classical pieces of astounding complexity without training?
Darold A. Treffert, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and a consultant for the movie Rain Man, speculates that it could be the result of what he calls “genetic memory” (“ancestral memory”) that is triggered by rewiring of the brain to compensate for the injury.
(Excerpt) Read more at kurzweilai.net ...
Geez. Some people will do anything to get a music gig
I had a neighbor that played piano by ear. Her mother tried to give her lessons and it was impossible...she could hear a song on the piano and only once and play it back without missing a note...her teacher gave up on her, she was unteachable...Was born with the ability...
We can DO IT, we need the freedom to just go ahead and do it without the “edumacational means testing” approval of skills.
“If you aren’t a chart success, you must musically suck” is the mantra I read from some on this board.
There is much graft in the filtering process.
We know the body to be a bio-electro-chemical system. It can dispense drugs within the bloodstream in response to trauma and stress, etc.
Just because an eel is considered “electric” does not mean that we cannot similarly discharge electric shocks at will.
It’s all in the know how to tap the ability.
Those people probably don’t listen to metal bands. Unless you’re of the era of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, you don’t chart. But there’s so, so many fantastic, world-class metal bands out there that barely get the attention they deserve.
My friend was surprised last night that at 2AM I know the twists and turns home on a 30 mile journey on only my forth voyage (second after dark).
I didn’t even look for the poorly lit street signs.
Iron Maiden got scant video promotion in MTVs earliest days but I don’t think they got much afterwards (and their videos themselves were pretty weak using stock footage).
BUT even without chart list and radio airplay, they built a following through constant touring.
I saw them at a general admission show opening for the Scorpions, myself.
You should feel lucky. I’m still drinking. Even I don’t know what my brain is like right now.
Mama Cass Eliot claimed that she became a talented singer only after getting clunked on the head by a brick that fell from a building.
Must have been a long time ago. Iron Maiden are absolutely huge now, bigger than they’ve ever been. They tour the world in a customized commercial airliner.
I can get to destinations by routes I have never traveled. I can hear, in my head, the directions. “In 500 feet, turn left”, or “in 1/4 mile move to the right lane” :-)
I think I hear directions too, but they seem to be in some foreign language so I get lost a lot.
My father always said he was born with a compass up his arse. That man never got lost,Idon’t care where he was...I guess we all have different talents. Am 73 and still tring to find mine.........ouchy
“Walk in” ping
I stopped for a tribal Aboriginal at about 0300 as he was walking along the road and offered him alift. He hardly spoke any English but managed to get across to me that he was going to see his sister and that he had only been to her house (and indeed any city) once before. I was sceptical as this area has lots of small streets that all look the same and it is poorly lit. It was uncanny to watch him get a feel for where he was as we drove along - he managed to take me straight there. He seemed to be operating from some sort of internal GPS system that those of us who do not live with nature in the middle of nowhere may have not delevoped.
The brain really is an amazing peice of handiwork.
Mel
The Science Channel has a series called Ingenious Minds that’s featured some acquired savants. It’s an interesting show.... Derek Amato is one of the people they covered.
http://science.discovery.com/tv/ingenious-minds/
Antelope freeway 1/128th of a mile
I thought it was a ham sandwich?
If you lived here, you’d be home by now.
Mama Cass was hit by a brick,
Which made her sing like a bird.
Until one night try as she might,
A ham sandwich laid her down.
Let’s line up all the stupid people and smack them on the head with 2x4s until they get smart.
Hold on here! If anyone is going to be swinging any 2x4’s, it’s Hacksaw Jim Duggan!
It's truly, "all in the ear of the beholder" isn't it? Not knocking you for your tastes but to me the phrase "world-class metal bands", is an oxymoron.
Kurzweil is a mad scientist.
ya mean like string up donk’s like a pinatas, swat them with sticks? I like it
of course these abilities might be abused...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY-03vYYAjA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sRzks3eR-M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5K1fm56gI8&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XFbAINOlnY
If you make people angry...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOXpKUu6pUg
God Dethroned, Impaled Nazarene, Exmortem...yep, and so many more I don’t even know about yet. I need to pick up some more recent underground stuff.
LOL.
I know where we can start and we’re going to need a lot of 2x4s.
I suggest we raise the bar very high though on the level of intelligence required. Wouldn’t want to short change anyone.
I have the gift of pi$$ing people off - never had a day of training in my life, I was born with it...
Old joke:
A guy goes to visit his American Indian friend and finds him in front of his house, lying in the street, ear to the ground.
“1995 Buick, four door, blue” the Indian murmurs.
“Good God”, the astounded friend says, “You Indians have a genius for tracking things!”
“Not quite” the Indian gasps, “the SOB ran me over a few minutes ago!”
Zero Degree out of Germany. They have the six-piece three guitar player thing like Iron Maiden going on. Melodic death metal that I actually quite enjoy.
I understand where you’re coming from.
Have you heard any metal bands? If so, did you hear a name attached to whatever songs you’ve heard?
Eels have known electric organs. People don’t.
This “ancestral memory” sounds like a variation on the old, quite disproven theory that factors impacting the phenotype can create an impression upon the genotype of sperm and egg cells.
I’m almost 67 years old, I predate The Beatles popularity. I have 4 adult children who were into “Metal”.
I am metal aged myself. Silver in my hair, gold in my teeth and lead in my a$$.
So then you probably heard your children playing bands like Accept, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Motorhead.
I liked the joke about being metal aged.
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