Inside the mind of a savant Essay Example for Free

Inside the mind of a savant Essay Treffert and Christensen’s article (2005), touches on the important and curious issue: the differences among humans. It is not to hide that jealous and curious species desire to possess what others possess and desire to know how it is possible. The description of savant individual, Kim Peek, leaves the readers wonder about the possibilities that have a mere possibility and right to existence. These authors begin their article with a concrete description of what does it mean to be savant. Their description is well poised and not an eggeduration. They, straightforwardly, describe the concrete features that Kim had without forgetting to mention that Kim also has serious physical disabilities. Kim’s listed abilities are though impressive. I do not know a person who would think twice to have what Kim had – but knot with the price that Kim had to pay. Enduring difficult attitude from others or enduring physical differences are quite different things. Kim endured physical differences that simply made him more different. Now, when he is a grown man (and way into his 50th), researchers took a serious interest in him due to the uniqueness of his case. The authors mentioned in the article that, even in childhood, Kim was missing Corpus Colossum, the connecting neural network that connects left and right human hemispheres. The writers write, â€Å"Yet in people whose corpus callosum has been severed in adulthood, generally in an effort to prevent epileptic seizures from spreading from one hemisphere to the other, a characteristic split-brain syndrome arises in which the estranged hemispheres begin to work almost independently of each other. † This statement, by itself, points out at the materialistic approach that without the synaptic connections between the right and left hemisphere the connection between right and left hemisphere is impossible. There were some ‘guesses’ among the appropriate researchers but no one wanted to mention a possibility that that here is a hidden purpose behind such appearances. The authors conjecture lies within a science fiction, however plausible. They wrote that the person born without corpus collossum learn to connect right and left hemisphere with the non-traditional ways. Their hypothesis consists of an idea that two separated hemispheres learn to act as one, in unison. One major point that the authors noticed was that the ‘abnormalities’ stem form the damage in the left hemisphere only. Furthermore, the suggested that males, per ce, display more frequent number of cases of savanism, stuttering, dyslexia, and autism. Their response to this theory was straightforward: one possible explanation lies within the fetus development in which they suggest that the make fetus has higher levels chemically dependent and left-brained situation. In to this hypothesis the understanding that the left hemisphere develops with a slower rate than that of right has a big part of their study. To evidence the above, the authors use the examples of so called â€Å"acquired savant syndrome† which is resulted in older children after the accidental damage to the left hemisphere. Further, the article speculates upon the implication of the significance behind the corpus collossum. One possibility includes a rationale, which suggests that, the possibility of the right brain compensation if the left-brain cannot function properly. Another possibility makes the readers think that inability to function within one hemisphere unravels the latent ability in another. The latter theory suggests that the left-brain dominance is due to the fact that we live in the techno logical society that prizes the left-brain achievements. Thus, the function of the left-brain, which is prone to science, math, and logic, leads us to what we call Human Rational, the human species that uses conscious analogies in their day-to-day operations (Read, 1997). The dysfunction of the left hemisphere all of the sudden opens new possibilities hidden and latent within the right hemisphere that holds the key to what we call today Human Conscious. It is of interest to the readers that traditional intelligence tests did not really work with the above subject: some parts showed below average while other superior range performance. In another excursion into the case, the authors noted Kim’s unusual versatility with a tremendously large lexicon of vocabulary in his possession. With Kim’s inability to explain the meaning behind the proverbs he finds amazing associations and is being quite effective in long-term memory recall. Such has been evidenced by his unusual abilities dealt with music, as per complex line up of tones and musical styles as well as the names and works of various artists. Here, and despite his dexterous prior complications, he can seat at piano and play a piece he had discussed â€Å"shifting effortlessly from one mode to another. † Even Greehan, the Mozart scholar commented positively about Kim’s abilities. In summary, the authors, refer to the fictional Rain Man produced after Kim’s life story, although the the writer Barry Morrow decided not to outline Kim’s life story. Similarities are striking, however, and cause one is thinking about not-discovered human abilities. References Darold A. Treffert and Daniel D. Christensen (2005). Onside the mind of a savant. Scientific American. Retrieved July 22, 2007 from http://www. condition. org/sa5c. htm Read, S. G. (Ed. ). (1997). Psychiatry in Learning Disability. Edinburgh: W. B. Saunders. Retrieved July 24, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=od=100737215.