Barry Scott Posted July 10, 2006 Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 I watched a documentary on an autistic man called Kim Peek, he featured in the film 'Rain Man,' he does literally have a photographic memory. This amazing person can read two pages in a book simultaneously in a matter of seconds, while remembering 98% of the information in the book. He literally spends his life in the library and currently has memorized over 9000 books. If you tell him your date of birth, he will tell you what day you were born on, :) he will also calculate when you will turn 65 and be able to retire, in a matter of seconds. Im very interested in these amazing powers, does anyone else know of any autistic talents? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiniteNow Posted July 10, 2006 Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 The interesting thing is that these "abilities" are an emergent property of an overall "disability." In theory, it could be presented that we each innately have the same (what you call) powers, it's just that the impact of the mental disorder in these cases allows the individual to access them more noticably. There isn't really a category of "altruistic talents," no set of skills common among all effected. Each individual will express differences in presentation of these characteristics based on their specific genetic and socioculutural combinations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallenrm Posted July 10, 2006 Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 Another way to look at this phenomenon would be to recognize, that in 'normal' people the innate energy is distributed amongst the various degrees of freedom in a human being. These extraordinary skills are a result of all the energy being directed towards very few skills. (I am indeed reminded of the lectures in physical chemistry, about the energy distribution amongst various energy states of a molecule in a gas) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay-qu Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 I saw a doc on this kid, who was born blind and mentally disabled. When he was three his dad bought him a keyboard (piano) and he just started playing it. Now as a 10 year old you can play any note on the piano and he can tell you what it is! Once he has heard a song played he is able to play the whole thing back, just by listening to it. Incredible stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somasimple Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Hi, These extraordinary skills are a result of all the energy being directed towards very few skills. (I am indeed reminded of the lectures in physical chemistry, about the energy distribution amongst various energy states of a molecule in a gas) I'm not sure that neuro-scientists agree with this tale. It is sure that energy is the source of all life but it seems quite sure that neurons are the players of these skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 I watched a documentary on an autistic man called Kim Peek... After getting Kim & his father's permission they ran a special brain scan of some kind on Kim and discovered he has no corpus collosum; the physical connection between his brain hemispheres is absent.:esmoking: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EWright Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 I saw a doc on this kid, who was born blind and mentally disabled. When he was three his dad bought him a keyboard (piano) and he just started playing it. Now as a 10 year old you can play any note on the piano and he can tell you what it is! Once he has heard a song played he is able to play the whole thing back, just by listening to it. Incredible stuff! I saw this doc... while many musicians with perfect pictch can tell you what note, notes (a few), interval, etc your playing... this kid could listen to a chord with something like ten notes played *simultaneously* and know every note and play them back to you. It was absolutely amazing. He'd also take a classical piece written by one composer and play it for you "as if" it were written by another, with a slightly different rhythmic variations, etc. And it really felt that way! See it if you can! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Scott Posted July 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Yeh i find it incredible too Jay-Qu, i did some research on it. Like the kid who can play any song perfectly once hes heard it, theres a person with a similar talent. Hes an artist, once hes seen a picture or a particular view he can paint it perfectly. If theres a tree with 2,000 leaves he'l paint every single one of them exactly to scale, exactly the right colour. Like many of these amazing people he has literally a photographic memory, i think thats the key to there talents. Like Turtle said Kim Peek actually has no corpus collosum,(i dont know what that is, but im sure its important :evil:) as well as that im pretty sure their neurons 'behave' diffrently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay-qu Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 this kid could listen to a chord with something like ten notes played *simultaneously* and know every note and play them back to you. It was absolutely amazing. He'd also take a classical piece written by one composer and play it for you "as if" it were written by another, with a slightly different rhythmic variations, etc. And it really felt that way! See it if you can! yup thats the exact one. They a few other kids with the same talent, all blind and with metal disabilities. One girl played a song after hearing it on multiple tracks, as in she played it in one key, then again in another, then again with the flute (which she taught herself how to play) and mixed it all together so she was effectively accompanning herself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HydrogenBond Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 After getting Kim & his father's permission they ran a special brain scan of some kind on Kim and discovered he has no corpus collosum; the physical connection between his brain hemispheres is absent. The corpus collosum connects the hemispheres but acts like a filter. The spatial right side of the brain can not send full spatial signals to the left hemisphere because of this filter. For example, natural instincts are spatial in that they integrate the individual with the world around them and with their species. Very few people experince this. Instead this spatial ouptut reaches us (left hemisphere) as scaled down versions of the same thing, usually based on logical philosophy. The philosophy has the gut feeling of this spatial quality but the corpus collosum filters this down to an intuition that is then filled in with logic lines. Kim by not having this filter is getting 3-D memory full force. This explains the high capacity of his conscious memory. It also explains his apparent idiot side. He has little rational foundation because his mind is working faster becuase of the influence of the higher density 3-d memory with little rational foundation to make practical use of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiniteNow Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 Instead this spatial ouptut reaches us (left hemisphere) as scaled down versions of the same thing, usually based on logical philosophy. The philosophy has the gut feeling of this spatial quality but the corpus collosum filters this down to an intuition that is then filled in with logic lines.Can you please point me in the direction of the information which indicates that spatial output transmits via logical philosophy? Also, it would really help me if I could find out more about how a philosophy has gut feelings. Also, how intuition is a filtered down version of spatial quality, and why the corpus collosum acts as a sieve for this. One last reference request... Can you please let me know how are logic lines studied? Preferably, that reference will have some sort of glossary difining this term for me. Sorry for my ignorance, and thank you in advance for responding to my six requests above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Scott Posted July 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2006 Thanks for the detailed explaination HydrogenBond, Kim sacrifises emotion and communicational skills for the 3D photographic memory, like other autisic people. Most autistic people only feel happy, scared, angry or sad.I've learnt that theres an autistic woman that can talk to cattle named Grandin, shes written a book about animal translating. Anyone heard of her? Also Daniel Tammet is a man can do huge mathematical calculations in split seconds, but he also know 7 different languages including his own language and icelandic which he learnt in a week! He can calculate square roots faster than a computer and calculate pi, in his head to 22,514 digits! I think hes one of the most 'gifted' autistic people, because of his talent but also because he can communicate surprising well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockydude Posted July 16, 2006 Report Share Posted July 16, 2006 Well i know this dude who was in the local papers. He could memorise the map of the entire state and hired by the taxi company so anyone can ask him for directions.Well i think these "powers" are actually results of mutations, a genetic defect of some sort, and mutations are techincally deterimental to the person. Society views them as something good but in an evolutionary standpoint these people are, no matter what, disadvantaged in survival Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HydrogenBond Posted July 16, 2006 Report Share Posted July 16, 2006 If we look at the two hemispheres of the brain, the right has spatial memory capacity and the left is more linear and rational. So-called intuitions or gut feelings are often expressions of spatial memory. This memory is very fast/dense and is therefore usually conscious as suble feelings and body sensation tones. As a loose analogy, spatial memory is like playing a song very fast making it sound like a complex sound. The amazing powers of idiot savants use this fast dense memory organization. As one dwells on an intuition or spatial memory, it can begin to take form in a way that is more logical or rational. The filter helps to slow the 3-D memory ouptut so the data can become more conscious. One way to understand this is that spatial memory is 3-D memory. Rational memory is 2-D memory based on cause and affect. A 3-D memory can see visualized as a ball, while a 2-D memory is a plane that intersects the 3-D ball. To fully express the 3-D ball with rational planes one needs to express the 3-D memory using many angles. For example, liberty is a 3-D concept. Many books have been written on the subject. Each chapter tries to express one of the rational planes that intersects the 3-D liberty ball. The sum of all these planes and different angles begins to approximate the memory storage of the 3-D memory. The filter between cerebral hemispheres, allows a separation between the hemisphere so an intuition of 3-D and connected planes of 2-D logic can exist as the same time. It also allows bits of the dense 3-D data to trickle through, allowing new understanding that is added to logic lines. Without the filter, greater memory density would come through, while limiting the memory speed separation needed for stable rational memory foundation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiniteNow Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 Can you please point me in the direction of the information which indicates that spatial output transmits via logical philosophy? Also, it would really help me if I could find out more about how a philosophy has gut feelings. Also, how intuition is a filtered down version of spatial quality, and why the corpus collosum acts as a sieve for this. One last reference request... Can you please let me know how are logic lines studied? Preferably, that reference will have some sort of glossary difining this term for me. Sorry for my ignorance, and thank you in advance for responding to my six requests above.Still waiting. :eek2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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