Summary: After experiencing head traumas, two men are transformed into artistic and mathematical geniuses.
Why it's a Mind Blow: The full power and potential of the human mind is largely undiscovered. We've observed hints of it, brilliant bursts of genius from savants and prodigies that make the jaw drop and the imagination run free.
These short videos introduce two men who by all accounts we're perfectly average. After suffering head traumas (one from an aneurysm, the other from a violent attack), they were transformed into super-humans. The first video, for example, highlights the subject's new found ability to perceive the world in precise geometric fragments. His incites have transformed the mathematical community's understanding of pi, and could have profound implications for our continued exploration of deep space.
These stories are incredible, not only for the transformations they describe, but because of the implications for our future as a species. I had always assumed that the geniuses among us were anomalies, gifted from birth and endowed with rare and precious abilities. These stories suggest that these capacities exist in all of us and what's more, that we may find a way to unlock them.
This begs the question, unlock what? Well you may remember my post of April 26th, Universal Mind, which explores the singularity between the human imagination and the universe itself. I posited that, as humans are literally the stuff of the universe, our consciousness is in fact the universe becoming aware of itself. For the first time in the unfurling of creation, the universe has the ability to re-imagine itself, through us.
You've probably heard great artists describe their most successful work in the context of "flow". The music, the words, or even the equations seem to pour forth from some bounteous well in their subconscious. In other words, their minds become conduits for the creative process that is the universe unfolding.
What's so thrilling about the stories of these two men in that there may be a biological path to this mystical and holy experience. If we can blow open the physical floodgates in the brain, then a major breakthrough in the evolution of our species may be just around the corner!
Sources:
From Coma to Mathematical Genius
This is really interesting....not just our minds, but the minds of little rodents too. Some that hide nuts under the ground and snow have detailed maps of where they saved them in their heads. Incredible to think what the human mind can achieve when I can't even remember where I put my keys every night.
ReplyDeleteLol! It's great that you bring up other creatures. There are so many examples of emergent intelligence among other species. I'll talk more about emergence in future posts, I have no doubt, but one example is ants. The colony, in essence, emerges as a greater intelligence then the sum of its parts. And that, I think, is analogous to what can happen with humans as our role develops in the universal epoch. The sum of our parts may one day lead to so much more!
ReplyDeleteWow! Very interesting! I think I could use a little blow to the head for a memory boost ;)
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