A professor in one of my first 2 years of college required subjects, taught a Psy I and a Psy II courses. He was really good, and one of his subjects for a few lectures was: “Cases of people with acquired savant syndrome.”
His lectures on this subject included musicians, artists, solo sports or 1 on 1 sports like wrestling, boxing, karate and target or skeet shooting. He felt that everyone had one or two areas where they became expert savants for events, sport and often recreation. Each acquired savant syndrome might be very helpful in our careers or personal life.
If we could find our acquired savant specialty and use it in business and our careers, or we could use in a sport and really enjoy that sport.
My mother and one of her sisters had a GPS mind and never got lost once they had been to a certain area/home/building.
This was in the 1950’s to 2010. A sibling has that same skill, her adult daughter and grandkids have that same skill.
Both of our adult sons have this skill. One uses it hunting and fishing, and the other uses his skill to drive and from point A to point B.
We recently celebrate Christmas and Easter on 2 Jan, and I had ordered pizza from a fairly hard place to get to. He wanted to drive, and he got us there with no problem. While picking up the pizzas, a nixle alert came over his phone warning about traffic problems on the main street to get back to my home.
He hadn’t driven that route for 30 + years. He had been a pizza delivery guy for awhile. He had me drive and go over roads basically he remembered. Roads, I never drive on. A few minutes later we were back on our side of town.
We call that the GPS acquired savant specialty. Our grandkids have it, so does my wife and her siblings and their children.
I used acquired savant skills in the Navy, as a special helmsman, drill team member and as a premium anti shark protector for our divers. Those skills have enabled me to shoot 100 in both skeet and trap. I didn’t miss deer with my rifle and scope even if they running at 100 yards plus.
My wife, as an RN can listen to a heart beat with her stethoscope and tell the docs what the patients EKG looks like. If she heard music played on a piano, organ, sax or flute, she could basically play back that music with or without choir members and music.
Both my wife and I have zero ability to look at a paper diagram telling how to assemble or repair something. Our grandkids have zero problems with that. If I see it on You Tube or some other tv how to repair or do it, I’m reasonably able to follow and get the job done. One Dil can’t do that and the other is a You Tube queen.
“He felt that everyone had one or two areas where they became expert savants for events, sport and often recreation.”
My son was having trouble hitting any trap targets so I figured I’d spring for an hour with an expert. At the end of it my young daughter who had tagged along was offered a chance to shoot.
She had shot a .22 but never the shotgun. The expert gave her some basic instructions (and impressed with her safety skills). She is OCD and has a hard time if things don’t go just right. I warned her that the clay pigeons are easy to miss so don’t get frustrated.
She proceeded to hit 8 out of 10 birds out of the trap machine (although he did dial the speed down a bit). She joined the shooting team, the expert offered her free instruction, etc.
She got pretty good. The main thing was that it was really good therapy. She wouldn’t get frustrated when she would miss birds. It took her awhile to build up the confidence to do skeet, but once she did it she worked at it had was good at that too. Then sporting clays. In most things she is so up and down in her emotions. With shooting it was just focusing on the shooting and she wouldn’t get down if she missed or excited if she hit it.
Although there were times after getting a perfect score at a sporting clay station that she would crack a smile!