Posted on 05/20/2022 8:22:36 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Savant syndrome.
Must be a lie..We are told math is racist
Great story. Thanks for posting this very interesting history, the story of Thomas Fuller.
(Savant syndrome.)
Seems like it. Good story.
That’s not very kind.
Sounds like an austist. I have one. The math at 6:30 in the morning will drive you mad. Talented folks.
Yeah, if he couldn’t learn to read in 80 years of his life, he was unlikely a genius (IQ 160+) His main talent seemed to be calculating the number of seconds in a date range. Doesn’t say whether he used his talent in bookkeeping etc.
I don’t pay any attention to ‘IQ’. I think it’s a worthless measurement.
I only Fuller had been owned by Anthony Johnson.
In the Blunt Speaking old days, that was called
“Idiot-Savant”.
Nowhere in the article did I read that “Negro Tom” was ever able to benefit in a material way from his fine talents.
I didn’t read that he had a nice home or decent clothing or anything. I mostly read that he was held up for exhibit and amusement like a Dog who can toot Jingle Bells from bike horns. Some things, some social attitudes take time to change, quite a lot of time.
RE: His main talent seemed to be calculating the number of seconds in a date range.
Actually it was more than that. From the article:
He could ... calculate the number of grains of corn in a given mass
.... Fuller also counted bushels of wheat and developed techniques for measuring distances and for multiplying these numbers to determine long distances, like the diameter of the Earth’s orbit
.... she utilized him on all areas of a farm for landscaping, home repairs, and calculating the crops and animals on the farm.
.... With little instruction, he would have been able to cast up plats of land. He took great notice of the lines of land, which he had seen surveyed. He drew just conclusions from facts, surprisingly so, for his opportunities.
Do we know if he was generally happy or not?
Interesting story. Thanks for posting it.
I get the impression that the average adult, black or white did not begin thinking in terms of ‘happiness’ or fullfilment until the Industrial Revolution, 1760 thru 1840.
Until then, basic survival was the name of the game.
‘Happiness’ as it were was said to be best achieved through organized religion.
Upperclasses have always had the leisure which allowed them time to speculate about various states of existence.
This same analogy can also be said about the notion of romantic love.
Reminds me of the movie “Hidden Figures”.
They took liberties with the book when making the movie, as usual, but it was still a great movie.
And when mr. mm and I went to see it, you get one guess of the demographic that was lined up in the theater waiting for admission.
Yup, middle aged and older, white folks who grew up during the space race.
Nary a black to be seen.
Jeez Louise.
You think people never experienced personal happiness before the Industrial Revolution, or Romantic Love before the Middle Ages?
You have too much book-learnin’, and not enough knowledge of human-beans.
(You must be a machine...)
Lol! That has been said before.
Fails to mention who put him on that boat. I wonder why?
Yup, sounds like he was an idiot-Savant.🤔
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