NASA Tries To Figure Out Real-Life Rain Man's Brain

The Guardian (UK) ^ | 12-11-2005 | Robin McKie

[Slicksadick]

He probably know where I left my car keys.

[RTINSC]

Can he bend spoons?

[mgist]

Very cool

[steveo]

Uh oh fart. Uh oh fart.

[muawiyah]

Most of us can actually recall a single page we'd read some time back and tell someone if a specific passage is at the top, the bottom, or the middle.

Others are able to recall most of that page, and yet others can literally read the page in their mind and rattle it off to you.

Savants seem to have a better access to this capability ~

[rasblue]

.

[LachlanMinnesota]

I'm a good driver. I'm a good driver. I'm a good driver.

[RTINSC]

I can only remember the centerfold..

[1stFreedom]

There is no spoon...

[Meadow Muffin]

Sometimes I can recall what I had for breakfast....not always but sometimes.

[sabatino28]

246 Toothpicks


(4 left in the box)

[dubie]

This is nothing. John kerry need only look pull notes from his jacket pocket to master any debate.

[IronJack]

I can't remember my name unless I write it on the waistband of my underwear. For the last few years, I've thought I was some guy named "BVD." Now I know I'm really Calvin Klein.

[bkepley]

Most of us can actually recall a single page we'd read some time back and tell someone if a specific passage is at the top, the bottom, or the middle.

I tried it and I think you're right but without actually finding the book and checking I wouldn't bet the farm. Most of us probably also fool ourselves.

[Paladin2]

That's Kerry on the reverse of the MA quarter, you know. (Hillary is on hte reverse of the NY quarter.)

[Paladin2]

See Dick run. Run, Dick, run.

Noooo problem.

[muawiyah]

You see this happen all the time when it comes to newspapers. Publishers go to great lengths to make sure your memory is easily triggered.

What we are doing is creating a "memory palace" while we read. There are Biblical references to such devices, e.g. the trees in the Garden of Eden, the cages in Noah's Ark, and so forth in case you need a quick reference, otherwise the internet is available for your search. This is how knowledge was stored, and retrieved, in the vast age before writing. That the same technique could be tied to writing itself should not surprise anyone.

[bkepley]

See Dick run. Run, Dick, run. Noooo problem.

I was thinking more along the lines of "Call me Ishmael".

[BigBobber]

FReepers, you may not be savants but your quick wit and incredible sense of humor as displayed on this thread is unbelievable. I've never seen so many great one-liners in so few posts.

Thanks for lightening up my day.