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i scored 9...
spatula, there is a bit of research currently underway into accessing nonconscious skills in the mind - allan snyder proposed in nature [and elsewhere] that we all possess the sort of processing capacities evident in savants (not all savants are autistic - there are cases of acquired savants; and bruce miller works with dementia patients who, for a phase of their slide into never never can exhibit latent skills associated with savants). he has since used magnetic pulse stimulation (rTMS - repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation) to turn off the frontotemporal lobe to turn on these hidden skills.
basically he is saying that we see what we know because we are hard wired to form concepts and so see the world from within these concepts. it is most useful to have a concept, say of a lion or a bus, to induce an automatic response to, for example, run away! but it is hard to really see what is actually out there. so we may find it hard to draw, because we impose our concept on what we are 'seeing', but a savant is 'seeing' the horse, or building, or whatever for the first time, every time! they lack concepts. they subsequently seem to have privileged access to nonconscious skills latent in us all...
here is the link to his centre's publications. the 'what's hot' page on this site has links to articles on this subject, including some recent ones from the UK where roger highfield wrote on TMS (this was in the london telegraph).
there is yet debate among the fabulous minds working in this area about what autism actually is, though the range of theories revolves around it being some sort of protracted infancy. new borns lack concepts, so see the world as it really is. we think our maturing minds are more 'correct' and better, but in some ways they are second to the real world view that infants enjoy...
for a wonderful account of some aspects of autism, temple grandin's book 'animals in translation' is wonderful. also, a recent australian adolescent book prize winner is mark haddon's 'the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime'. this shows the world from a young autistic boy's perspective and is very insightful. oliver sacks, of coutse, writes on autism and savants, best known through the film rainman from his book 'awakenings'.
(i admit a bit of interest here - i work for allan snyder at the centre for the mind)
this is a rich area for exploration about what is is to be human. autism, especially savants, provide us with critical insights into the workings of the mind. |
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