13 results found containing all search terms.
... . J. Cieciel.) Removal of mental blocks. Sometimes the barriers that eclipse our innate talents are removed by mental disease. The surprising enhancing effect of dementia on some "low-level" talents was mentioned in SF#133. The same mental barriers also seem to be removed when transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is applied to that part of the brain that seems to bedamaged in idiot savants. This is suggested by experiments in Australia by R. Young and M. Ridding. Applying TMS to the appropriate portion of the brains of normal, adult volunteers, they found that, indeed, their "low-level" calendar-calculating skills improved as did their abilities to copy pictures from memory (as in eidetic imagery?), (Nowak, Rachel; "Realise ... Potential," New Scientist, p. 7, March 17, 2001.) From Science Frontiers #136, JUL-AUG 2001 . 2001 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of intelligence and political conspiracy (CIA, FBI, JFK, MI5, NSA, etc) Homeworking.com . Free resource for people thinking about working at home. ABC dating and personals . For people looking for relationships. Place your ad free. ...
Terms matched: 2 - Score: 27 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf136/sf136p13.htm
... Rob; "Patients' New Gift Paints Clearer Image of Disease," The Brain in the News, p. 7, October 30, 1998. Cr. J. Cieciel) Comment. This peeling away of mental barriers suggests that we all have hidden or suppressed capabilities. Perhaps, some day, we will know how to unlock these in normal people. It is pertinent here that in idiot savants these mental barriers are also somehow removed to expose remarkable mathematical talents, such as calendar calculating. See OUR UNTAPPED TALENTS in SF#125. From Science Frontiers #133, JAN-FEB 2001 . 2001 William R. Corliss Other Sites of Interest SIS . Catastrophism, archaeoastronomy, ancient history, mythology and astronomy. Lobster . The journal of intelligence and political conspiracy (CIA, FBI ... JFK, MI5, NSA, etc) Homeworking.com . Free resource for people thinking about working at home. ABC dating and personals . For people looking for relationships. Place your ad free. ...
Terms matched: 2 - Score: 26 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf133/sf133p15.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 87: May-Jun 1993 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Calculating prodigies, gnats, and smart weapons In a thought-provoking letter to New Scientist, J. Margolis commences with the observation that calculating prodigies (idiot savants), who are often also mentally retarded, can easily and almost instantaneously recognize 20-digit prime numbers! Gifted mathematicians with so-called photographic memories cannot perform such mental feats using known methods for identifying primes. What do the calculating prodigies know that the rest of us do not? Better algorithms; that is, calculating methods? Margolis expands on this: "All this suggests some relatively simple, subconscious algorithms which have not, as yet, been explicitly formulated. ... in this direction might well result in new mathematical insights. "It need not be surprising that mathematical insight is more fundamental than language. Even a primitive animal brain is 'wired" to perform exceedingly complex computations essential for survival in an unpredictable environment. The latest 'smart' weapons are rudimentary compared with a humble gnat. Mathematics could be a by-product of these functions. Language is a comparatively recent evolutionary innovation and it is quite possible that conscious manipulation of abstract symbols has not caught up with an innate ability to perceive quantitative relationships." (Margolis, Joel; "What Gnats Know," New Scientist, p. 58, January 30, 1993.) From Science Frontiers #87, MAY-JUN 1993 . 1993-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 2 - Score: 30 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf087/sf087p17.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 66: Nov-Dec 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Memory Structure Of Autistic Idiot Savants The first two paragraphs of this study by N. O'Connor and B. Hermelin provide some interesting background concerning the idiot savant phenomenon. "There are two basic questions which arise from the phenomenon of the idiotsavant. One is whether the specific memory of the idiot-savant is categorically organized or not and the second is whether this memory is IQ independent or IQ related. The first problem needing consideration is therefore concerned with the nature of the memory system which is involved. In the idiot-savant this has, until recently, been deemed to be a relatively unorganized rote memory. It is supposed ... be mechanical, inflexible and extremely concrete. However, in a number of studies we have demonstrated that the outstanding memories of idiotsavant calculators and musicians are founded on strategies which are rule based, and which draw on a knowledge of the structure of the calendar or of music. "In addition to evidence concerning the organized nature of the specific memories of idiot-savants for dates and music, we have also accumulated evidence that the eliciting of rules and the development of rule-based strategies tended to be specific in the particular areas of ability of these subjects. For example, although able to calculate past and future dates rapidly, calendrical calculators were often quite poor in the addition and subtraction of numbers unrelated to the calendar. Similarly, in one experiment, musical memory in an idiot-savant ...
Terms matched: 2 - Score: 326 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf066/sf066p15.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 65: Sep-Oct 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Calendar calculating by "idiot savants"M.J .A . Howe and J. Smith have reported on an extensive study of calendar-calculating by individuals with otherwise subnormal intelligence. It is very clear that these so-called "idiot savants" use a variety of mental techniques, all rather different from rote memory, such as employed by memorizers of pi. First, we present Howe-and-Smith's abstract; then, a particularly interesting specific case. "A number of mentally handicapped individuals are able to solve difficult calendar date problems such as specifying the day of the week for a particular date, sometimes over ... of more than 100 years. These individuals are self-taught and do not follow procedures at all similar to the usual, published, algorithms. An investigation of one individual revealed that he retained considerable information about the structure of days in particular months, probably as visual images. His skill closely depended on the extent and form of his knowledge of calendars, and his errors were often a consequence of lack of knowledge about a particular time period. Mentally retarded individuals who perform calendar date feats are often socially withdrawn and devote considerable periods of time to calendar dates. The most capable calendar-date calculators are usually individuals who have a strong interest in calendars as such." Although some calendar calculators may use visual imagery - perhaps something like eidetic imagery - at least one calendar calculator was blind ...
Terms matched: 2 - Score: 167 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf065/sf065p14.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 58: Jul-Aug 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Mystery Of The Idiot Savant To describe the enigmas of the idiot savant, we can do no better than quote the first two paragraphs of a review article by D.A . Treffert: "At the 1964 annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, a discussant concluded, 'The importance, then, of the Idiot-Savant lies in our inability to explain him; he stands as a landmark of our own ignorance and the phenomenon of the Idiot-Savant exists as a challenge to our capabilities.' In the years that have followed, the inability to explain the idiot savant has not lessened, and the challenge to our capabilities ... undiminished. However, no model of brain function, particularly memory, will be complete until it can account for this rare but spectacular condition, with its islands of mental ability in a sea of mental handicap and disability. "Through the past century, since Down's description of this disorder, the several hundred idiot savants reported in the world literature have shown remarkable similarities within an exceedingly narrow range of abilities, given the many possible skills in the human repertoire. Why do so many idiot savants have the obscure skill of calendar calculating? Why does the triad of retardation, blindness, and musical genius appear with such regularity among them? Why is there a 6:1 male-to-female ratio in this disorder? What accounts for the more common occurrence of the idiot savant ...
Terms matched: 2 - Score: 363 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf058/sf058p16.htm
... of a Pendulum," New Scientist, p. 37, July 24, 1986.) Comment. Some of the anomalies we record may be the consequence of simple systems gone wild. Chaotic motions of some asteroids and at least one solar system moon are already suspected. Imagine what might happen in much more complex systems, such as biological evolution (hopeful monsters?), brain development (idiot savants?), etc. From Science Frontiers #47, SEP-OCT 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 2 - Score: 26 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf047/sf047p20.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 6: February 1979 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Some Highly Focussed Minds Here is a modern study of calculating prodigies, idiot savants, or, as Rimland prefers, "autistic savants." Calculating prodigies are rarely idiots; that is, with IQs below 30: rather they are almost always autistic, displaying gross disturbances in communication, and/or motor behavior. Rimland and his colleagues have studied 5,400 autistic children and found 10% of them to have extraordinary abilities. We hear most often about those prodigies who can multiply large numbers in their heads instantaneously or give us calendar information far in the past or future without the blink of an eye. But autistic savants are also prodigal in ... fields of art, music, and mechanics. No one knows how they per-form their feats, although psychologists speculate that their minds are intensely focussed on their special skills to the exclusion of most everything else. A few "normal" people, such as Gauss and Ampere, have matched the capabilities of the autistic savants, but the rest of us have our minds spread too thinly. We are in the majority, so the autistic savants usually end up in institutions while we plod along outside. (Rimland, Bernard; "Inside the Mind of the Autistic Savant," Psychology Today, August 1978.) Comment. We may speculate that the capabilities of the autistic savants are inherent in all of us, awaiting only some key. From Science Frontiers #6 , February 1979 ...
Terms matched: 2 - Score: 109 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf006/sf006p11.htm
... that perfect pitch, though common in musicians, occurs only in about 1 of every 10,000 people. Among the autistic, however, the incidence rises to perhaps 1 in 20. He next moves on to "savants;" that is, individuals with exceptional mathematic, mechanical, musical, and artistic talents, but with serious deficiencies in other human attributes. Calculating prodigies and other "idiot savants" immediately come to mind here. Sachs claims that perfect pitch is is even more common among the savants. In fact, all muscial savants seem to have it. Perfect pitch is also common among those with Williams syndrome, which he defines as: "a -- syndrome which predisposes to hyperacusis and exceptional development of auditory, musical, and verbal skills, combined with striking visual ... asymmetry observed in musicians with perfect or absolute pitch* (SF#99), O. Sacks expands the domain of the phenomenon to include other human talents. Sacks says that perfect pitch, though common in musicians, occurs only in about 1 of every 10,000 people. Among the autistic, however, the incidence rises to perhaps 1 in 20. He next moves on to "savants;" that is, individuals with exceptional mathematic, mechanical, musical, and artistic talents, but with serious deficiencies in other human attributes. Calculating prodigies and other "idiot savants" immediately come to mind here. Sachs claims that perfect pitch is is even more common among the savants. In fact, all muscial savants seem to have it. Perfect pitch is also common among those with ...
Terms matched: 2 - Score: 60 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf102/sf102b07.htm
... 7; the remainder gives the day of the week. For example, 27 October 1964 gives 27+ 1 (the code for October)+ 3 (the code for 1964) = 31. Dividing by 7 gives a remainder of 3 which is the third day of the week, Tuesday." (Ref. 2) Note the connection between TM's feats and those of those idiot savants adept at calendar-calculating. Demonstration 3. TM quickly gives the telephone number of any of the 15,000 hotels listed in a large directory. "The telephone have been learned through a mnemonic system for encoding numbers as a series of two-digit pairs. Each pair has a learned associate (e .g . 00 is a bicycle, 57 is tomato sauce, 39 ... Hitler, 41 is mum, his mother's age when he started this system). For larger numbers these associates are combined into wholes which are usually highly imageable (a bottle of tomato sauce riding a bicycle) and attached to some other associate to the hotel name." (Ref. 2) TM's mnemonics seem weird, but they work; and they probably could work for anyone -- for we barely tax our mental powers in modern life. But would our latent mental capabilities been of use to ancient man, or is this still another case of "evolutionary overshoot", as we harped on so heavily under BIOLOGY in this issue? References 1. Wilding, John, and Valentine, Elizabeth; "Memory Champions," British Journal of Psychology, 85 ...
Terms matched: 2 - Score: 28 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf099/sf099p14.htm
... Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The samurai and the ainu Breaking the 12,000-bp barrier Astronomy Sweeping anomalies under the rug Fossil from mars? Biology The wood turtle stomp Why the hammer head? Initial bipedalism! Microorganisms at great depths Geology Fossil ufos Chemical surprises at the k-t boundary Geophysics Unusual sounds preceding lightning Books about the crop circles Psychology Pi in the mind! Calendar calculating by "idiot savants" General How fares cold fusion? How fares benveniste? ...
Terms matched: 2 - Score: 30 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf065/index.htm
... FORMATION Down with the big bang NEPTUNE SPINS TOO FAST AND ITS MAGNETIC FIELD IS AWRY Biology The bird that smells like cow manure Army ants: a collective intelligence? The babirusa: a quasi-ruminant pig A BAT FALL Care for a cup of viruses? Geology DRUMLINS MAY RECORD CATASTROPHIC FLOODS STRANGE BLUE POOL FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF CRATER LAKE Biogenic minerals Geophysics Rogue waves Psychology MEMORY STRUCTURE OF AUTISTIC IDIOT SAVANTS Was burt stitched up? General Cold fusion died only in the media ...
Terms matched: 2 - Score: 30 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf066/index.htm
... OZONE HOLE? Chaotic dynamics in the solar system Biology Do right-handers live longer? John heymer still doesn't believe the stock shc explanations! Bacteria Preternaturally rapid development of photosynthesis? Geology Gentry's tiny mystery-- unsupported by geology Earlier pages in earth's history revealed Geophysics From forteanism to science Mystery at novaya zemlya Ball lightning or mirage of venus? Psychology Mystery of the idiot savant General Has the speed of light decayed? Anomalistics at the aaas meeting ...
Terms matched: 2 - Score: 26 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf058/index.htm