Embracing the Wide Sky: A Tour Across the Horizons of the Mind|eBook

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416570134
Publisher:	Free Press
Publication date:	01/06/2009
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Daniel Tammet is a writer, linguist, and educator. A 2007 poll of 4,000 Britons named him as one of the world's "100 living geniuses." His last book, the New York Times bestseller Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant, has been translated into 18 languages. He lives in Avignon, France.

Read an Excerpt

Introduction

"How did you do that?"

"Sorry?"

"How did you do that?"

The scientist was looking at me with a puzzled expression. We were not in any laboratory, nor was he asking me about any of my memory, linguistic, or numerical skills. We were standing on a lawn outside the research center where I had come earlier in the day for a variety of cognitive tests. Next to him was my mother, who had accompanied me on the trip from London. We were in the process of having our photo taken together, when after a few moments in front of the camera I relaxed and started to step away. How, the scientist wanted to know, had I been able to perceive the photo being taken when, standing right next to me, he had not heard a click or seen any flash. Was my brain really that extraordinary?

Well, yes, but not for the reasons that the scientist imagined. Though the camera had indeed made no noise when the photo was taken, it had produced a pinprick of blurry red light. My autistic mind — wired in such a way that I am able to spot tiny details that most other people often miss — had perceived it effortlessly. After I explained this to the scientist, he asked for another photo to be taken. By looking carefully where I told him I had seen the red dot of light appear, he was able to see it, too.

For the record, I will confirm that I have no telepathic relationship with cameras, nor any extrasensory perception for knowing when a photo has or has not been taken. Rather, what I had done that day was simply an extreme form of an everyday act: to see. We rely heavily on our eyes to provide much of the information we obtain about the world around us, and it is for this reason that a significant portion of the human brain is devoted entirely to visual processing.

The scientist who thought I had perceived the photo being taken with the aid of some unknown power had arrived at a wrong but surprisingly common conclusion: that individuals with very different minds must use them in some fundamentally different, almost magical way. As one of the world's few wellknown autistic savants, I have received all manner of strange requests: from being asked to predict the following week's winning lottery numbers, to requests for advice on building a perpetual motion machine. Little wonder then that conditions such as autism and savant syndrome remain poorly understood by most people, including many experts.

It is not only savant minds that are considered somehow supernaturally gifted and therefore set apart from those of most other people: the success of outstanding individuals in numerous fields, from Mozart and Einstein to Garry Kasparov and Bill Gates, has been attributed by many to minds they regard as unearthly and inexplicable. I think this view is not only erroneous but harmful, too, because it separates the achievements of talented individuals from their humanity; an injustice both to them and to everyone else.

Every brain is amazing. Researchers know this after many years of studying the minds of highly gifted people, as well as those of housewives, cab drivers, and many others from all walks of life. As a result, today, we have a far richer, more sophisticated understanding of human ability and potential than ever before. Anyone with the passion and dedication necessary to master a field or subject can succeed in it. Genius, in all its forms, is not due to any mere quirk of the brain; it is the result of far more chaotic, dynamic, and essentially human qualities such as perseverance, imagination, intuition, and even love. Such an understanding of the human mind enriches, rather than detracts from, the popular appreciation of the accomplishments of highly successful individuals.

This book is about the mind — its nature and abilities. It combines some of the latest neuroscientific research with my personal reflections and detailed descriptions of my abilities and experiences. My primary intention in writing it is to show that differently functioning minds such as mine (or Gates's or Kasparov's) are not so strange, in fact, and that anyone can learn from them. Along the way, I hope to clear up many misconceptions about the nature of savant abilities and what it means to be intelligent or gifted.

Chapter 1 looks at the fascinating complexity of the human brain and surveys some of the latest research findings from the field of neuroscience. Here I tackle head on some of the most common misconceptions concerning the brain, such as the idea that it does not change after birth or that the computer is a good analogy for how our brains work. I also assess several claims about savants and give evidence that indicates that savant brains are not so different from anyone else's.

Chapter 2 is a study of intelligence that questions whether IQ is an accurate indicator of intelligent behavior and looks at alternative ways of thinking about intelligence. I also examine the nature of genius and whether it is the result of innate talent, practice, or both.

Chapters 3, 4, and 5 include detailed descriptions of my own abilities in memory, language, and number sense respectively — areas where my autism helps me to excel. These chapters represent the most comprehensive personal account of savant ability ever written. Rather than encourage readers to merely gawk at the abilities of savants such as myself, I show that anyone can learn from them how to better understand and use his own mind.

Drawing again from my own personal experiences (as well as those of other autistic individuals), chapter 6 explores creativity and the possibility that some neurological conditions predispose individuals to extraordinary forms of creative thought and perception. I describe little-known forms of creativity, such as the phenomenon of languages created spontaneously by some children, and refute the myth that autistic savants are incapable of genuine creativity, using examples from my own and others' work.

In chapter 7, I examine what the latest scientific research tells us about the complexity and limitations of our perceptions. I also explore how biological differences can cause different people to see the world in very different ways. Sections on the puzzle of optical illusions and the psychology of art demonstrate the malleability and subjectivity of our minds' eyes.

In chapter 8, I look at the nature of information and its relationship with our minds in the internet age of Wikipedia, twenty-four-hour rolling news broadcasts, and the ubiquity of modern advertising. I explore the role of words in shaping how we perceive and think about something, and how we share knowledge through such means as gossip and urban myths. I also give suggestions on how we can learn to navigate our information-dense world and reduce our risk of information overload.

In chapter 9, I demonstrate and explain the benefits of and methods for thinking mathematically. I show how ordinary intuitions can often lead to wrong conclusions, and how a lack of understanding of probability can result in bad choices. I also analyze complex real-world entities, such as lotteries and voting systems, from a mathematical perspective and show how certain statistical arguments for popular claims do not add up. A final section helps you learn how to use numbers and logic to think more carefully and successfully.

The tenth and concluding chapter looks at the future of the human mind, from the remarkable medical and technological breakthroughs that are transforming the treatment of injured and diseased brains, to the new insights of cognitive researchers that suggest our minds extend far beyond the confines of the head. I also assess the claims of futurists who assert that, inevitably, mind and machine will merge and give rise to a new "cyborg" species. I finish with some personal reflections on what I hope the future will bring for every kind of mind.

A final note: The title of this book was inspired by one of my favorite poems, a meditation on the mind by the celebrated nineteenth-century American poet Emily Dickinson. Every schoolchild should learn these verses:

The brain is wider than the sky, For, put them side by side, The one the other will contain With ease, and you beside.

The brain is deeper than the sea, For, hold them, blue to blue, The one the other will absorb, As sponges, buckets do.

The brain is just the weight of God, For, heft them, pound for pound, And they will differ, if they do, As syllable from sound.

Reading Group Guide

Embracing the Wide Sky is a new book by the New York Times bestselling author of Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant. Here, Daniel takes us not only into his life as an autistic savant, but also into the workings of his mind. Having one of the world's most examined brains, and having been the subject of leading neuroscientists in the U.S. and the UK, he is particularly equipped to explain what science has learned about him and about all of our brains. He explains how he masters languages, math and memorization, demonstrating in the process the immense potential that is within us all.

Drawing on his personal experience in fascinating and profound ways, Daniel shows that the deepest secrets of the brain may be hidden in plain sight. His tour across the horizons of the mind will fascinate and instruct and open our eyes to the beauty found in every kind of mind.

1. Tammet states that one of his intentions in writing Embracing the Wide Sky is to show that the thinking processes of geniuses and autistic savants is not so different from everyone else and that "anyone can learn from them" (Pg. 9). Do you think he has successfully shown this? Why or why not? What are some of the things that you learned, which if applied might enhance your own mental performance?

2. Tammet hopes to alter our perceptions about the nature of autistic savants. He states that "even to this day autistic savants are too often viewed as robots, or computers, freaks, or even supernaturally endowed..." (pg. 335). What were your perceptions of autism and savants before reading his book, and after? What were you most surprised to learn?

3. Tammet is eager to debunk the common analogy of the "brain as computer" (pg. 39). He writes that, "computers may crunch numbers but I dance with them" (pg. 38). In what other ways is the human brain more powerful in solving problems than the "brute calculating force" of the computer? What abilities do humans have which computers cannot replicate?

4. In Embracing the Wide Sky, Tammet examines "intelligence." He writes that his own behavior as a child was often "limited, repetitive, and anti-social -- far from what most people would consider intelligent" (pg. 50). Despite this, his IQ was high enough to join Mensa, an organization which accepts only those with an IQ score in the top 2% of the population. What does this say about what constitutes our notions of intelligence?

5. Although Tammet scored high on IQ tests, he is nevertheless dubious of testing for intelligence. Learning what you did about the history of measuring intelligence, why might he feel this way?

6. Since its inception, the IQ test has been a source of controversy. Discuss how the test has been and can be used as a basis for discrimination. What do people in favor of the test argue? Why do others, Binet included, argue against using the test as a way to measure intelligence? Finally, in light of so much debate and what we have since learned about "intelligence," why do you think the IQ test is still so widely used? What are the benefits of knowing one's IQ, and what may be the detriment?

7. Genius is another concept of intelligence that Tammet examines, particularly with regards to whether it is a product of "nature or nurture." Discuss and find examples that support the idea that genius is "nature" and those which support that it is "nurture." What does each interpretation imply? How, in fact, does one define genius? As far as Tammet's own development goes, would he attribute genius to nature or nurture or something else entirely? What else might account for great achievement?

8. Associative thinking characterizes not only how Tammet and other savants think, but also how the minds of great creative thinkers and artists work. How would you describe associative thinking? What are some examples of how Tammet uses this in his work with both numbers and languages, two areas where he is considered exceptional. How might this be contrasted with linear thinking, which seems to be the way most brains have been trained to work?

9. Tammet uses the term "hyperconnectivity" to explain how his mind works and further contends, "extraordinary creativity is the result of this hyperconnectivity" (pg. 195). Describe "hyperconnectivity" and how it is different from the way most brains work. What about "hyperconnectivity" gives rise to great creativity? Can hyperconnectivity be "nurtured" or is it pure nature? If it can be nurtured, how might Tammet suggest one go about doing this?

10. "Seeing" is a major theme of Embracing the Wide Sky. Tammet writes about how when a photographer took his picture, he knew it had happened because he could "see it," referring to a small red light that went off (pg. 9). This ability to see details is due in part to his "hyperconnectivity" and is a common characteristic of autistic savants. Although hyperconnectivity may be helpful and lead to creativity in certain circumstances, when would it be deemed a detriment, and why?

11. With regards to his being an autistic savant, Tammet writes, "Social isolation and loneliness are common problems for individuals on the autistic spectrum, as are feelings of frustration and confusion at a world that often seems too big, strange and chaotic" (pg. 185). How, in particular, do autistic savants see the world, which might contribute to their having this experience? How might one equate the rise of autism and its "symptoms" to the rise of technology and the Internet (the super information highway) in the new millennium?

12. Tammet writes that warm, positive emotions play a role in his ability to remember numbers and that interest and joy play a role in the work of many geniuses and savants. Give some examples of how emotion plays a role in his facility with numbers.

13. Tammet tells us that in the past, many cultures had memory-centered traditions, where stories were passed down verbally from one generation to the next. What are some of the benefits of passing on information verbally rather than in writing? Conversely, what are some of the benefits of passing on information in writing? What are some of the risks and possible detriments?

14. Tammet writes, "Indeed the role and significance accorded to memory in many Western countries has fallen sharply, as computers and other gadgets are seen as replacing the need to commit experiences or information to heart" (pg. 112). What may be the cost of our doing this?

15. In this digital age, although one has more access to information, as well as more sources of information, what are some of the inherent dangers this presents to our understanding of the world? How can language be used to limit and/or shape our experience and understanding? Orwell wrote that, "If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought" (pg. 242). Can you point to some examples in history where language created a new possibility for human beings and/or where it had a devastating effect on the world?

16. In Embracing the Wide Sky, Tammet writes, "...the human capacity to acquire and use language is a profoundly intellectual achievement in which we all share" (pg. 116). It "emerges spontaneously from the human mind" (pg. 124), and that "universality throughout the world's languages can be observed not only in grammar and words, but also in the subjects" about which they speak (pg. 130). Given these profound commonalities, to what do you attribute the great differences we perceive in people from other cultures and the conflicts that arise between people, cultures and nations? Might these differences be like the optical illusions or misperceptions in seeing to which Tammet refers? Do you think our supposed differences are nature or nurture, and why? Why might our divisions be emphasized rather than our commonalities? What effect, if any, does this understanding of our common way of "thinking" have on your view of foreigners or even of other people?

17. A half a century ago, H. G. Wells wrote, "Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write" (pg. 280). Now that we seem to be at this point, why might humans have moved in this direction? Further, although statistics may purport to accurately reflect a situation, it's clear that they can be manipulated and/or present a false picture. Why then do we as a culture seem to cling to them as a barometer of truth? Why might we be so interested in hedging our bets regarding the future? Conversely, even when statistics are against the success of an activity, i.e., the lottery, why do we tend to ignore them? According to Tammet, what are the benefits of statistical thinking and making use of math to better understand the world, and what are its drawbacks?

18. Discuss Tammet's particular relationship to numbers; what do they mean to him and why? Describe how his mind experiences numbers. How is this different than the way you or I experience numbers? To what does he attribute this special relationship? How might you compare his relationship to numbers with your own relationship to language?

19. In the last chapter of Embracing the Wide Sky, Tammet writes about the types of research being done today to enhance the workings of the mind. Why do you think that so much research is being done on finding ways to bring more information to the mind and enhance our memory, to somehow make us more like computers? What is the benefit of having more access to information without enhancing our cognitive abilities, abilities that computers can never hope to duplicate?

20. Finally, knowing that the mind is much more plastic than previously thought, why do you think more research isn't being done on enhancing the areas of the brain that were activated during the monk's meditations, particularly those regions involved with enhancing positive emotions and quieting the parts keeping track of what is self and what is other? Why would man's mind be driven to want to enhance his ability to download masses of information to remember, as opposed to enhancing his experience to feel compassion and unity with his fellow man? What might this say about not only the future of the mind, but about the future of mankind?

Tips for enhancing your book club:

Try learning a new language following Daniel Tammet's example. First decide on a language and a book; perhaps read The Little Prince in French. Then see what you can learn about the language from simply reading the book.

Do some research into Mensa and see how, or if, high IQ correlates to high achievement, and if so, in what areas. us.mensa.org/

Take a Rorschach test. theinkblot.com/

Read Daniel Tammet's first book, his autobiography, Born on a Blue Day

For further information on Daniel Tammet go to his website at: optimnem.co.uk

Introduction

Embracing the Wide Sky is a new book by the New York Times bestselling author of Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant. Here, Daniel takes us not only into his life as an autistic savant, but also into the workings of his mind. Having one of the world's most examined brains, and having been the subject of leading neuroscientists in the U.S. and the UK, he is particularly equipped to explain what science has learned about him and about all of our brains. He explains how he masters languages, math and memorization, demonstrating in the process the immense potential that is within us all.

Drawing on his personal experience in fascinating and profound ways, Daniel shows that the deepest secrets of the brain may be hidden in plain sight. His tour across the horizons of the mind will fascinate and instruct and open our eyes to the beauty found in every kind of mind.

1. Tammet states that one of his intentions in writing Embracing the Wide Sky is to show that the thinking processes of geniuses and autistic savants is not so different from everyone else and that "anyone can learn from them" (Pg. 9). Do you think he has successfully shown this? Why or why not? What are some of the things that you learned, which if applied might enhance your own mental performance?

2. Tammet hopes to alter our perceptions about the nature of autistic savants. He states that "even to this day autistic savants are too often viewed as robots, or computers, freaks, or even supernaturally endowed..." (pg. 335). What were your perceptions of autism and savants before reading his book, and after? What were you most surprised to learn?

3.Tammet is eager to debunk the common analogy of the "brain as computer" (pg. 39). He writes that, "computers may crunch numbers but I dance with them" (pg. 38). In what other ways is the human brain more powerful in solving problems than the "brute calculating force" of the computer? What abilities do humans have which computers cannot replicate?

4. In Embracing the Wide Sky, Tammet examines "intelligence." He writes that his own behavior as a child was often "limited, repetitive, and anti-social — far from what most people would consider intelligent" (pg. 50). Despite this, his IQ was high enough to join Mensa, an organization which accepts only those with an IQ score in the top 2% of the population. What does this say about what constitutes our notions of intelligence?