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Autistic savants are very hard to come by, as the savant
syndrome itself is very uncommon. There are less than 50 savants
alive today. The memories of savants are likely unlike anything
you will ever know or experience. Savants can recite, both
forward and backward, a book that they have just read, yet
some can barely speak. Their memories are specific and complete
however there is little emotion in them. Studies describe
savants as human tape recorders.
The term savant originated in Europe in the late 19th century
when a small group of people in asylums was discovered to
have astonishing and mysterious talent.
Neuroscientists are discovering the difference between a
"normal" person and the astonishing skills of savants
is that the savants are able to tap into areas of the mind
that function like supercomputers. These supercomputers that
we call our mind are accumulating immense amounts of information
from the senses to create a working model of the world, which
could only make sense to them. One researcher believes that
"average" people are blind because of what we know
and see. He feels that if we could shut off our theoretical
mind, we could literally for one moment see the real world
that surrounds us.
These children come into the world with deep artistic talents
and their minds will continue to be a fascination to all researchers.
As one researcher is quoted in "The
Key to Genius," "By finding out how savants
work, we learn how we work."
Wired
News December, 2003
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