
Learn to Think Better: Tips from a Savant - jwb119
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=think-better-tips-from-a-savant&print=true
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3pt14159
The way he describes math and language is exactly the way I have described it
to friends. My spelling is atrocious because I don't see the word a-t-r-o-c-i-
o-u-s I see a gun black metal ball morphing into the head of a mace (slightly
covered in slime) and moving towards me in a parabolic trajectory, which would
make absolutely no sense to anyone else, but each of those attributes (gun
black, ball, spikes, slime, parabolic movement) are like tags, or keys to a
database that relate that word to other words. Movement = adjective, parabolic
= quick decision, gun black = considered cold if said to others, slime = bad,
spikes ~ ugly/pity, ball = others may disagree/personal opinion.

The hardest part for me is remembering people's names. I have to make unique
picture for every single first name AND link it to a last name with another
key, not as an active effort, but I know when it has happened. Learning to
type was hard, until I started associating sequences of letters to their own
"shapes" (more like micro movies).

When I'm thinking/working/talking/typing a minimum of 6 videos will play in my
head (really fast) per thought. It goes waaaaayyyy up if I have an internal
disagreement about something. Say somebody asked me whether I liked Starbucks
or Tim Hortons more. Since I love both Starbucks and Tim Hortons my brain kind
of does a tree of videos that face off against each other. First node would be

01"Better?" -> "impossible"

02"Branch: Define better?" -> "Speed, Cost, Service, Quality"

03"Speed Better?" -> "tilt Tim Hortons, except rush hour"

I could actually extend that example to about 60 or 70 lines, and for each
line AT LEAST 2 videos would play in my minds eye. All 60 lines would take
less than a second to calculate. I've developed the habit to look away (at the
ground, say) from the person talking to me when this happens so that the
conversation flows naturally.

Unlike the guy in the article, I have never really had a problem with reading
body language.

------
byrneseyeview
FYI: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=412355>

~~~
whacked_new
I am sooo eagerly waiting some kind of follow up to all the objections from
that blog article. It was truly and eye-opener; there are people in the
research community holding their breath for this guy!

That said, the SciAm article says nothing new and does not do anything to
defend against infopractical's criticisms. It presumes that Tammet is the man
he claims to be; it's still a mystery! Although for a person who is supposedly
Kim-Peek-level in terms of memory, he is using the term "antisocial"
incorrectly (he means "nonsocial," although this error is as common as the
public's misuse of "hack").

The hyperconnectivity stuff is simply an extension of spread activation. Under
this framework, everything he says in that article is obvious.

Finally, somewhat irrelevant to infopractical (which is still the most curious
issue here), Tammet's objection to IQ is valid, but stated exceedingly weakly.
"This sounds a lot to me like astrology, which lumps everyone into one of 12
signs of the zodiac.": that's exactly what it does, and what it was designed
to do, but that doesn't amount to a reason against it. The problem is the
faulty inference that IQ translates directly to a discrete measurement of
intelligence.

~~~
kragen
He _might_ actually mean "antisocial"; neurotypical children are a lot like
dangerous animals to an autistic child who can't perceive their emotions,
participate in their flock behavior, or predict their reactions, and who
experiences a lot of pain from strong stimuli like bright lights or loud
noises. Consequently they sometimes strike out at the neurotypicals, just as
you might strike out at a pack of wolves.

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Evgeny
"I could not do many of the things that most people take for granted, such as
... or deciphering a person’s body language, and only acquired these skills
with much effort over time."

I'm in my thirties and I think I'll never learn to decipher a person's body
language. Now that got me thinking if that makes me a genius or am I just
hopeless?

~~~
donaq
Not to burst your bubble, but not all autistics are geniuses.

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Gibbon
Werid that his article popped up today. I was just watching some videos of
David Tammet yesterday.

Here's the documentary about him that came out a few years ago:
[http://www.videosift.com/video/The-Boy-With-the-
Incredible-B...](http://www.videosift.com/video/The-Boy-With-the-Incredible-
Brain-Daniel-Tammet)

In it, he meets Kim Peek, counts cards, splits the hand twice and gets triple-
blackjack, sets his PI record, learns Icelandic in a week, and many other
things. Interesting show, not just about him, but other savant's too.

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herdrick
Are there any good tips for thinking better here? I'd like to request a
summary of anyone who read it.

