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The Impact of Technology on
Modern Life
Autistic Savants
Extraordinary Skills and Abilities
Autistic savants are individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who possess exceptional skills or abilities in certain areas, despite having limitations in other areas of life. These individuals often display remarkable talents in fields such as mathematics, music, art, or memory.
Specific Abilities and Limitations
Autistic savants have specific abilities or skills that are far beyond the norm, but they also have certain limitations in other areas of life. For example, Daniel Tammet, an autistic savant, was able to memorize pi to 22, decimal places, but he struggled with social interaction and found certain sensory experiences overwhelming.
Retention and Assimilation of Information
Autistic savants often have an exceptional ability to retain and assimilate large amounts of information. Daniel Tammet, for instance, regularly took over a room in his house and started his own lending library, separating fiction and non-fiction books and even introducing a ticketing system.
Relationship with Numbers and Patterns
Some autistic savants, like Daniel Tammet, have a unique relationship with numbers and patterns. Tammet described "seeing" images when he looked at numbers, and felt that the world of numbers was a place where he truly belonged.
Challenges with Social Interaction and Sensory
Experiences
While autistic savants possess extraordinary skills, they often face challenges in social interaction and sensory experiences. Daniel Tammet found the mental stimulus of a grocery store overwhelming, as he felt compelled to look at every shape, texture, price, and arrangement of items.
Persistence and Dedication
Autistic savants often exhibit a high level of persistence and dedication in their areas of expertise. Daniel Tammet's ability to memorize pi to over
22,000 decimal places was a testament to his determination to show that disability does not have to be a barrier to success.
Acceptance and Understanding from Others
Autistic savants may face misunderstanding or even ridicule from others who do not fully comprehend their unique abilities and challenges. However, some individuals, like Kim, recognize that "you don't have to be handicapped to be different - everybody's different."
Importance of Preparation and Practice
The success of autistic savants, like other individuals, is often attributed to the combination of talent and extensive preparation or practice. Researchers like Malcolm Gladwell and Daniel Levitin emphasize the importance of 10,000 hours of practice in achieving mastery in a particular field.
Neurological Factors
Researchers have suggested that the exceptional abilities of autistic savants may be related to the way their brains are wired, with the right hemisphere potentially compensating for damage or differences in the left hemisphere.
Frank McCourt's Journey: From Poverty to
Pulitzer
The Early Years
In 1994, Frank McCourt began to write his memoir, "Angela's Ashes," which would go on to receive the Pulitzer Prize. McCourt's family had returned to Ireland in search of a better life, but their struggles continued. Three of their children died, and the family remained in poverty and hunger. In 1949, at the age of 19, McCourt returned to the United States, seeking a fresh start.
Teaching and Storytelling
In 1970, McCourt began teaching at Seward Park High School in New York. He used his past experiences to connect with his students, and they loved his stories. As he shared his stories, McCourt realized how his childhood had shaped him.
The Passing of His Mother
In 1981, McCourt's mother passed away.
Inability to Understand Animal Language : For humans, intelligence is closely linked to language, but the inability to understand animal communication makes it difficult to accurately assess their intelligence.
Other Abilities vs. Intelligence
Certain animal abilities, such as the extreme perception of forensic dogs or the learned reflexes of Clever Hans, may be mistaken for intelligence. Similarly, the superior performance of bees on certain tests may be due to instinct rather than intelligence.
Assessing Animal Intelligence
Recognizing and Deciding to Act : Animals that use their extreme perception to "invent jobs" for themselves, such as seizure alert dogs, may be demonstrating true intelligence.
Species-Specific Differences : Intelligence in animals differs from species to species, and may not be easily comparable using human- centric measures.
Studying Neural Circuitry : Investigations into the neural networks of animals can contribute to a better understanding of whether certain "human" qualities exist in other species, and help establish a more solid foundation for cross-species comparisons.
Challenges in Assessing Animal Intelligence
The tendency to anthropomorphize animal behavior, the difficulty in understanding animal communication, and the lack of appropriate tools and methods for cross-species comparisons all present significant challenges in accurately assessing animal intelligence.
Importance of a Bottom-Up Approach
With a greater emphasis on a "bottom-up" method, where researchers study the species' neural networks to understand how they can be used, progress can be made in answering questions about the existence of human-like qualities in other species and improving the basis for better comparisons.
Death Do Us Part
Paragraphs 1-
The text describes a person who has been married seven times, dealing with multiple stepchildren much older than her, and ex-wives. Despite this, she has great relationships with all of her ex-spouses and children.
Paragraphs 3-
This person has not yet chosen a career but knows she has plenty of time to decide. In fact, she has had at least fifteen or twenty different careers, all very different, as she does this to avoid getting bored and always have a new challenge.
Paragraphs 6-
The text states that this person has had her first Prep, but has not yet undergone the Process. However, the person sees an unlimited future and faithfully does the Process, having been alive for almost four hundred years. Despite this immense lifespan, the person remains vigorous and youthful.
Paragraphs 26-
The text suggests that the person's multiple marriages and relationships with ex-spouses and stepchildren can have both positive and negative effects. Positively, the person can have many different and interesting spouses and not feel trapped in a loveless marriage. Negatively, there can be an extremely large age difference between spouses and multiple brief marriages.
Paragraphs 34-
The text also suggests that the person's ability to have multiple careers can have both positive and negative effects. Positively, the person can "reinvent" themselves and find fresh challenges. However, there may be fewer job openings as corporations and universities stagnate without youthful talent and ideas.
Toward Immortality
Paragraphs 1-
The text describes the person's home as being compared to a lonely cloud, floating in the sky, and their punctuality being compared to a Swiss watch, precise and dependable.
Paragraphs 3-
The text uses various suffixes to describe the person, such as "-ic" (emphatic, forceful) and "-ical" (practical, sensible).
Paragraphs 5-
The text also uses suffixes like "-less" (loveless, without love) and "-ing" (remaining, still left) to describe the person's relationships and longevity.
Differences Between Schools in Lima and New
York
School Size and Student-Teacher Ratio
The school in Lima was very small, with only about 75 students, and the teachers knew every student by name. In contrast, the school in New York is gigantic, with over 1400 students, and the immense halls are filled with unfamiliar faces.
Gender Composition
The school in Lima was only for boys, while girls went to a separate school. The school in New York has both male and female students.
Language of Instruction
In Lima, the language of instruction was solely Spanish. In New York, the primary language of instruction is English, but Spanish is also used sometimes.
Technology Use
The school in Lima had very little technology, with only a few computers in the entire school that students rarely used. In contrast, the school in New York provides each student with a laptop at the beginning of ninth grade, and assignments are posted on class websites. Students often email their homework and questions to teachers.
Workload and Thinking Level
College requires a higher level of thinking and a lot more work than high school. The author notes that this is a significant difference between their experiences in Lima and New York.
Sense of Community
The small size of the school in Lima fostered a strong sense of community, where everyone knew each other well. The author misses the intimacy of their old school in Lima, in contrast to the impersonal nature of the large school in New York.
Time Management
The author notes that they have a lot of free time between classes in college, but must discipline themselves to use this time productively for homework and other assignments.
Overall, the text highlights the stark contrasts between the author's experiences in the smaller, more intimate school in Lima and the larger, more technologically advanced school in New York, as well as the increased academic demands of college compared to high school.
