I’ve got the brain on my mind lately. Every spare minute I read more of Patient H.M., a new book by Luke Dittrich. It delves behind the scenes in the development of ablative brain surgery during its ‘wild west’ beginnings, where there was not even a thought about informing the patient, most of whom had mental […]
I am a logical person. I also am pretty well informed. When it comes to helping other people, I am usually right on the money with my analysis of the problems of other people and suggested solutions; solutions that makes perfect sense to me. Mystery I am flummoxed by the fact that no matter how […]
I was greatly impressed by a recent book, Out of Our Heads, by Alva Noë, who presents a different way to look at consciousness. He believes that current approaches to the question of consciousness are wrongheaded: instead of looking for consciousness as arising inside a person’s head, it is a result of interaction of with […]
In yesterday’s post I began with definitions of the what it means to be human. Does the definition of humanness matter? Yes. It matters because many human beings feel free to mistreat others they deem non-human or less than human. Worldview One’s worldview has an influence on one’s view of humanness. There seem to be two […]
What does it mean to be human? On the surface, this may seem a frivolous question. Isn’t the answer obvious? Here are a few definitions: Dictionary definition – The Oxford Dictionary defines a human being as a “man, woman, or child of the species Homo sapiens, distinguished from other animals by superior mental development, power […]
Why throw away interesting stuff? In preparing to move, I am sorting out my stuff. I always save little tidbits of interesting items. For instance, there was a short article about some man who just won a settlement against a tattoo parlor. The tattoo depicted a man stabbing someone in the back with a knife, […]
Current project Those of you who follow my blog know that my older brother is autistic, low functioning and nonverbal. On his 40th birthday I started a long-term photography project to try to figure out my relationship with him. It may be hard to believe, but I was never sure if my brother knew who […]
My brother was tested in 1993 and assigned an IQ of 18. [1] Not to worry, his true Adaptive Behavior composite Score is in the range of 12-28. [2] I am so relieved. If this was 1921 and we consulted the American Association of Mental Retardation (AAMR), Mike would have been promoted from Idiot (IQ […]
In my post on facilitated communication (FC), I mentioned that I had not done much research on the topic. I presented my impression of it on the basis of a trial run with my brother, Michael. For those of you who have not been following my blog, Mike is my older brother who is autistic, […]
Dear Readers, I am a member of a mail list called Microbes and Mental Illness (MMI). Dr. Robert Bransfield and colleagues established this list after the 1999 American Psychiatric Association annual meeting, to create a forum to continue the informal discussions about the link between microbes and mental illness. Dr. Bransfield describes the relationship between […]
