Polymath Savant
What could be more inspiring that the reality of a human being thought by society to have sub-grade intelligence displaying a level of cerebral functioning far outdistancing even those in society celebrated for their genius in a particular field of endeavour? There was one such man with outstanding feats of mental ability and mastery of so many fields of intelligence that he presented as surely the most uniquely-capable man since Leonardo da Vinci.
Universities who would never have admitted this man to their august corridors were forced by his erudition and performance to classify him as a genius in music, geography, history and mathematics - to name but a few of the fifteen classifications he excelled in. Previously, those recognized as precociously savant while labouring under the constraints of mental illness were realized to have been outstanding in one or possibly two fields of study.
In the case of Kim Peek, born with a head 30% larger than normal, with recognized damage to the left hemisphere of his brain - the area that controls language and motor skills - his tremendous mental powers increased as he aged. In his early developing years he was unable to walk until age four, but was able to read newspapers and books before reaching the age of two.
By the age of six he could recite the Bible in its entirety. When he completed a book, it was returned to the shelf upside down as indication that he had read it. With private tutoring he completed the high school curriculum but local authorities in Utah refused to acknowledge his achievement.
His prodigious memory was put to work in strange ways as he exercised his mathematical skills, adding columns of seven-digit telephone numbers in his head perusing telephone directories until he amassed mental figures in the trillions. Neuroscientists discovered that the corpus callosum which has an information-filtering function, was missing in his brain.
He was said to have memorized twelve thousand books over his lifetime. Amazingly he was able to read two pages of a book simultaneously, devoting each eye to each page. He was able to absorb the contents of a novel in the space of an hour. He and his devoted father went on lecture tours to impress upon people the need to respect differences within others.
The film, Rain Man, which starred Dustin Hoffman as an autistic numerical savant, was broadly based on Kim Peek's life and abilities. His father authorized a biography of his son: The Real Rain Man: Kim Peek.
Kim Peek died of a heart attack on December 19, age 58.
Universities who would never have admitted this man to their august corridors were forced by his erudition and performance to classify him as a genius in music, geography, history and mathematics - to name but a few of the fifteen classifications he excelled in. Previously, those recognized as precociously savant while labouring under the constraints of mental illness were realized to have been outstanding in one or possibly two fields of study.
In the case of Kim Peek, born with a head 30% larger than normal, with recognized damage to the left hemisphere of his brain - the area that controls language and motor skills - his tremendous mental powers increased as he aged. In his early developing years he was unable to walk until age four, but was able to read newspapers and books before reaching the age of two.
By the age of six he could recite the Bible in its entirety. When he completed a book, it was returned to the shelf upside down as indication that he had read it. With private tutoring he completed the high school curriculum but local authorities in Utah refused to acknowledge his achievement.
His prodigious memory was put to work in strange ways as he exercised his mathematical skills, adding columns of seven-digit telephone numbers in his head perusing telephone directories until he amassed mental figures in the trillions. Neuroscientists discovered that the corpus callosum which has an information-filtering function, was missing in his brain.
He was said to have memorized twelve thousand books over his lifetime. Amazingly he was able to read two pages of a book simultaneously, devoting each eye to each page. He was able to absorb the contents of a novel in the space of an hour. He and his devoted father went on lecture tours to impress upon people the need to respect differences within others.
The film, Rain Man, which starred Dustin Hoffman as an autistic numerical savant, was broadly based on Kim Peek's life and abilities. His father authorized a biography of his son: The Real Rain Man: Kim Peek.
Kim Peek died of a heart attack on December 19, age 58.
Labels: Human Relations, Life's Like That
posted by Pieface | 5:42 PM
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