Book Review: An Anthropologist on Mars

Oliver Sacks documents seven interesting cases that he came across during his career as a neurologist in An Anthropologist on Mars. The book provides an insight into the workings of the human mind. For someone without a degree in the medical field, the book proves to be an engaging introduction into the workings of the human mind. Sacks’ writing does not stop there though, he delves deeper into the perceptions and perspectives of the mind.

As he chronicles the lives of a savant, a surgeon with Tourettes syndrome and a blind painter (among others), he highlights the productive side of the brain impairment story. His accounts show how the human brain adapts in situations where there is a deviation from the norm, much like nature. How lacking in one, the brain can become very enriched in another aspect.

His detailed recollections serve to soften the narrative of a mind which is not perceived as normal. Reading through the book evokes feelings of compassion, understanding and belonging. It highlights how complex our brains can be and how much more can be learnt about it. As a sum, reading the book makes one aware of the subjectivity of normalcy, as the human brain dictates it.

Glimmer

Breathe in, Breathe out,

The clock keeps ticking on

Breathe in, Breathe out,

Drown out the words in the background

Breathe in, Breathe out,

There is a glimmer hiding in the shadows,

What is real and what is not?

Breathe in, Breathe out,

Synchronize with the beat of the heart

Breathe in, Breathe out,

Push down the urge to collapse

Breathe in, Breathe out,

Await the glimmer in the shadows,

Is it real or Is it not?

Breathe in, Breathe out,

Fight the urge to renounce the heart

Breathe in, Breathe out,

Await the embrace to heal the hurt

Breathe in, Breathe out,

In the battles of the world, pick the battles for the self

Breathe in, Breathe out,

Seek out the glimmer in the shadows,

Is it real or is it not?

~Rishika Sudhir Dhody

Book Review: Proust was a Neuroscientist

Proust was a Neuroscientist, by Jonah Lehrer is an insightful read for both, the left and the right brain. The book commemorates famous artists such as Virginia Woolf, Paul Ceźanne and Auguste Escoffier by highlighting how their work exposed a unique underlying brain mechanism. Lehrer narrative romanticizes the brain through art.

Among other things, Lehrer highlights how the brain processes sights, sounds and memories differently than we perceive them. He explains through science and depicts through art how a recollection is not the same as the event being recollected; how the verve of a scene is likely borrowed from our past instead of the sight itself; how any sound which teases us with the promise of pattern becomes melodious to us. In essence, Lehrer reminds us that our mind reflects us in the experiences around us. Every mind has its own reality.

Another common thread running through the book is plasticity. The idea that we are constantly changing and adapting to different situations. The you now is different than the you yesterday. The fact that change is so deeply coded into our being, is reassuring in a constantly changing world.

The book builds on itself. In that the more I read, the more I understood the theme of the book, the more I was hooked. This also meant that the beginning of the book was a bit slow even though my interest level picked up speed soon enough.

Overall, Lehrer has created an eye-opening and thought-provoking piece of work. One which leaves the reader with a sense of wonder and awe at the unlikely amalgamation of science and art both, within the reader's mind and reflected in the world around.