Thanksgiving is this Thursday in the U.S. and I’m looking forward to eating platefuls of turkey, squash, stuffing and whatever else catches my eyes-too-big-for-my-stomach. But I want to give you something else to sink your teeth into, fellow Americans (and you others around the world who will not be gorging yourselves). Here is some delicious food for thought.
V.S. Ramachandran is a neurologist at the University of California, San Diego (director of the Center for Brain and Cognition; professor with the Psychology Dept. and Neurosciences Program; and adjunct professor of Biology at the Salk Institute). Although all these titles may lead you to the swift conclusion that any talk he gives would be boring and jargon-filled – incomprehensible without the benefit of a PhD/MD — Ramachandran is actually quite funny. And he has the ability, like Oliver Sacks, to describe the inner workings of the brain through clever example.
But why is he a geek on the cheap? Because in trying understand phantom limb syndrome, he came up with a $3 therapy that works — a mirror box. A simple cardboard box with a mirror in the middle. This was instead of trying to create a virtual reality for an amputee, which would cost millions of dollars. Ramachandran’s therapy is now used routinely at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on soldier amputees.
Brilliant, funny and cheap. That’s my kind of geek.
For more fascinating lectures, be sure to check out TED.com, “riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world.” It’s an incredible resource and, as they say in their tag, it’s free.