The REAL Rain Man dies at 54. 9000 Books, Genius in 15 Subjects - "the human Google"

[jphilipson]

Simply amazing story

http://www.motherboard.tv/2009/12/30/rain-man-dies-54-years-old-9000-books-genius-in-15-subjects

Kim Peek, the guy who inspired Rain Man, died of a heart attack recently. Born to Mormons in 1951, Peek was a very advanced learner from early on, teaching himself to read before he was even two years old. Despite that, he still needed his parents to help him get dressed and brush his teeth. Although most people assume he was autistic, he in fact suffered from Agenesis of Corpus Callosum, which means that his brain was missing the one piece that divides the two sides and filters information. He’s the human Google. As the Times of London writes,

“By the time of his death he had committed more than 9,000 books to memory and Nasa made him the subject of MRI-based research, hoping that technology used to study the effects of space travel on the brain would help explain his mental capabilities. He would read eight books a day, taking just ten seconds to read a page. He could read two pages simultaneously, his left eye reading the left page and his right eye reading the right page.

But throughout his life he still needed 24-hour care."

 

[ibified]

Re: The REAL Rain Man dies at 54. 9000 Books, Genius in 15 Subjects - "the human Goog

this happened like a month ago, didnt it?

 

[jphilipson]

Re: The REAL Rain Man dies at 54. 9000 Books, Genius in 15 Subjects - "the human Goog

this happened like a month ago, didnt it?

20ish days ago. I just came across the story, and found it pretty impressive.