Friday, March 14, 2008

Best short lecture ever?

Is this the most stunning 18 minute talk ever delivered? Unforgettable. Watch, learn and be amazed.

Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor describes how she had a stroke and was the witness to her own brain shutting down. It's personal, vivid and moving.

3 comments:

Jane Bozarth said...

WOW.

Karen Virapen said...

I watched that last night. The most amazing talk I've ever seen. She speaks so passionately, and movingly, about her experiences - and with such knowledge too. I'd love to have seen her talk live. Even watching it on the web, the atmosphere was electric!

Anonymous said...

I am from the UK, and this really is awesome (as opposed to the US version of awesome). And very, very moving.
My father had a stroke some time ago and lived for a further 5 years. It was clear that, following the stroke, his processing was mis-firing somehow. For example he lost his ability to speak, so the nursing staff showed him multiple-picture boards with (for example) a toilet, a sandwich, a glass of water, a TV, etc - the idea being he could point to what he needed. But he just looked blankly at the pictures, even though he was both conscious and alert. While it is unlikely that he was experiencing exactly the same as Jill Bolte Taylor, she gives an incredible insight into the sort of phenomena he might have been experiencing. I am sure it would have been very useful for us (his loved ones) to have seen something like this video (had it been around at the time) to at least get an idea of the challenges he was facing. Probably more significantly, it was clear that the nursing staff also had no appreciation of his possible experiences either, so I am sure they would have benefited too.