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A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

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Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#151

Post by latexr »

lm28469 wrote: post #117
et1337 wrote: post #43

I think it's interesting that HN in particular seems to be fascinated by brain injuries, myself included. Losing brain functionality is a scary thought for people who enjoy using their brains all day. edit: also I find my HN comment history to be a really good check on my perception of time. It's weird to see the random thoughts I wrote out in my down time. I ALWAYS think, "wow that was 3 months ago?"

> Losing brain functionality is a scary thought for people who enjoy using their brains all day. I'm fairly sure people outside of HN enjoy using their brains too, I'd say the vast majority of people do

As per the the guidelines:

> Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

The person you replied to specifically said (emphasis mine) “people who enjoy using their brains all day”. The bit you removed is crucial. Most people want to have a functional brain, but that’s not the same as saying they like having their minds constantly engaged in demanding tasks. Otherwise we wouldn’t have “Sunday afternoon movies”.

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#152

Post by picadores »

js2 wrote: post #19

Diane Van Deren is an ultra runner who had part of her brain removed to treat her seizures. It also affected her ability to perceive time and to read maps. She originally started running to self-treat her seizures, but eventually running no longer staved them off. Oddly, not being able to perceive time may have benefitted her running: > Dr. Gerber credits her endurance in part to her brain limitations. He says runner…

I distinctly remember a HN post, were the father of the poster had the same problem. Meaning he would sometimes "crash" and just stand there, forgetting about the world everything - often for hours if nobody "interrupted".

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#154

Post by avisser »

ProllyInfamous wrote: post #145
abrookewood wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a book by Oliver Sacks that covers people affected by strange neurological disorders and it is fascinating [0]. I can't recall any of them being viewed in a positive light, but it's still worth a read. [0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63697.The_Man_Who_Mistoo...

As long as we're discussing Dr. Sacks, I just read his short story (part of same-titled book) "An Anthropologist on Mars." The titles derive from Dr. Grandin Temple's perception of being high-functioning autist in academia/husbandry; she is best-known for re-designing slaughterhouse shutes, able to "see" as animals do. Her entire story left me, a spectrum-kiddo, grasping for what "real" even is. The thing that struck…

Her name is Temple Grandin

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#155

Post by avisser »

js2 wrote: post #19

Diane Van Deren is an ultra runner who had part of her brain removed to treat her seizures. It also affected her ability to perceive time and to read maps. She originally started running to self-treat her seizures, but eventually running no longer staved them off. Oddly, not being able to perceive time may have benefitted her running: > Dr. Gerber credits her endurance in part to her brain limitations. He says runner…

Towards the end of her life my grandmother had a few small strokes. After one, I clearly remember her loosing her pathfinding ability. She became lost in her 4 room basement, unable to find the stairs.

At her worst, she seemingly got lost in her 5'x8' bathroom. I remember her just continuing to turn in place and then dismiss each direction as being the wrong way to proceed.

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#156

Post by js2 »

mewpmewp2 wrote: post #104
js2 wrote: post #19

Diane Van Deren is an ultra runner who had part of her brain removed to treat her seizures. It also affected her ability to perceive time and to read maps. She originally started running to self-treat her seizures, but eventually running no longer staved them off. Oddly, not being able to perceive time may have benefitted her running: > Dr. Gerber credits her endurance in part to her brain limitations. He says runner…

Flow happens to at least a lot of runners to be fair though. At certain distance when I'm running, it becomes very pleasurable, like you are above everything.

I've run over two dozen marathons, twice run 100 miles, and also run timed races of 24 hours and 12 hours (multiple times). I'm a decent runner, having run the Boston Marathon 5 times.

I've never really experienced anything like what they're describing with Diane Van Deren. I'm not sure I've ever really experienced what folks refer to as the runner's high either. At best, I can say that there are times that my running is as effortless as walking, even when running at a fairly decent clip. During those effortless times, I've gotten lost in thought or in conversation with another runner, but no differently than I'd get lost in thought or conversation during other activities. I've never experienced any sense of euphoria when running. Joy and tears and emotional overload at the end of Boston sure, but not what I'd call euphoria.

That runner's high sounds great though, for those who do experience it. :-)

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#157

Post by electrondood »

vjerancrnjak wrote: post #127
abrookewood wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a book by Oliver Sacks that covers people affected by strange neurological disorders and it is fascinating [0]. I can't recall any of them being viewed in a positive light, but it's still worth a read. [0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63697.The_Man_Who_Mistoo...

Another book that is very illuminating is "My Stroke of Insight" by Jill Bolte Taylor. Reading the brain stroke description can give non-experiential understanding of various Zen koans, including the non-verbal one where Buddha simply holds up a flower and it becomes entirely understandable to Mahakasyapa. It also points to the natural tendency of human beings to attribute profoundness or spirituality to various form…

LSD as well, and simply stopping the mind and experiencing the senses directly, without interpretation.

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#158

Post by sizzle »

avisser wrote: post #155
js2 wrote: post #19

Diane Van Deren is an ultra runner who had part of her brain removed to treat her seizures. It also affected her ability to perceive time and to read maps. She originally started running to self-treat her seizures, but eventually running no longer staved them off. Oddly, not being able to perceive time may have benefitted her running: > Dr. Gerber credits her endurance in part to her brain limitations. He says runner…

Towards the end of her life my grandmother had a few small strokes. After one, I clearly remember her loosing her pathfinding ability. She became lost in her 4 room basement, unable to find the stairs. At her worst, she seemingly got lost in her 5'x8' bathroom. I remember her just continuing to turn in place and then dismiss each direction as being the wrong way to proceed.

After seeing how hard it was to walk after my dad’s stroke I’ll never buy a 2 story home when I’m entering old age. It’s just so dangerous and easy to fall and never recover.

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#159

Post by vctrnk »

HenrikB wrote: post #108
dendrite9 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That book helped someone I know he was mostly face blind. Recently I was listening to a discussion where someone was trying to explain her synesthesia about time to a bunch of people who didn't experience that. I found it really hard to wrap my head around, but there is a picture in this article of how one person visualizes time over the course of a year. The idea is just so far from what I think of as normal that it…

That type of synesthesia is referred to as Number Forms ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_form ). I read a long time ago that it's quite common, like 1 in 7 people got it. Some people don't even know they have it. I always had it as far as I can recall, but it wasn't until my mid 20s, when I stumbled upon a picture, that I reflected on it and the fact that not everyone sees number forms.

Oh wow. Count me in on the I didn't know I had that! camp.

When younger I struggled horribly with ALL things math, and to this day still do. OTOH I've always had a knack for DIY involving measurements: lenghts, rythms, quantities, sizes, you name it. I just invoke my own "dynamic mind ruler" for the task at hand and usually get it right 1st try. Cooking something new? I intuitively know the proper amount of ingredients and spices. Doing work in a friend's car? That nut looks like a 3/4 and that one a 11/16, and who the heck put a 11mm in place of a 7/16??

Incidentally, the whole concept of Time always flows from right-to-left to me. 1000BC is waaay to the right, and 2030AC is just a stone throw away to the left. Now I wonder if it's something only I perceive that way, or everyone does.

Re: A brain injury removed my ability to perceive time

#160

Post by dendrite9 »

tveita wrote: post #116
dendrite9 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That book helped someone I know he was mostly face blind. Recently I was listening to a discussion where someone was trying to explain her synesthesia about time to a bunch of people who didn't experience that. I found it really hard to wrap my head around, but there is a picture in this article of how one person visualizes time over the course of a year. The idea is just so far from what I think of as normal that it…

Somewhat related, a survey of how Norwegian people visualize time: https://nrkbeta.no/2018/01/01/this-is-what-the-year-actually...

Oh wow! Thanks for that, I lost a bunch of time with my coffee this morning thinking about time. I feel like I've lost my sense of time and it is all smeared together. It always has been to some extent but the last couple years have been stressful with business health and family health issues.

This line made me laugh "A straight fucking line. Because life moves ahead Right handed man, 20-29, Eastern Norway" and think about the reporting on the Aymara who describe the past as infront of them and the future behind. That was hard to grasp but then it made sense because one is potentially visible and the other is unknowable until one passes through it. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/feb/24/4

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