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Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 16:54:43 -0700
From: Grant Green
Subject: Re: [CB] The Oddities of Mental Processes...
>Have you read 'The Man who mistook his Wife for a Hat' by Oliver Sachs?
>It's a collection of stories from his years as a neurologist about
>various unusual disorders - the first deals with a sufferer of agnosia
>who, while a fine musician (of professional standard) gradually loses
>his ability to see what objects; the title comes from the episode where,
>on leaving Dr. Sachs' initial appointment with him, he attempted to pick
>up his wife and wear her on his head - in the belief that she was his
>hat. His musical ability remains unaffected.Yes, another great book. I read everything of his that I can find.
Haven't encountered the BBC series, although I'm sure it will turn up
on PBS at some point...Interesting to think just how much our ability to even think about
certain concepts depends on the architecture of our brains. A small
amount of brain damage in just the right spot, and one would be
unable to even hold the concept of, for example, a piccolo in the
mind...Grant
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Grant Green
ecode:contrabass http://www.contrabass.com
Professional Fool -> http://www.mp3.com/ProFools
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---------------------------------------------------------Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 17:20:12 -0700
From: Grant Green
Subject: [CB] No Danger from Infrasound
While searching through the web, I ran across an article (http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19990320/newsstory10.html) at New Scientist's web site about the supposed effects of infrasonic (e.g., below 20 Hz) vibrations. A German physicist was studying the potential uses of infrasound in weapons, crowd control, etc., and determined that all of the "effects" ascribed to low frequency sound were anecdotal and/or apocryphal. Apparently, the original theory was based on the fact that people feel uneasy during earthquakes, and that Tesla reproduced the effect by strapping people into a vibrating chair. However, air-born sound doesn't couple strongly enough with the body to transmit the same effect. As the author says:
"I found no hard evidence for vomiting or uncontrolled defecation, even at levels of 170 decibels or more"
So, I guess it's safe to go back to working on the prototypes for the übertuba and the sub-octocontrabass sarrusophone... ;-)
Enjoy,
Grant
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant Green
ecode:contrabass http://www.contrabass.com
Professional Fool -> http://www.mp3.com/ProFools
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