Last night Leah and I watched Nova, the episode was about the mind. The show was startling. We take seeing and congnition and religious experience for granted, and when they are upset, they provide insights into how they work.
Featured prominently was UCSD neurology MD and PhD Vilayanur S. Ramachandran. He’s a great talker. Several times I’ve seen his speech on art and the brain on the cable-access UCSD channel. His papers appear to be interesting reading as well. And there is some audio and video on his site as well.
All through the show there were sites around San Diego, some Trolley shots, different malls, the beach, driving around Torrey Pines. For a San Diego nut, it was sort of fun.
I saw that ep as well, it was pretty cool
He’s a great lecturer in the classroom as well. Not the easiest exams though.
I had Ramachandran in a Psych class at UCSD once. He’s quite a character.
Unfortunately, I still can’t forgive him for ruining the evening with Oliver Sacks, a 1-on-1 interview before some 1000 people in a standing-room only event at the Mandeville back in the 1990s. Ramachandran, who was supposed to just be the interviewer, wouldn’t let Sacks get a word in edgewise, and came across as a total boor and egomaniac. I don’t know how Sacks managed to keep his cool. People had paid to see Sacks, not R.