The Boy With The Incredible Brain
Filed under Psychology, 19 Comments,
This is the breathtaking story of Daniel Tammet. A twenty-something with extraordinary mental abilities, Daniel is one of the world’s few savants. He can do calculations to 100 decimal places in his head, and learn a language in a week.
He also meets the world’s most famous savant, the man who inspired Dustin Hoffman’s character in the Oscar winning film ‘Rain Man’
This documentary follows Daniel as he travels to America to meet the scientists who are convinced he may hold the key to unlocking similar abilities in everyone.
Watch the full documentary now
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June 11th, 2009 at 15:19
amazing documentary..
August 5th, 2009 at 00:45
good show. i did feel a bit saddened because this boy will probably subjected to tests for a good portion of his life. it really does show how little we know about our own brains and how much potential we all have.
August 19th, 2009 at 00:24
Pi is not 141592653582 it is 141592653589
August 31st, 2009 at 17:11
pi r2? No, pi r round.
October 23rd, 2009 at 23:52
math it order, the highest form
October 24th, 2009 at 03:26
A very well done documentary! A 10 from me. Fantastic! Fantastic!
I have a theory why our brains are so large and why we use such a small percentage of them currently. I believe a similar ability can be found in all of us, like Daniel Tammet under the right circumstances. It is a “seed of genius” so–to-speak, given to each of us by God Himself. Our massive mind capacity will not be fully utilized in this lifetime, however.
I feel that God has created us with a mind that is limitless because as eternal beings, we will have endless days to learn and grow and mature and understand and explore and fathom the depths of God and His creation forever. We have a virtually limitless universe, so likewise, we have a virtually limitless mind capacity to know and understand it all eventually, save perhaps the full understanding of God which will never be surpassed by any one of us ever.
Our minds will be forever learning in the age to come (with our new physical/spiritual bodies just as Christ has now). At the moment, we are just scratching the surface of our immense personal potential. I can’t wait to explore the endlessness of knowledge and wonder that God has prepared for those that love Him! I hear Jupiter is lovely this time of year.
I’m so excited to think about it!
I enjoyed this documentary very much. Thanks again, Vlatko!
October 24th, 2009 at 04:15
Charles B.
I am not trying to nullify your personal Rapture, or even to
discombobulate you!
But Jupiter,s gravity, will crush you like a pineapple!
November 30th, 2009 at 05:10
The kid is figuring it out as he goes aslong, how is that genius, you see him physically writing it with his finger, genius is boom, boom, boom.
The symbols are just his own mnemonics… the dude is thinking… this is crap imo.
Learn language in a week? Define master a language?
Memorise words and familar sentences? La de da!
People are only omgod amazed at this kid because they are the ones below the par.
Btw… genius… if this kid is genius… what ingenius tasks can he complete with remembering decimal places in PI?
Whats ingenius about memory? NOTHING!
The so called “special abilities” are bs… the enchanced memory and special perception… why is it bs…?
erm hello, savants lack social skills… why… because they miss the neurological connections? lack of empathy?
It’s like a kid goes deaf, does his eyesight not improve to that of a greater precision than a person who has all use of all senses…
Its just more energy/whatever FORCED onto one or few subjects, so that subject of concentration becomes stronger and leads to imbalance… for instance that Mathmatician whom Russel Crowe played in Beautiful Mind (its late i care not to recall) who went crazy.
Doc even says in the documentary, “it’s not currently interfering with his life”
Neuro connections are hard to make, but easy to break, use it or lose it applies here!
Us “normal” people, take in information all the time from different senses and internalise it differently, savants and such just view the world in limited way!
Lets see where this kid is at in 20-40 years.
BTW Charles B; you say there is a God whilst you watch a Documentary which is blaintently set from a SCIENCE point of view… sounds to me like your extremely incongruent! (Not an attack, just pointing out your opinion is entirely flawed, you have zero idea what your talking about. and please stop trolling talking about the “God” in a science zone.)
Btw the narrators “6th sense” comment, erm lol?
“With enough practice super fast maths is possible”
Well duh!! It’s called a set of skills, a series of habits.
Overall I think this documentary is just another “all press is good press” story.
This Documentary should be called a Docudrama!
I end with my one of my recent in work quotes going off the
“there are no doubts that abilities like Daniel’s are extremely rare… the way daniel can express his own World…”
…
your life, your job, you, we could all tell a story, but few of us can, even fewer can captivate, and even less can communicate…
Peace.
December 12th, 2009 at 21:29
Charles B.,
We do not use a small fraction of our brains. We use the whole thing. Stop bible thumping and get an education.
December 28th, 2009 at 20:01
This is just a rather intelligent fellow who is fair at mental calculation. All of those arithmetic problems were very soft. Thousands of Chinese school children would solve them quickly. Why didn’t that ask him to factor the product of two large primes or something? I once did a stage memory act that had a segment much like the chess board memorization. Mnemonic tricks. The business about seeing the calculations as flashes of light and whatnot is pure BS, copped directly from The Teachings of Don Juan – A Yacqi Way of Knowledge, which was a hoax. The blackjack sequence was as nonsensical as the one in the movie Rain Man. And oh yeah, the real Rain Man, recently deceased, used to tell EVERYONE that someday they would be as great as he.
January 4th, 2010 at 01:07
It is easy to say what you think! and all of the comments have their valid points of view!
i especially enjoyed reading the “Tyler Durden’s” review, although i completely disagree with most of it, it still was very sincere and exiting.
personally for me, the documentary is interesting because of persons ability to unconsciously process information. as if there is a separate and more profound existential level of consciousness that savants are in touch with. and perception of its potential is somewhat reduced by our “conscious”/”conceptual” contamination.
i may be wright or i may be wrong!
its up to you to decide…
January 9th, 2010 at 05:20
I believe this is very normal…
is just a matter of “willingness”…
OUR BRAIN IS INCREDIBLE!
-quarantus-
February 3rd, 2010 at 18:31
Great! I wonder if these kinds of exceptions are found or could they be noticed in the animals, maybe some closly related spicies to humans, like the chimpanzees…
February 4th, 2010 at 00:57
“This is just a rather intelligent fellow who is fair at mental calculation. All of those arithmetic problems were very soft.”
Pfft you try it then genius!
Nice doc.
February 4th, 2010 at 23:49
i think all of us are capable be savants and beyond,the brain is multi complex
February 5th, 2010 at 00:38
Why are “savants” so rare in that case?
February 5th, 2010 at 06:57
I love this web page! I’m having fun.
Thanks.
February 19th, 2010 at 07:42
I cant believe some of the ******* comments on here.
@ tyler durden who says
‘The kid is figuring it out as he goes aslong, how is that genius, you see him physically writing it with his finger, genius is boom, boom, boom.’
Have you not watched this??
Near the end the ’scientists’ who are more qualified than you! are amazed, why? because the answer jus entered his mind, in the form of pictures which he translated into words… you really are thick boy.
you are obviously a jealous child.
@ Harley quinn
Who states that we use all of our brain…
So answer this, why do psychologists the world over state that we only use 1 percent of our mind, our potential??
And even scientists maintain that artistic people use more of their right brain and logical people use more of their left hemisphere of the brain?? Explain that??
@ Quarantus who says this Is very normal…
hmmm… doesnt explain why he is the only human on the planet that can CALCULATE WITHOUT THINKING…
Not very bright guys.
If you are going to selfisly slate someone elses hard work..
At least try to get It right,
and leave your petty egos out of the equasion.