Wouldn't I Be the First to Know?

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Oliver Sacks wrote about a patient who had gone blind from a brain tumor, but didn't know it He apparently continued to "see" things that he made up to go with the sounds, smells, etc. around him.

When the staff in the home he lived in tried to tell him of his condition, he replied, "That's ridiculous -- if I was blind, wouldn't I be the first one to know about it?"

Comments

  1. Anonymous8:42 AM

    So the patient has made an inductive inference about his present situation based on his past experience?

    ReplyDelete
  2. gcallah2:30 PM

    No, I think he was working from a Cartesian "clear and distinct idea."

    Har!

    ReplyDelete

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