50/50 (Savants versus Serial Killers)

An estimated 50 savants are thought to populate our planet at this time.   Savant syndrome is a mental condition where those afflicted have extremely limited (autistic) mental capacity and low social function with the exception of one seemingly unearthly mental capacity or skill.  Some savants, as example, cannot tie their own shoes but can calculate any square root in their head in milliseconds.   Some can recall exact times and dates for events going back thousands of years.  Perhaps you recall the movie Rain Man inspired by life of a savant named Kim Peek.

Though nearly all savants sacrifice communication skills and normal levels of function to gain the unfathomable abilities to play piano or calculate or paint, one young savant from Britain seems entirely normal.  Daniel Tammet is called a high-functioning savant.  His extraordinary abilities are in a vast memory and, in particular, math and language acquisition.   He has shown the ability to speak, read, and fully understand almost any language in one week.  He is capable of calculations that are beyond the ability of most hand-held calculators.  In one demonstration, he sat down and recalled—without error—the first 20,000 numbers of Pi.  This feat took him over five hours.  Tammet claims to “see and sense” numbers in his mind more than “think” them.  Often, the numbers are a specific shape or texture in his mind.   He claims that the number nine is very large and intimidating.  The skyscrapers in New York City make him feel the same way as the number nine.  Tammet describes the number 333 as attractive and the number 289 as especially ugly.

At the same time that the world is home to these estimated 50 savants, here in the United States an estimated 50 serial killers are thought to be “at work.”  Serial killers are usually quite brilliant, though not to the elevation of a savant.   The emergence of serial killers often seems to be founded on environmental conditions—most have experienced abuse and an odd relationship with their mother.  The critical difference between savants and serial killers is in their ability to function in normal society.  Though sociopathic and driven to kill without remorse, most serial killers fake normalcy to such a degree they are often respected by peers and acquaintances.  Ted Bundy, in spite of murdering at least 30 women (and even keeping the severed heads of some victims for a time as mementos), was quite handsome and developed a charming false surface that fooled virtually everyone.  Bundy even maintained a somewhat stormy relationship with a woman that lasted more than five years.  For a while he was an active member of the Republican Party in Washington State.

So here we have 50/50.  Mis-wired, the human brain can do marvelous or reckless things.  I am sometimes thankful for ending up with my own “wired to minimum Code standards” brain—one that has on occasion directed me to place my cell-phone in the freezer and then set the loaf of bread on the counter.

I am happy and mostly harmless.       

--Mitchell Hegman