Guest Thinkers — June 4, 2010

Oliver Sacks and Chuck Close Talk About Their Own Brain Disorders

We live in an intriguing era of self-disclosure. Tonight, in New York City, the World Science Festival features a panel discussion called Strangers in the Mirror: “What’s it like to face a faceless world? Acclaimed neurologist Oliver Sacks once apologized for almost bumping into a large bearded man, only to realize he was speaking to a mirror. Sacks and photorealist painter Chuck Close—geniuses from opposite ends of the creative spectrum—share their experiences of living with a curious condition known as ‘face blindness,’ or prosopagnosia. The two will discuss the challenges of maintaining interpersonal relationships—when even family and close friends appear as strangers.”

When Close was on Big Think, he talked about photographing Brad Pitt and whether the art market is more corrupt than Wall Street. When Sacks appeared on Big Think, he spoke about hallucinations and sleeping sickness.

a computer generated image of a human brain.

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The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

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The Past

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More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

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7 min

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with

Laurie Santos

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