Hacker Cinema
Brainman
2005 · Film · documentary · 60 min
Directed by Martin Weitz
Daniel Tammet has autism. He is also a savant. He can perform mind-boggling mathematical calculations at breakneck speeds. But unlike other savants, who can perform similar feats, Tammet can describe how he does it. He speaks seven languages and is even devising his own language. Now scientists are asking whether his exceptional abilities are the key to unlock the secrets of autism. 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. He is challenged to learn Icelandic, one of the world’s hardest languages, in just one week. Will Daniel do it? And what can we learn from this prodigious talent?
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2 comments on Hacker News
I recall seeing him for the first time in a documentary about Daniel Tammet[0].
Seeing him read books by basically just scanning two pages at once was astonishing. If I recall correctly, his father mentioned he had recently started to understand and tell jokes, which I found interesting, and somehow moving.
And on a side note, after seeing "the original", Dustin Hoffman's interpretation in Rain Main felt way more precise than I would have ever thought.
[0] "Brainman", I believe https://guidedoc.tv/documentary/brainman-documentary-film/
So very sick of hearing from/about this guy. Yes, 37 is lumpy like oatmeal to you - I get it. The only thing of value I've gotten from this man's existence is unfortunately slightly less respect for V.S. Ramachandran, whose writings I greatly enjoy but who didn't seem very skeptical when testing Daniel in the television documentary "Brainman."
Although I would have a somewhat morbid interest in seeing a roundtable discussion with him, Steve Pavlina, and Tim Ferriss. They could make it a podcast and call it The Hyperbolic Chamber.