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The human mind is a complex thing. The majority of us don't truly know the inner workings of the mind, how memory truly works, or how gifted and briliant people process information differently than us 'average' folk. We are often reminded that there is a fine line between madness and genius. Mental disorders are medicated, attended to with therapy, and attacked with other potential 'cures', which are often unsucessful. Psychology is constantly evolving (homosexuality, for example, was listed as an official mental disorder for many years), and is listed by many Universities under the separate faculties of Arts and Sciences, respectively.

The mysteries of the human mind are only further complicated with incredible people like Stephen Wiltshire, an autistic savant who is often referred to as the Human Camera.

Wiltshire was diagnosed with autism, a brain development disorder, at age 3. Stephen's talent lies in his artistic abilities. As a child, he used art and drawings to communicate, and learned to speak fully at the age of 9. In 2005 he took a helicopter ride over Tokyo, and was able to accurately recreate the entire city scape in astonishing detail on a 10 meter long canvas. Since then he has gone on to draw several other major cities with the same exceptional detail (for example, drawing the precise number of windows on major skyscrapers). Watch Stephen draw Tokyo from memory here:

 

While Stephen's talents are undeniable, it is unknown how he developed his amazing artistic abilities. There is evidence, however, that extraordinary abilities in areas like mathematics can be taught. This is not mere memorization of numbers and times tables, but the learning of complicated skills, speed, and accuracy. Chldren start learning these skills at aged 4, and by 12 are "human calculators".

Equally as fascinating are seizures and head injuries that increase the abilties of certain areas of the brain.

Also, watch this fascinating video (a follow up to the previous video) about how Daniel, an autistic savant who lacks many of the disabilities associated of autism, 'sees' numbers, and the real life inspiration for the movie Rain Man.

 

Visit Stephen Wiltshires website here.

 

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