Kim Peek to speak at Dutch John
March 30, 2000
Kim Peek, the inspiration for the movie "Rain Man" will be speaking and answering questions at Dutch John Elementary School beginning at 7 p.m. on April 13.
Peek is a unique megasavant and not autistic as was portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the movie. He has been said to be a warm, loving, social person who has total recall capabilities (photographic mind) and vast knowledge of numerous subjects. Peek's capabilities for reasoning are limited by pre-birth damage to his brain, particularly to his corpus callosum, which is absent and to his cerebellum. His ability to reason or problem-solve is limited. His fetal brain-damage has affected some of his motor sensors, but his brain gives him remarkable and awesome intellectual abilities.
Since March 1989 when the movie "Rain Man" received four Oscars, Peek has interacted with nearly 950,000 people, with over 700,000 being students. His message includes, "Recognize and respect differences in others and treat them as you want them to treat you. This will give us the kind of a world we want for all of us. Share. Care. Be your best!"
Anyone that has interacted with Peek before will know the immensity and diversity of his knowledge bank and his recall capabilities. If you haven't heard Peek answer almost any question about nearly any subject, then you will be amazed by his one-of-a-kind brain.
The subjects Peek will discuss include world history, US history, current events, professional football, basketball, baseball, boxing, horse racing, most college sports personalities and team activities, classical music and composers, operas, literature and authors, Shakespeare, the space program, geography, rulers of countries, the Bible, religions, calendar dates, TV Stations, Area Codes, Zip Codes and telephone systems. He can calculate any day of the week in any year, including birth dates. If Peek has ever read about it, he can recall it. He will not do math problem-solving questions, discuss technical subjects or discuss The Guineas Book of Records.
Corpus Callosum Required for Higher Reasoning?
Moderator: Moderators
Corpus Callosum Required for Higher Reasoning?
http://www.vernal.com/mar29/so.KimPeek29.html