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Clive Wearing: Man Without A Memory
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Clive Wearing is 70 years old and has a 30 Second Memory.
This is a cut segment from a larger documentary on Time titled "BBC - Daytime"; It discusses some of the mysteries of memory and how time effects our lives.
Clive Wearing has a neurological disorder called Anterograde Amnesia which is a condition that doesn't allow new memories to transfer into long-term memory. This means that he will never remember anything since his incident, similarly to the movie Memento.
Clive was an accomplished pianist in the 80s', and fortunately can still play the piano flawlessly. He only remembers his wife, and anything else to him is new information, even if it was presented to him once before.
This is a cut segment from a larger documentary on Time titled "BBC - Daytime"; It discusses some of the mysteries of memory and how time effects our lives.
Clive Wearing has a neurological disorder called Anterograde Amnesia which is a condition that doesn't allow new memories to transfer into long-term memory. This means that he will never remember anything since his incident, similarly to the movie Memento.
Clive was an accomplished pianist in the 80s', and fortunately can still play the piano flawlessly. He only remembers his wife, and anything else to him is new information, even if it was presented to him once before.
Jun 25, 2007 1:07 AM
Re: Clive Wearing: Man Without A Memory
In a way that is very Zen. He has no choice but to live only in the present. It kinda makes me think that the concept of "live for the here and now" really does mean to "live for the future" since this guy really don't know what the future can be.
It's interesting to me that someone like this still speaks eloquently and plays the piano quite well, especially when you consider the length of time a musical piece is, and that music is by its very nature temporal. Does he forget that he's been playing a tune for a while? It makes me wonder about the whole of music because you'd think that at some point he'd just stop playing because he'd lose his place. So trippy.
His wife says it's terrible, and for us to imagine that it is, but from his perspective, even though he says his life is like being dead all the time, every time he sees his wife he's filled with the most extreme joy because it's the first time he's ever seen the one he loves.
It's interesting to me that someone like this still speaks eloquently and plays the piano quite well, especially when you consider the length of time a musical piece is, and that music is by its very nature temporal. Does he forget that he's been playing a tune for a while? It makes me wonder about the whole of music because you'd think that at some point he'd just stop playing because he'd lose his place. So trippy.
His wife says it's terrible, and for us to imagine that it is, but from his perspective, even though he says his life is like being dead all the time, every time he sees his wife he's filled with the most extreme joy because it's the first time he's ever seen the one he loves.
By: tjbassoon
Re: Clive Wearing: Man Without A Memory
Well put...
Doesn't sound so bad after all, does it? A curse and a blessing. Something that he himself is hardly aware of.
Doesn't sound so bad after all, does it? A curse and a blessing. Something that he himself is hardly aware of.
By: WolfmanMason
Re: Clive Wearing: Man Without A Memory
I wouldn't be so 'romantic' about things. Of course, the documentary emphasizes the 'amazing things' (Piano, Eloquence, Joy) but -- if we were just a bit more brave, we should probably see it as a condemnation of our existence. What is eloquence? Nothing but atemporal recall and response, no thinking involved at all. What is Piano? Nothing but reaction to the notes on the page. What is joy? Nothing but a programmed reaction.
Of course, we are not all that different. We live in a temporal bubble when we speak, go to parties, make jokes with friends, experience joy, etc. Philosophers have long recognized that what the masses value (experience, music, talk, pleasure) are merely the programmed and conventional reactions. Thus, the disdain with which all philosophers have treated the emotions and the sublime (Nietzsche's renunciation of Wagner, of drunkeness, etc.) There is nothing 'personal' or 'profound' about 'joy' -- and, to turn the screw, unlike what the narrator says, there is nothing Personal about time either, if he would only take a little to time to reflect with a bit more profundity on the show he is narrating.
The most 'personal' experiences we have are absolutely shallow, empty, flat, reactive, atemporal, etc. Which is not to say that 'thinkers' are any different. But, as Nietzsche says, the only thing that is NOT nihilism (the complacency of programmed reactions to everything) is the recognition of nihilism everywhere.
Of course, we are not all that different. We live in a temporal bubble when we speak, go to parties, make jokes with friends, experience joy, etc. Philosophers have long recognized that what the masses value (experience, music, talk, pleasure) are merely the programmed and conventional reactions. Thus, the disdain with which all philosophers have treated the emotions and the sublime (Nietzsche's renunciation of Wagner, of drunkeness, etc.) There is nothing 'personal' or 'profound' about 'joy' -- and, to turn the screw, unlike what the narrator says, there is nothing Personal about time either, if he would only take a little to time to reflect with a bit more profundity on the show he is narrating.
The most 'personal' experiences we have are absolutely shallow, empty, flat, reactive, atemporal, etc. Which is not to say that 'thinkers' are any different. But, as Nietzsche says, the only thing that is NOT nihilism (the complacency of programmed reactions to everything) is the recognition of nihilism everywhere.
By: q335r49
Re: Clive Wearing: Man Without A Memory
time comes from within man. I just blew all your minds.
By: spinier
Re: Clive Wearing: Man Without A Memory
for such a serious affliction, it seems to have happened to a joyous person who is lucky to have a wife that loves him very much.
By: hypersapien
Re: Clive Wearing: Man Without A Memory
this, along with alzheimer's, is my idea of hell. i cannot think of worse fate than to have to perpetually mourn the death of the past. while he is extraordinary lucky to have a loving wife to take care of him, they are both horribly cursed.
and now for something completely different...
and now for something completely different...
By: bobolifoo
