![]() ![]() We also see this kind of claim in Daniel Tammet. I think that’s in the category of pseudoscience. He appears to have a theory of “genetic memory” whereby he thinks that memories are passed down through generations. ![]() However, he made extraordinary claims - that savants could do calendar calculations even when they had never seen a calendar, or calculate prime numbers spontaneously without any kind of learning. I once challenged Treffert in the comments on an online debate (in the comments here: ), which, to his credit, he responded to. He believes that some savants “know things they have never learned”. While Treffert only occasionally talks of supernatural extrasensory perception, and may well not believe in it, he does appear to believe in a theory of “genetic memory” that looks pseudoscientific to me. ![]() That matters, because so many reports of savants come from Treffert - a lot of reports of Kim Peek and Daniel Tammet are based on his writings. That’s definately in the category of the supernatural, and reason to be cautious of what Treffert reports. In my experience, in research on savants there is a surprising amount of bad science and media exaggeration, with extraordinary claims accepted without anywhere near enough skepticism.įor example, in savant researcher Darold Treffert’s book “Extraordinary people” (published 1989) there is a section where he discusses “Extrasensory perception” among savants. But claims of exceptional memories are not in the same category than claims of supernatural powers… I know that in the magic/entertaining world, we have to be really skeptic of everything. ![]()
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