Description
As featured on Steven Bartletts Diary of a CEO podcast
From the opening paragraph I was spellbound entranced Through real stories about what happens when our fragile perception of the world around us and within us is severed Guy Leschziner connects us back to our senses
Professor Alice Roberts
Where are you now
Look around you what can you see
Close your eyes and think of a loved one do you see their face
Stretch out a hand what can you feel with your fingertips your palm the soft underside of your wrist
What can you hear nearby and far away
The information you receive from your senses makes up your world But that world does not exist What we perceive to be the absolute truth of the world around us is a complex reconstruction a virtual reality created by the complex machinations of our minds in tandem with the wiring of our nervous systemsBut what happens if that wiring goes awry What happens if connections falter or new and unexpected connections are made Tiny shifts in the microbiology of our nervous systems can cause the world around us to shift and mutate to become alien and unfamiliar
In The Man Who Tasted Words consultant neurologist Guy Leschziner takes us on a journey through the senses exploring how each one shapes our experience of the world And investigating what happens when they deviate from the norm Along the way we meet a number of extraordinary individuals and step through the looking glass and into their worlds Worlds where hot and cold are reversed where a person with no sight sees fantastical visions or where words have a taste and sounds create sensations
But while fascinating their experiences are more than simply curiosities They teach us about our own perception of the world forcing us to question the idea of normal senses and whether such a thing even exists Does blue look the same to you and me Does grass smell the same Or sugar taste as sweet Do we even have the same understanding of what sweet is
The Man Who Tasted Words unpacks the science behind your senses and challenges you to try and see the world through anothers eyes and ears and nose and mouth It will illuminate it will surprise and it will leave your world just a little bit changed
A truly astonishing book from the story of the man who tasted words to that of Paul who could pull out his own teeth and break his legs yet feel no pain These are beautifully and engagingly written stories of how our senses tell us about the reality of the world or sometimes dont
Gavin Esler author of How Britain Ends
Stories of people who experience the world differently show us what it means to be human This is a deeply moving and powerful book full of provocative ideas about human perception and the way we construct reality
Daniel M Davis author ofThe Secret BodyandThe Beautiful Cure
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