Pulse; the 9-Volt Thinking Cap

A few days ago Pip and I had a long, pleasantly rambling conversation about savantism fueled mostly by wine (the conversation, not the savants).  Last night I had a dream that probably draws its conscious inspiration from that conversation.

I dreamt that one afternoon I took my old hiking cap (a woven wool thing, dyed a color you’d only wear far from the eyes of civilization) and wired it to deliver a magnetic pulse to various parts of my brain.  I  could choose which region and I’d even labeled it accordingly like some modern-day phrenologist’s model.

The theory (which is actually supported by some research) is that a discrete magnetic pulse to a region of the brain can temporarily knock them offline, and emulate the unusual cerebral condition of certain savants.  It was sort of a trade-off.  By temporarily forcing another portion of the brain to carry the processing weight of the region temporarily disabled, I would gain the abilities of say, a mathematical savant or the musical genius of another sort.  However, this would also mean temporarily forgetting how to tie my shoes or work a mobile phone.

I have to admit, it was very handy being able to crank up one aspect of intellect when it was needed, though I went through a lot of 9-Volt batteries over the course of a month and switched over to slip-on shoes.