While reading outside recently, the sun behind me, the shadow of my head fell on the book I was reading. I liked that the shadow of what held my brain shaded the words going into it.
The ancient Egyptians thought the brain existed to cool blood and removed it when mummifying the dead, thinking it would be something they wouldn't need in the afterlife. We grow up knowing what brains are and what they do and find such ignorance absurd. But how would you know if no one told you? Brains are important; putting them inside the rib cage would make sense. And how would you know that only one organ did all your thinking?
Still, I wonder why it took such smart people so long to realize what was going on. There would have been head injuries that caused cognitive problems. And there were probably times when they beheaded people. Wouldn't someone freshly beheaded with a swift blow still be thinking a little? If chickens can run around with their heads cut off (which they actually do), surely a human would, oh, reach up with his hands where his head used to be before the blood loss would cause death.
The book, by the way, is Asymmetry by Lisa Haliday, and is very good.
I’m surprised the shadow’s not bigger, with the comprehensive store of knowledge and facts residing inside your skull.
ReplyDeleteYou are too kind. I actually have a pretty large head (twenty-four inches), which makes me excellent proof that head size doesn't correlate with intelligence. What matters is how crenelated the brain is and I suspect that mine is as smooth as a marble. Years ago I had persistent headaches bad enough to warrant getting an MRI of my brain. Nothing bad was found. After I did it, I liked the notion that I actually had had my head examined, a phrase which older people may remember being a common insult: "You ought to have your head examined!" Now, of course, we all just call each other assholes.
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