Stephen Wiltshire. Sometimes referred to as “The Human Camera.” He’s an autistic savant, which means that he’s an autistic who has been gifted with some incredible abilities. Try this YouTube link to learn more about him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8YXZTlwTAU. When my neuroscience professor saw this video, he said that he gave up on ever having a complete understanding on how the brain really works—it’s too ridiculous. To think that a brain can be capable of this phenomenon is fascinating and leads to countless questions concerning the neural mechanisms of visual attention and memory. Provided we have two working eyes, optic nerves, and optic tracts, everything in our field of vision enters our primary visual cortex, right? So, what discerns the “level of salience” of objects that we see? What discerns which objects are lost in the background?
Most cameras nowadays have an Invert Colors mode. It’s fun to use if you’re bored with normal pictures. What if there was an Invert Salience mode? All the things that don’t get noticed suddenly become the focus of one’s attention. All the things that weren’t important are actually what’s truly important.
What if the world is backwards?
In the world we live in, the smart are seen as useful, the rich are seen as blessed, the successful are seen as immovable, the good-looking are seen as beautiful. Material weighs one’s success, ambition weighs one’s value, a smile weighs one’s hope, a mirror weighs one’s image. The list could go on.
There’s that thing Jesus said about a poor widow once [1]. Nobody noticed her putting two small coins into the Temple’s collection box. How are the two coins going to help anybody? Her contribution didn’t matter—kinda like voting for President if you’re from North Dakota. But Jesus noticed her and told his disciples that she had given more than everyone else. Visual attention is a funny thing.
Something about the attitude of the woman’s heart mattered. She was poor. She didn’t have money to give, but she gave anyway. Others gave because they had money to give. When we, as a world, focus on this situation, we see the coins. We see what the coins are used for. We try to justify seeing the coins by also looking at the results of the coins. But it’s a rare thing in this world to look at the attitude of one’s heart. Maybe it’s because we can’t physically see it. But what if the things we don’t see are the things that truly are important?
What if the rich aren’t the ones who are truly blessed, but rather those who are poor in spirit? What if those who have plenty are not the ones who are truly satisfied, but rather those who hunger and thirst for righteousness? What if the ambitious aren’t the ones who are truly strong, but rather those who are merciful and humble? [2] What if prayers never answered but still prayed are actually important? What if forgetting about a reputation in order to look at someone with whom others go out of their way to avoid eye contact is important? What if loving one’s neighbor is important?
It’s all backwards. But when it’s all backwards, individuals have value—and it’s a value that doesn’t stem from other individuals’ words. And that’s a refreshing thought in today’s world.
More than anything else, Jesus talked about a Kingdom. Turns out, it wasn’t visible like everyone at the time thought it would be.
[1] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2021:1-3;&version=51[2] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%205:1-12;&version=31
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