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That's alll bi rds 19 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 1: dot com. Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClain smith. 20 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: For the weeks in between episodes, we look at the 21 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,479 Speaker 1: stories that, for one reason or other, didn't make it 22 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: into the show. In last week's episode, Here Is Always 23 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: Somewhere Else, we looked at the beguiling story of Shanty Devi, 24 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: a young girl from Delhi, India, who believed she had 25 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: once lived another life. Devi's claim was considered so convincing 26 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: it was investigated by a number of journalists and dignitaries, 27 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: many of whom were left in no doubt that it 28 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: was true. When researching his first book in the early 29 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties, psychiatrist doctor Ian Stephenson, who dedicated much of 30 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: his life's work to investigating the possibility of re incarnation, 31 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: traveled to India for part of his study. In just 32 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: four weeks, he was said to have found twenty five 33 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 1: individuals with compelling claims of a past life. Critics of 34 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 1: the book argued that such an overabundance of Indian based 35 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: stories revealed the folly of his work. That so many 36 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: people would claim to be reincarnated, they argued, was evidence 37 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: of a clear cultural bias that readily accepted the apparent 38 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: phenomena as fact, Stevenson argued in response, it was precisely 39 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: because it was more widely accepted that possible incidences of 40 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: reincarnation were recorded, when those from other cultures would instead 41 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: dismiss the evidence as merely a coincidence or the result 42 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: of a subconscious absorption of information. Regardless of what you believe, 43 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:58,960 Speaker 1: there is no doubt something fascinating at play at the 44 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 1: heart of all carnation stories, which is the notion of 45 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:09,119 Speaker 1: what it is exactly that is apparently being reincarnated. For some, 46 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: the idea that Shanti Devi had once lived as a 47 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,639 Speaker 1: young woman named Lugdi Bai has us trying to imagine 48 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: the experience for ourselves, dying one day only to re 49 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:24,800 Speaker 1: emerge in the mind of a young child the next. 50 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: For those more familiar with the Hindu and Buddhist concept 51 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: of reincarnation, however, the process is not apparently that lugdu 52 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: Bai was reborn, but rather that a central, nameless essence, 53 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: once contained in the body of lug Du Bai but 54 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: very much distinct from what we might ordinarily consider to 55 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: be her, later re emerged in the body of Shanti Devi. 56 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: Either way, it is almost impossible to conceive of such 57 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: a thing without thinking of it in terms of the self. 58 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: Most of us, regardless if we believe in a soul 59 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: or not, will tend to uphold the importance of the self, 60 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: that thing which we feel makes us who we are, 61 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:18,279 Speaker 1: individual and distinct from others. It might be surprising, therefore, 62 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:21,599 Speaker 1: to learn that, despite how firm your sense of self 63 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:26,479 Speaker 1: might be, that seemingly solid idea of you could well 64 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: be nothing but a useful fallacy. Are you always taking 65 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:36,919 Speaker 1: care of your family? Do you often take care of 66 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: others and not yourself? Now it's time to take care 67 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 1: of yourself, to make time for you you deserve it. 68 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:47,040 Speaker 1: Tell adoc gives you access to a licensed therapist to 69 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: help you get back to feeling your best to feeling 70 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: like yourself again. With telladoc, you can speak to a 71 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: licensed therapist by phone or video. Therapy appointments are available 72 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,599 Speaker 1: seven days a week from seven a m. Nine pm 73 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: local time. If you feel overwhelmed sometimes, maybe you feel 74 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 1: stressed or anxious, depressed or lonely, or you might be 75 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 1: struggling with a personal or family issue, teledoc can help. 76 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: Teledoc is committed to facilitating great therapeutic matches, so they 77 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: make it easy to change counselors if needed. For free 78 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:26,040 Speaker 1: teledoc therapy is available through most insurance or employers. Download 79 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: the app or visit teledoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained 80 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:36,160 Speaker 1: podcast today to get started. That's teladoc dot com slash 81 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: Unexplained podcast. On thirteenth September eighteen forty eight, construction workers 82 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: just south of the town of Cavendish in Vermont, USA. 83 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: We're busy blasting through rock to make way for a 84 00:05:55,400 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: new railroad. It had just gone four thirty pm when 85 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:04,359 Speaker 1: twenty five year old foreman Phineas Gage began preparing for 86 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:08,719 Speaker 1: the next blast. It was a fairly rudimentary but highly 87 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:13,360 Speaker 1: dangerous procedure that involved first boring a deep and narrow 88 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: hole into the rock before filling it part way with 89 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:21,159 Speaker 1: explosive powder. The mix would then be topped off with 90 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: sand and all compacted down with a three and a 91 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:29,359 Speaker 1: half foot long iron rod. Gage was just packing the 92 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: explosives when, having been distracted by a coworker, he accidentally 93 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: scraped the rock as he brought the iron rod down 94 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:41,599 Speaker 1: onto the powder. In an instant, sparks flying off the 95 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:48,239 Speaker 1: rod ignited the powder and caused a catastrophic explosion. The rod, 96 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 1: one and a quarter inches in diameter, was rocketed into 97 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: the air straight into Phineas's face, penetrating just under the 98 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 1: cheek bone. It dismantled the left eye socket before shooting 99 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: through the left side of his brain and out through 100 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: the top of his head. Gage, in turn, was thrown 101 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: to the floor, where he lay on his back convulsive, 102 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: his left eye bulging out of its socket as the 103 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: blood poured freely from the giant, gaping hole in his head. 104 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 1: His co workers rushed to help, but naturally feared the worst, 105 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: so it was with great surprise when moments later Gage 106 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 1: began to talk. Realizing he was still alive, the men 107 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: dragged him to the nearest ox cart, sat him on 108 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: his back, and had him taken to Cavendish Town, three 109 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: quarters of a mile away. When they arrived at the 110 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 1: town's hotel, Phineas walked out of the cart himself and 111 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: was even able to walk up the stairs to a 112 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: nursing room, where he waited patiently for the arrival of 113 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: the doctor. When physician Edward Williams arrived twenty minutes later, 114 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: he was shocked and horrified by what he found. Perhaps 115 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:13,679 Speaker 1: most surprising, however, was that not only did Phineas recognize him, 116 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: but that he seemed completely self aware, uttering the famously 117 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: understated line, doctor, here is business enough for you. As 118 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 1: Gage recounted the details of the accident, Williams watched incredulous 119 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: as what was left of his brain pulsated from within 120 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 1: his skull. Moments later, Gage got up to vomit, causing 121 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 1: half a tea cupful of his brain to fall on 122 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:47,679 Speaker 1: to the floor. Soon after, they were joined by doctor 123 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: John Harlowe, who, together with Williams, worked fast to clear 124 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 1: the extensive wound, pulling large fragments of bone and brain 125 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 1: from out of Gage's skull. After only staunching the flow 126 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,960 Speaker 1: of blood, Harlowe made a final examination for more bone, 127 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 1: finding that he was able to place the entirety of 128 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 1: his index finger through the three and a half inch 129 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 1: hole without meeting any resistance. The next few weeks proved 130 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: to be a fraught period of convalescence, as the wound 131 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 1: became infected and Gage drifted in and out of delirium 132 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:30,200 Speaker 1: and consciousness, but by the twentieth of October, with the 133 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: infection having cleared up, Gage was able to get himself 134 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 1: in and out of bed. Within weeks, he was taking 135 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 1: walks into town, and on November twenty fifth, only ten 136 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: weeks after the accident, he was permitted to return to 137 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:53,440 Speaker 1: his parents' home in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Incredibly, despite losing 138 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,440 Speaker 1: a significant part of his left frontal lobe, Gage's memory 139 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:01,840 Speaker 1: seemed completely unaffected by the injury, and by eighteen fifty, 140 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 1: according to Henry Biggelow, professor of surgery at Harvard University, 141 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:10,480 Speaker 1: he appeared to be quite recovered in faculties of body 142 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 1: and mind. According to Phineas's friends, however, something fundamental had 143 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:23,360 Speaker 1: been lost. Though there has been much speculation as to 144 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:28,200 Speaker 1: how exactly the injury affected Gage. According to Bigelow, it 145 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 1: had turned the apparently wants composed and benevolent man into 146 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 1: something far more fitful and irreverent, who was now prone 147 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:42,679 Speaker 1: to indulging in the grossest profanity. Friends apparently found him 148 00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:46,480 Speaker 1: so radically changed that they no longer considered him to 149 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: be Phineas Gage. We can only speculate as to how 150 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,840 Speaker 1: much Gage himself thought he had changed from the man 151 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:58,240 Speaker 1: he was prior to the accident, or if he was 152 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:03,600 Speaker 1: even aware of having changed. At all. But certainly, if 153 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:07,240 Speaker 1: we were to swap the fundamental characteristics we hold most 154 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:12,720 Speaker 1: true to ourselves with completely opposite characteristics, there are few 155 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 1: who wouldn't consider their sense of self to be radically changed. 156 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:21,679 Speaker 1: Such an analysis, however, might say far more about what 157 00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:25,440 Speaker 1: we believe personal identity to be than it does about 158 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 1: the truth of who any of us actually are. According 159 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:40,600 Speaker 1: to philosopher Daniel Dennett, the fact we have any sense 160 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: of self at all is merely a useful fiction, a 161 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: notion best understood by considering the self a center of 162 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 1: narrative gravity, just as an object's center of gravity might 163 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: be thought of as a physical property, It is nonetheless 164 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:01,680 Speaker 1: an abstraction. Though we might be able to calculate its location, 165 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:07,240 Speaker 1: there is no tangible reality to it at all. As such, 166 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:10,960 Speaker 1: we find in a similar way, the self is not 167 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:14,600 Speaker 1: a solid single thing, but rather a number of separate 168 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:18,840 Speaker 1: neurological functions that the brain attempts to order around what 169 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:23,840 Speaker 1: is effectively an illusory narrative center. That many of these 170 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:27,200 Speaker 1: functions are enacted before we have even become aware of 171 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 1: them confirms this process as something that is completely beyond 172 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: our control. As the psychologist Susan Blackmore notes, any subsequent 173 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:41,079 Speaker 1: notion of self arises only when we look for it, 174 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:45,680 Speaker 1: driven by the arbitrary conviction that we should reduce our 175 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 1: various experiences into a singular entity, and the illusion of 176 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: continuity created by the linear sequencing of memory memories, which 177 00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:00,040 Speaker 1: incidentally are likely to be only a loose rendering of 178 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: the complete truth of what it is that you think 179 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 1: you are remembering. As Dennett also notes, in theory and 180 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:12,520 Speaker 1: possibly in practice if we consider, for example, the legitimacy 181 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:17,520 Speaker 1: of multi personality disorders, such a notion suggests there is 182 00:13:17,559 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: no reason why our sense of self couldn't be multiple selves, 183 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,400 Speaker 1: or even divided into fractions of selves to be shared 184 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:29,840 Speaker 1: out with others. Nor would there be anything to prohibit 185 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:35,160 Speaker 1: two or even infinite, seemingly separate selves converging into one 186 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: singular identity. And if you find all of that a 187 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:43,839 Speaker 1: little disconcerting, you might at least take comfort in the 188 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:47,600 Speaker 1: notion that if there really is no fixed you, then 189 00:13:47,679 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: every passing moment is but another blank canvas on which 190 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 1: to imagine who it is you are going to be next. 191 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,320 Speaker 1: If you enjoy listening to Unexplained and would like to 192 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:06,560 Speaker 1: help support us, you can now go to Unexplained Podcast 193 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 1: dot com. Forward Slash support. All donations, no matter how 194 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: large or small, are massively appreciate. All elements of Unexplained 195 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: are produced by me, Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and 196 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: rate the show on night Tunes. Feel free to get 197 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 1: in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories 198 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 1: you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation 199 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 1: of your own you'd like to share. You can reach 200 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:36,160 Speaker 1: us online at Unexplained podcast dot com or on Twitter 201 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:46,080 Speaker 1: at Unexplained pod Now. It's time to take care of yourself. 202 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 1: To make time for you, Tell a doc gives you 203 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 1: access to a licensed therapist to help you get back 204 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 1: to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by 205 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:00,240 Speaker 1: phone or video any time between seven am to nine 206 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: pm local time, seven days a week. Teledoc Therapy is 207 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: available through most insurance or employers. Download the app or 208 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:13,160 Speaker 1: visit teledoc dot com, Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast Today to 209 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 1: get started. That's t e ladoc dot com Slash Unexplained 210 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 1: Podcast