A Stroke of Insight

by Henrik Edberg. Print

Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor was having an unusual morning. She was having a stroke.

In this 20 minute video from TED she tells us about that morning and the effects the stroke was having on her brain and her perception of herself and the world. Very interesting insights about how the brain shapes how we view ourselves, the world and the connection in between. Insights that have a lot in common with some spiritual/personal development thoughts (think Eckhart Tolle, the Buddha etc.). It’s also one of the most moving TED speeches I have seen.

If you are reading this via RSS or email and can’t see the embeeded video, click here to watch it.

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{ 7 comments }

1 Sonja November 29, 2008 at 6:22 am: Jill Bolte Taylor has changed the way I think about strokes. She articulates the experience so beautifully. I love how she describes the feeling of being liberated from her analytical mind, becoming so expansive that when she looked at her body she wondered how she would fit back into such a small shell.

Thank you for posting this – it is such a good reminder that I don’t have to be scared of losing my mind…in fact losing it may do me a lot of good
2 Tickled By Life November 30, 2008 at 8:52 am: very interesting! i enjoyed it. thanks!
3 Maria November 30, 2008 at 4:59 pm: Wow, this was amazing. Thanks so much for sharing this and the TED network too. The mind is such an amazing thing…and I learned so much. At first I thought, geez – 20 minutes? But when I started watching this I couldn’t stop and it was well worth it!
4 Steven Robert Smith December 1, 2008 at 5:56 pm: I like the show and she’s remarkably articulate.

I can’t help but wonder, as I see this again, if she’s repeating scientific behavior patterns, very analytical and logical in the narrative process, forgetting that her experience could send her into new worlds of artistic endeavor.

Her work and stories may help me and watchers/readers, more than it helps her.
5 hesika December 2, 2008 at 11:45 am: Jill Bolt Taylor is a great woman with an awesome power of life. She tells us about her experiences while a stroke – and she tells it so pictured that every one can understand it – and we also receive an understanding about what the old wises all over the world tried to tell us. And I once more understood the importance to think with both halfes of the brain – what the old wises called “to be in the middle”.
6 Silverio December 4, 2008 at 9:58 pm: Uhm I Had The Same Experience on Drugs
7 Alexis Fotopoulos December 9, 2008 at 10:14 am: I am a author, my 1st book “This the way to create miracles”
about 400 pages speaks how we can trasform ourselves to absolutly positive beings

The book is written in Greek is their any way to promote a book in english with your help
thank you, i try to make our world better, help me