FROM THE OFFICE OF THE PUBLISHER
Harold L. Myra
July 1, 1984
My brain, like yours, is remarkable. Sometimes it astounds me by creating a string of words or a solution to a complex problem. Yet it also embarrasses me. It's clumsy; it malfunctions with names and simple tasks. With names I am like a five-year-old trying to master addition. I seldom have trouble with faces. I can generally remember the emotional setting of a contact and the person's role and attitude. But in trying to recall the names of even close friends, my brain at times shorts out. I once felt guilty because of the theory that those who don't remember names don't care about people. I gained a bit of comfort when I read an article attacking that idea, but I was even more comforted by incontrovertible proof that the theory is muddle-headed: twice now I have literally forgotten my own name. You without this weakness may think I jest, but for at least two seconds my brain impulses detoured, and I simply couldn't remember "Harold Myra." Knowing my strong interest in myself, that devastated the theory. Actually, our remarkable brains all have weaknesses. A friend described an experience during graduate training in psychology. The professor warned that a series of tests the class was to take might be disillusioning. "You'll probably find you are brain-damaged." My very bright friend was startled. What an odd prediction! But afterward, he and his classmates found that parts of their brains were indeed less than completely functional. Maybe that's why I can't remember names. Or maybe it's because I have such an abstract brain it always wanders off into broad implications. Brains are not like bones or kidneys or fingernails. They're radically different-like Picasso contrasted with Renoir, the Beatles with Bach. I find it oddly comforting ...
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