The most famous Autistic Savant, Kim Peek recently died. He was apparently able to read two pages of a book simultaneously - one with each eye. And generally remembered 90+% of the content of the books he read. At a rate of about 5 a day, including complete telephone directories, this is a prodigous capacity to absorb information. Other savants are able to play even complex pieces of music note perfect after one hearing, and never forget that music.

The point here is not really so much that they have profound capabilities and capacities, but that the rest of us are by contrast extraordinarily lacking. The brain of a savant might be in some way different in structure to a 'normal' brain, but it has the same basic capacity and capabilities. It is, in my view, more that the rest of us have heavily dampened cerebral abilities. And this is the subject of my question. Quite why are we so mentally handicapped in comparison to autistic savants, even though they are generally deemed to be the defective amongst us?

My theory is that the stability that a low functioning - 'normal' brain - brings has evolved for it's ability to socially conform. And certainly savants are often socially handicapped to a large degree. To a lesser degree, intellectual geniuses also often struggle to equate with their lesser able fellow man, and this is sometimes a high price they pay for their mental 'advantage'.

The focus of this matter is not that this shows how different we all are, but that essentially the same 3lb lump of brain matter in one person can give them abilities that are many orders of magnitude more advanced than the majority. It is as if we are all fitted with Einstein brains that have most of the functionality switched off so that we can get on with the mundanity of life.