With Humanities Highlights, Himmelfarb staff aims to spotlight useful books from our Humanities collection. This week, we’re showcasing “My Stroke of Insight” by Jill Bolte Taylor.
About the Book: “My Stroke of Insight” is a memoir and patient advocacy book by the neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor who suffered (and recovered) from a stroke caused by an arteriovenous malformation. The book reconstructs the morning of the hemorrhage, her experience of the stroke, and her complete recovery.
What Makes This Book Invaluable: The book provides a rare first person account of a stroke from someone with the training and vocabulary to analyze their own experience. Dissolving her sense of self, the stroke gave Taylor eight years to reimagine the meaning of consciousness and self.
Some Caveats:
It’s worth noting that Taylor’s experiences are anecdotal (just one puzzle piece of the overall picture), and therefore, her experiences won’t relate to every stroke victim.
Moreover, Taylor reports her experience of the stroke in almost mystical terms and relates feelings of oneness (observed by contemplative traditions worldwide) with right-brain neurological activity. It’s important to separate her experience from her conclusions and to maintain a receptive - but critical - eye for both.
Reasons to Read:
For the future physician, the book provides a striking reminder of what it’s like to be a patient. The second half focuses on her eight year recovery, the difficulties faced, and her accumulation of little victories, which culminates in advice for better patient care (see Appendix B).
For the philosophically inclined, Taylor’s experience raises fascinating questions about the relationship between physiology and consciousness and how disruptions can help reveal how the brain works.
Fun Facts: Beyond the TED Talk, “My Stroke of Insight” has also been adapted as a ballet called Orbo Novo by the Cedar Lake Ballet Company.
