Oh, Hello everyone and welcome to talk nerdy. I'm your host Kara Santa Maria and

it's with a really heavy heart today that I must announce to some of you this may be new news to many of you who have been online all day

This may be old news but

Oliver Sachs passed away.

He was probably the greatest influence on my career, and even though I never knew him personally I would be remiss if I didn't call him something of a mentor to me.

I learned so much reading his work and I don't think that I would have

found science, especially not the science of the brain of consciousness and of behavior if it weren't for the

tremendous influence that he had on the field of neurology. I woke up very sad this morning. I've been very sad throughout the day and I just

hope that with the passing of this great man we can take an opportunity to learn as much as we possibly can from him.

If you guys don't know much about Dr. Oliver Sachs, I recommend starting with the book that had the most profound influence on me,

and that was the man who mistook his wife for a hat.

It's written absolutely beautifully.

He writes clinical tales of traumatic brain injury and sometimes even

congenital brain injury. He writes these non-fiction tales almost as though they're fiction.

They're just immensely readable and incredibly personal.

And through the study of individuals who have had great losses in their lives

through brain damage, I think he's really done a good job of helping us

understand our own brains and minds, the capacities of them, the limitations of them, and also how limitless

they truly can be.

I wanted to read a quick quote at the top of the show that he said in the man who mistook his wife for a hat.

To live on a day-to-day basis is insufficient for human beings.

We need to transcend, transport, escape. We need meaning, understanding, and

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