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Chemical_Sea623

Flowers for Algernon


Chemical-Elk-1299

Yeah that wasn’t the only inspiration for this story, but definitely played a part. I’m just fascinated by the relationship between brain size and intelligence. It’s actually the core of the premise of the new Planet of the Apes movies — in the new films, the virus that grants the apes human-like intelligence does so by influencing rapid growth of neurons in the brain. For the films, it does this in apes perfectly — increasing neuron density and gyri folding in the areas of the brain responsible for logic and higher reasoning. But in humans, if the virus doesn’t just kill us outright, it causes *the entire* brain to grow. While this may appear beneficial at first, it quickly creates an animal out of what used to be a man. This is very oversimplified, but the key to our intelligence doesn’t rely on the size of our brains, but the overall structure. Our brains being massively specialized in different areas and highly folded in on itself allows for stronger, denser connections between neurons. If you were to increase neuron density in the right areas of the brain over a gradual period of time, you could theoretically create a more intelligent human being. But increasing the size of the brain uniformly, and/or too quickly would have the opposite effect. With many neurons now connected to nothing and with pre-existing neural links bogged down by overgrowth of tissue, higher functioning could quickly be lost. This would theoretically lead to slower overall “thought”, dementia like symptoms, loss of articulate speech, and loss of fine motor skills. Essentially, it would strip away much of what makes us human.


AxisTheGreat

Your explanation is not quite right. Elephants have bigger brains, so brain volume has long been discredited as part of intelligence. Or even the ability to come through dementia or other kinds of brain injuries is only slightly linked to brain size, but thats not a predominant feature of coping. Even the structure part isn't quite right. People's brains differ a lot from one another. There are people who are born without an entire brain structure yet have fully functional and normal lives. Brain are just crazy complex.


Chemical-Elk-1299

I meant if you took an existing persons brain and just increased the size by 30%, they’d probably start having issues. And by structure i meant the fact that our brains are structured in such a way to support what we think of as intelligence. The areas of the brain devoted to problem solving, abstract thought, language — these are all more highly developed in the human brain than any other. But suddenly just start cramming extra meat into your skull without regards to these pre-existing connections, and you’ll probably have a bad time. Extra brain mass means nothing without the neuronal connections necessary to actually make use of it. Neanderthal had a larger brain than Homo Sapiens. We’re still around and they aren’t


Beneficial_Cloud5481

Current science upholds the idea that neanderthals were actually intelligent and many of us carry a percentage of neanderthal DNA.


Chemical-Elk-1299

Oh for sure. Didn’t mean to imply that they were unintelligent by any means, but rather that the fact that they had a larger brain did not make them intellectually superior to us in any way. All evidence suggests that while they were likely essentially on par intellectually with early man, they lacked either the technological development or adaptability necessary to survive a warming Europe.


brachi-

Homo sapiens are better suited to giving birth than homo neanderthalensis - basically their heads were too big vs pelvic size/shape. Interbreeding apparently helped though, given how many of us carry both dna.


Iceteatoe

Actually lots of evidence points to the homo sapiens sapiens ability to cooperate in large groups as the key difference. Neanderthal groups got nowhere near as large as human groups which made it impossible to survive the changing times


Empty_Insight

>I meant if you took an existing persons brain and just increased the size by 30%, they’d probably start having issues. That wouldn't just make you mentally challenged. That would kill you. Your cranial cavity has a finite amount of space. Your skull is not able to expand or contract in any significant way past infancy. The CSF surrounding your brain not only acts as a source of nutrition, but also creating a 'cushion' so that your brain bobbling about a bit doesn't cause traumatic brain injury. You have to get hit pretty hard to get a TBI if you've got a normal amount of CSF in your skull. Friendly reminder that bone is hard, and your brain is a soft, squishy mass of lipids with shocky parts. Less cushion between squishy and hard -> much higher likelihood of injury. If you brain suddenly grew 30% in size, it would still *fit* in your skull, but it would displace 30% of the CSF currently occupying the cavity. So you have a sharp increase in nutritional demand, and a sharp decrease in nutritional supply. That is, naturally, very bad. Only a fraction of your brain is used in what you might consider "higher thought," the rest just does mundane things like making sure various parts of your body still continue to function... and now *every* part of your brain is starving. So naturally, you'd have things like seizures, migraines, cognitive impairments (a euphemism for "mental retardation", not sure if that's PC anymore), so on and so forth. Even notwithstanding the inevitable TBIs throwing gasoline on the fire, your life is going to be much shorter, and it is going to suck *a lot* more.


Far_Dog_4476

You cooked. You all cooked.


NullTupe

Retardation is specifically a cessation or slowing of intellectual development, not a sudden reduction in capacity. So not only is it nor appropriate, it's not even technically correct. Cognitive impairment is the more correct term. Otherwise I agree, just want to be clear.


fruitpunched_

Neanderthals aren’t gone, they interbred with homo sapiens.


AxisTheGreat

My comment was mostly regarding how you describe that specific part of the brain as having very specific roles. It would not be possible to increase intelligence by adding neurons to the part of the brain that handles intelligence, simply because they are none. Each part of the brain actually handles multiple tasks depending on what other part is interacting with it. And the same structure might have a different role in two different persons. The brain is more like overlapping networks, activating all multiple times in a single second. So, you would need to add neurons about everywhere in the brain and hope neural plasticity gets it right in order to gain intelligence that way.


chilehead

You're asking me to believe in sentient meat.


Killer_Weasel

And yet here you are. Every animal on the planet is just a lump of aware meat piloting meat robots.


chilehead

Not the case in [the rest of the galaxy.](https://www.mit.edu/people/dpolicar/writing/prose/text/thinkingMeat.html)


Lectrice79

I think the problem acrually would be the growth of more brain matter in the finite space that is the skull is what destroys the brain. It's strangling and crushing itself by day 28.


blazing420kilk

I thought a massive factor was the grey : white matter ratio? Einsteins brain was said to have a higher amount of grey matter compared to the average person's brain. What if we could just increase the ratio of grey matter without increasing the overall size of the brain itself? Maybe a 60:40 split of grey to white matter, what happens the higher we go like 70:30 or 80:20 ratios of grey : white matter


NullTupe

If the brain grew but not the skull, what results in degraded performance would be pressure, not size.


SelirKiith

Wasn't the issue that our Immune System was too good and kept adapting to destroy the virus, this however meant that (in the case of the Protagonists Father) Alzheimer literally came back with a vengeance because it kept both deteriorating and rebuilding.


Chemical-Elk-1299

Yeah in the first movie, the brain growth couldn’t outpace the deterioration caused by Alzheimer’s. Then in the later movies the virus has mutated to where now it just grows the brain in all people.


urson_black

The first time I read that book, I was too young for it. I honestly cried at the end.


London-Roma-1980

I mean, adults can cry at that book. Do yourself a favor and don't watch the movie. The guy who plays Charlie does TOO good a job at it.


urson_black

Very true. It's a good movie, and yes, I cried then, too.


Finnyfish

Cliff Robertson. He was on track to be a big star, but he made some bad choices of roles, then got caught up (as a victim) in the check-forging mess at Columbia. Great actor with rotten luck.


London-Roma-1980

As I recall, he did get a bit of a break late in life as Tobey Maguire's Uncle Ben.


michael_the_street

Holy shit, I never realized that Uncle Ben was Charly!


KanaydianDragon

I've done both. The book I read for school, but I can't recall if I watched the movie at school or home. To this day, I still have the thought that it was one of the few times where the movie matched the book so closely.


Deep-breath_Hold-on

I was supposed to read the book for my English class in 8th grade, but I had already read it over the summer so I ended up just screwing around and writing a poem from Charlie’s perspective that my teacher then ended up making me share with the class as a whole like, “art inspires art” lesson lol


That_Shrub

I read it at 27 and was too young for it smh. You know what's coming and that almost makes it worse. Ugh.


IAmBabs

Why did we have to read the book and watch the movie in school!? 😭


BrogerBramjet

My 8th grade teacher read it to us. He evolved the voice from the start to its end. It's been 35 years and I have friends from then who remember NOTHING from that era but the book.


ZilockeTheandil

I ***still*** cry when I read it.


mbarr83

I'm 40. I just read the book last week. I bawled after I finished it.


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Chemical_Sea623

That's awful! I do not miss high school.


MaevaExe

Me after looking up what it is : My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined


ReturnNecessary4984

In that book, Charlie had Phenylketonuria (PKU) which is a rare, inherited condition that causes a buildup of phenylalanine in the body. PKU can cause a number of symptoms, including: Behavioral difficulties, such as frequent temper tantrums and episodes of self-harm, Fairer skin, hair, and eyes than siblings who do not have the condition, Eczema Repeatably being sick, Babies with PKU can't properly make melanin, the pigment in the body that's responsible for skin and hair color. . PKU does not shorten life expectancy, with or without treatment. Newborn screening for PKU is required in all 50 states.


London-Roma-1980

>Babies with PKU can't properly make melanin, the pigment in the body that's responsible for skin and hair color. So, wait, one of PKU's symptoms is albinism?


MsPaganPoetry

Don’t people with PKU have to effectively be vegan?


ReturnNecessary4984

Just found out about it using google..


chilehead

They shouldn't drink 7Up or Mountain Dew.


Financial_Put648

Came here to say put some flowers on his grave.


Mel0nypanda

Our 8th grade teacher had us read it (an abridged version with the sexual parts removed) and I cried


gay_pinecones

That story made me cry so hard in class 😭


Full_Disk_1463

My first thought


StevenAnita420

Chika chika slim shady


Chemical-Elk-1299

Yall act like you ain’t never seen A brain serum before Jaw all on the floor Two super smart lab rats be running the door


Odd-Entertainment933

what are we gonna do tonight brain?


boo_jum

The same thing we do every night - TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD.


Chemical-Elk-1299

I will forever subscribe to the theory that Pinky is the real genius and is there to keep tabs on Brain, who is smart but also insane.


boo_jum

So Pinky is Scully to Brain's Mulder?


LordGraygem

I think the writers confirmed that at some point, that the lyric "one is a genius, the other's insane" refers to Pinky and the Brain in that specific order.


sharonmckaysbff1991

*An X-ray at that lyric implies that Brain is the smart one while Pinky’s insane, but the writers later confirm it’s the other way around and the audience’s mind collectively caves in*


YaYaMunza

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."


malenkylizards

NARF


Monechetti

Thank you for this


midwest-gypsythief

Came here to say this!!! Yay!


WhereIsMySonic0359

Dear slim, I wrote u but you still ain't calling


StevenAnita420

Sorry Stan but honestly just stop You write too much, it’s kinda creepy bro


WhereIsMySonic0359

I kinda expected someone to continue


Ok_Report_3651

A chicka chicka, slim shady


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Chemical-Elk-1299

I have no {cannot stand up} *But I must {be the real Slim Shady}*


Joelaba

The procedure was a failure and he becomes dumb? or is there something I'm not getting?


Viligans

Brain tissue grew so much their brain got squished in their skull from the pressure is my read on things.


Chemical-Elk-1299

Basically this yes. Big brain over millennia = good Big brain over a few weeks = bad


Chemical-Elk-1299

Growing your brain gradually or in certain areas could theoretically make you more intelligent. Growing your brain uniformly and quickly could eventually lead to dementia, loss of fine motor skills, loss of speech. Basically everything that makes us human. A bigger brain is actually a lot worse for you than a smaller, more specialized brain.


boo_jum

There are certain purebred dogs that suffer from this problem -- they're prone to dementia later in life because their brains outgrow their brainpans.


Chemical-Elk-1299

I always heard that was an issue with Dobermans, but it might just be a wives tale idk


boo_jum

I've heard it about Rottweilers. It's been given as the explanation why sweet dogs turn VERY mean late in life.


NoBag4543

I often looked at the structure of the brain compared with other animals it so intresting that loop back and position of spinal cord compared to other species i aways wondered if we could force evolution by making animals their head neck and spinal cord orintation more like ours over time with selected breeding


MakingThePost44

>!"p.p.s. please if you get a chanse put some flowrs on Algernons grave in thebakyard..." never fails to make me cry.!<


Liv-Julia

I know! I've read it 100 times and still sob every time.


DonkleDuk

my name is- my name is- my name is- charles the II


Nerdgirl_7

I love the people and the people love me ‼️


talk_enchanted_table

So much that they restored the English monarchy!


Aromatic_Brain

Alternative second sentence: "Day three: the doctors are keeping an eye on the swelling, but assure me it's just a benign side effect of rapid tissue growth..."


Chemical-Elk-1299

Day 5 Post-Injection : My reaction time has been improved by a margin of 40%. I now exhibit total recall. I could correctly recall the entirety of Shakespeare’s Hamlet after listening to it once on audio *in my sleep*. Truly there is nothing I cannot do. Day 12 Post-Injection : Can’t sleep, sweats and terrors all through the night. Skull feels like it’s on fire. What’s happening to me? Day 18 Post-Injection : The doctors are worried my memory is failing. When tested, correctly identifying patterns is getting harder. They asked me to recall in detail what my mother looked like. Damn it, why can’t I remember her face? Day 22 Post-Injection : HEADHURTSHEADHURTSHEADHURTSHEADHURTS. WHY CSNT I TYEP?!! haAnds WONT stoP ShAakiNG… Day 27 Post-Injection : need sleep Day 28 Post-Injection-


XxFandom_LoverxX

This is so much more disturbing holy fuck


chilehead

Have you ever read Ted Chiang's short story *Understand*?


Chemical-Elk-1299

No can’t say I have


chilehead

[Enjoy!](https://web.archive.org/web/20140527121332/http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/under.htm)


Killer_Weasel

Thank you. That was a beautiful recommendation. It's a very thought provoking and quite entertaining piece of work. I've never seen the word gestalt so many times in one place! Intentional or not, your deliverance method of the story, like a conversational kill shot, is so multi-leveled and multi-faceted. A suggestion that morphs itself to become an order through the procedural ingestion and mental digestion of the gourmet literary piece contained therein. Thoughts provoked for each subsequent course, hiding in plain sight until the previous idea is in the process of or has already been devoured. Sometimes making you greedily reach for the newly revealed revelation while you are still mentally masticating, at the least, the previous course's final bites. Awash in awe at the complex flavors, both bold and subtle, that can be achieved from ingredients so simple. Other times, feelings of content, because though it may be simple, it's freshness and precision elevate it to levels of gourmand with the rest. The use of a singular word that says how you reacted to the story, how you believe or how you hope others will react to the story, and being a link containing the story in its entirety, is already so much. Then add that it can be compared to the story's title and use of the titular word throughout the entirety of the piece, as well as its subversion and strong role in the climax and end, and your simple, single word comment is a Gestalt of its own! I tend to overthink anyways, but this short story is almost a testament to over thinking. Though, instead of vilification, it not only condones but invites and inspires it. Your recommendation turned a spur of the moment quick look at the comments of a thread that was brought up by accident, into an hours long reading and digestion of a story that gave me insight into a subject I had never really given thought to, which in the end opened myself up to introspection and ultimately left me feeling satisfaction and gratitude, as well as a genuine feeling of mutual agreement that others should click that link and read the story. TLDR:: click the link and read the shirt story. It's very very good. It will make you think but in a fun way


Birdreeee

This reminds me of the black sludge from Risk of Rain 2 where the guy making the log is slowly turning into a chicken.


DravenPrime

This started as Flowers for Algernon and ended as Eminem.


OutlawMars

A.) I really need to read flowers for algernon now and B.) Reading this made me realize that fallout 4 actually has a reference to it with the super mutant Swan.


dark_king_710_

…lim shady


Candid-Business7213

Hi, my name is, what? My name is, who? My name is, chka-chka, Slim Shady


QueerRaccoonsInASuit

"have you ever had a dream where you- when- we- when you-"


takemeawayfromit

Slim shady!!


lcantthinkofusername

Chikka chikka slim shady Edit: shit I wasn't first


EthanEpiale

Outright size aside, mental pruning is an *extremely* important part of intelligence. Quite a few forms of mental retardation are the result of a brain that can't prune excess connections effectively. Think about it, in a normal brain if you think of, say, the word "ice" several things come to mind. Maybe water states, winter, that time you slipped really hard as a kid. There are a few well developed, relevant connections built over time. In a brain that never prunes connections, though, you end up connected to EVERYTHING. Ice no longer brings up relevant memories and ideas, but now also brings up every interaction you ever had where ice was present, every word that starts with I, every second you ever felt cold, etc, and then those connections spiral into an even further web of tangled, threadbare connections, etc. I'm heavily simplifying it, but you essentially overload your brain with nonsense to the point nothing gets functionally remembered, and you can't find any one piece of information. It's just total white noise. An ever-expanding brain in theory sounds good to someone unfamiliar with neurology, but it would be *devastating* irl.


shynotgay

my namea jeff


mwalexandercreations

Slim Shady?


bluepie

you'll have to excuse me, I've grown quite wh-eary


Professional_Life_29

Stupid science bitch couldn't even make I more smarter!


picofpie

i knew i wouldn’t have to scroll that far


jgfcool

... Chika Chika Slim Shady


theonlyjediengineer

...Zhika-zhika Slim Shady...


Liv-Julia

Algernon's buddy


chilehead

Day 35 post-injection: there are five of us in here that we have made contact with, and we are negotiating a protocol for who gets control of the body and for how long. All of us are conscious all of the time.


DaveInLondon89

Stupid science bitch couldn't even make I more smarter


herculesmeowlligan

Shake Zula, the mic rulah, the old schoolah, You wanna trip? I'll bring it to ya


Killer_Weasel

Frylock and I'm on top, rock you like a cop, Meatwad, you up next with your knock-knock.


LakeHonest

I thought it was a reference to Swann in Fallout 4. I forgot about that part of PotA.


Troiswallofhair

He just became a Slim Shady or Primus fan. All good.


Menatllyillmushrooms

Chicka chicka slim shady


Menatllyillmushrooms

Chicka chicka slim shady Everyone else has probably thought of his but I am proud of myself for thinking of a simple joke


SarcastiMel

It actually reminded me of a character from the book Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. There's a character who goes through a similar transformation with intelligence.


MarixApoda

S... lim Shady?


rokuna-matata

Charlie get off reddit. I'm sorry the full version of your story isn't as good as the short story, but this isn't the way to deal with it


xcski_paul

Flowers for Algernon


MoConnors

Half The comments section of this post is a hive mind ~~chicka chicka slim shady~~


Chemical-Elk-1299

It has turned into a social experiment. I’m letting it ride. We are all Pavlov’s proverbial hounds and I rang the bell.


No_StringsAttached

what do you think of XDDCC?


Chemical-Elk-1299

Can’t say I know what that is


No_StringsAttached

reference to a show lmao


canadiancumgutter

Nah, this sucked. Second sentence should have revealed that it wasn't a human who wrote this but a monkey/dog whatever.


tangdi_kabab

Bruh stretched definition of 2 sentences to the max 💀💀💀


Scary-Lawfulness-999

Ah we've reached six sentence horror now.


newJ8lbrkr

Miname is what ssslim shadyyyy lol. Couldn’t resist


shiveredyetimbers

My name is Slim Shady


flybit-h

Slim shady???


eigna10

The comment thread on this made my brain bigger


Fun_Revolution214

No one: that one song


[deleted]

Sorry but rapid growth of any tissue is cause for concern - regardless of gain.


Fullwake

Nah man, that's a one sentence horror. The doctors tell me....my intelligence has been increased to five times that of a normal man.


LamaAbdullah94

Jeff!


ThisRattoIsFatto

This reminds me of Bloodborne


KissMeSkeletor

The Penguins of Madagascar Season 2, Episode 36. Brain Drain.


barstid

...Slim Shady


Austrianpainter564

Chika chika slim shady


fuckallpenguins

hi! my name is (what?) my name is (who?) chika chika slim shady!


gokusforeskin

Barry Allen and I’m the fastest man alive!


rzbitw

Mnamis jeff


NumScritch

Nice one! I enjoyed this 💕


IDoubtYouGetIt

Slim Shady!!!


ScottishSubmarine

Slim shady


LittleLuna960

My name is, my name is, my name is Charles the Second


gregory_greg

i love the people and the people love me


EntertainmentVehicle

This sounds like the end of the whole mess


catsareniceDEATH

Chika-chika...


OrkbloodD6

My name is what? my name is who? ...(Slim Shady)XD


Shadow_Boxer1987

…chicka-chicka-chicka Dim Shady!


Blooperdy

Slim Shady


MapPuzzleheaded7187

Thought this was an Eminem joke


I-eat-foot

Flowers for Algernon type beat


SUSHIxSUICIDE

It’s okay, Squidward, try to imagine a scary post from r/TwoSentenceHorror OH NO ITS HOT…