Did letterman get cut off as he was saying that LCD soundsystem was on? WTF? That's awesome!

This man is simply amazing, wow.

He learned Icelandic in a week for a tv programme which is bloody awe-inducing.

What's amazing about him is that he can actually give such an interview, because he can function socially at a very high level, and is conscious of the way in which his brain works. Most savants suffer from serious social problems, but, as David Letterman points out, it's barely noticeable for Daniel.

(Shameless self-plug) For more on Daniel Tammet, check out my sift of a documentary on him.

Did Letterman really guess the day of the week correctly, or was it teleprompted for him? D_D

Rembar: From interviews with him which I've read, it may be barely noticeable for us to notice anything markedly different about him in these glimpses we have, but it's undoubtably an issue for him. He has to count the items of clothing he's wearing before he leaves the house, and drinks tea at the same times each and every day, to name just two examples.

Does anyone else find it really interesting that he's gay? Don't think I've ever heard anything at all about the sexual orientation of any autistic people (even high-functioning ones) with the possible exception of Einsten, who some people believe may have had Asperger's syndrome...

Baqueta, you're correct, the meaning I was trying to convey was that he could fit into conversations and social interactions with very little hints that he was having any difficulty. This is in huge contrast with other savants, who require constant attention and can't survive without other people constantly looking out for them and providing care for them. That distinction alone is enormous.

baqueta and remy ... i would like to point out, that although he made it through that interview ... look where he is sitting on the chair ... basically at the farthest position away from dave.

as for his sexual orientation ... i don't find that too interesting. the savant that i worked with had a fascination with all things sexual and explored himself (with and without objects and/or other people) to the n^th degree (no pun intended )

The scientist in me wants to poke him with sharp things to see how he does it. Okay, so there's very little scientist in me, but it would still be fun.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

Good post - and I just found out that Dave shares my birthday.

Dave had no idea what his savant is, or what the heck 20,000 digits of pi represents. What an idiot. He should have done some other huge maths or something. But, yeah this guy is the ambassador of austistic savants. Amazing that he has one foot in both worlds.

I can't believe Dave resisted the urge to make a crack about Ass Burgers. Guess that would have looked bad, making fun of a disabled guy, and I'm glad he left it to me because I have no such qualms.

i have this Letterman show burned to a dvd. Amy Sedaris, Danile Tammet, and LCD Soundsystem (though the soundsystem wasn't extraordinarily great)

I have a documentary on Daniel Tammet, Kim Peek, and a bunch of other very interesting documentaries. The one aired in USA was dubbed "Brainman", but over the pond they aired it as "The Boy With the Incredible Brain.

They're both very similar, the only difference is the UK version has a British voice-over. I personally much prefer the British version, though I do have both.

If you'd like a copy, email me at tranceriver@gmail.com and I'd love to work something out.

Cheers,

Mike

Not sure how long it'll be up, but 60 minutes has a lot of information on him, including video: http://60minutes.yahoo.com/segment/44/brain_man

His synesthesic description of numbers as colored shapes reminded me of Richard Dawkins describing bat audio colors in this video http://www.videosift.com/video/Richard-Dawkins-TED-The-Strangeness-of-Science-22-min

Pretty interesting... this guy perceives numbers as shapes and colors. Now, I cant see through your eyes, but I have a pretty good feeling for what its like for you to perceive the color red. Those things that make red chosen for stop signs, stop lights, warnings, sports cars etc. He said there were like 25 other savants, I wonder how many perceive numbers like this, and if they all would say that David Letterman reminded them of the number 117.

His ability to run through dates and days so quickly is impressive.