In five years, it will probably will not be this post that I will remember, but I think that I will remember the story of Phineas P. Gage and the horrific occurrence of a tamping iron penetrating his skull and passing through his brain. The description of the aftermath is truly horrifying, he was awake and alert as the doctor was able to see his brain pulsating through the hole in his head.
To think that he survived the ordeal at all is crazy to think about, but he was also able to live on for another twelve years in a reasonably normal manner. The biggest difference was that he didn't seem like the same person to many of those that had known him before the incident. This was because the iron went through his frontal lobe and messed with his personality. He traveled as a bit of an oddity to show people what had happened to him.
The case is very interesting to not only me, but has fascinated a multitude of people since it happened. Even though it has been mishandled at times at false information has come about, the story is still unique and really sticks out when I think about all of the things that we have covered in psychology.
What Will I Remember?
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As graphic and horrifying as this story was in the book, I think it shows how amazing the human body is. A huge pole of iron passes through his skull and into his brain, and yet survives another twelve years? Sometime we underestimate how physically resilient we truly are.