David Eagleman's Incognito

On August 1, 1966 a student and former Marine by the name of Charles Whitman opened fire on the University of Texas college campus killing 16 people and injuring 30 more. He did this after shooting and killing his wife and mother the night before.

Whitman wrote broad stanzas and focused on the whole of America as his inspiration. His lines covered a wide range of topics and generated multiple points of view for the reader. He called his life’s work “Leaves of Grass”; stressing the

Charles Whitman, a former marine, proceeded to the observatory platform at the top of a 300 foot tower, and with a stockpile of weapons and ammunition engaged people up to 500 yards away for 96 minutes (History.com Staff, 2009). Before being killed by a police officer and a civilian, Whitman was able to kill 14 people and wound 31 others (History.com Staff, 2009). Charles Whitman was a trained marksman due to his time in the military, and had a position of great advantage preventing harm to himself and preventing first responders a rapid response. However, Whitman was outgunned by the civilian population who used their own weapons in an attempt to engage him from the ground (Texas Monthly, n.d.). Active shooter incidents on such a large scale were new to the population, so no specialized police units were available. The sheer bravery of police and a civilian climbing the stairs of tower and engaging Whitman at close quarters brought the incident to a close (History.com Staff, 2009). The University of Texas massacre was a contributing factor to the development of new tactical police units, Specialized Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), which were dedicated to respond to such incidents in the future (Texas Monthly,

Whitman identifies himself for the first time in section 24 and even then into a balance of scriptural, half-comical outline as “Walt Whitman, a kosmos, of Manhattan the son” he strikes readers in a distinctly proud and individual posture and addresses the audience in a doubly straightforward demeanor. He talks about how his body does indeed “spread,”not only from head to toe, but also from from earth to heaven, and from self to others. So now his voice can now represent the nearby and the inaccessible, the life around him and the life a long way from him. The pace begins to diminish as he distinguishes nearly and carefully with one section of society as it were: the injured, the imprisoned, the

Are we seeing Whitman breaking down because this passage sounds very upset? To me Whitman adolescence appears to me lonely, because he seem typical boy who goes for walk at the shore carrying so much emotions and grief.

“Hundreds of students, professors, tourists, and store clerks witnessed the 96 minute killing spree as they crouched behind trees, hid under desks, took cover in stairwells, or, if they had been hit, played dead” (Pamela Colloff). Pamela Colloff stated that the gunman “introduced the nation to the idea of mass murder in a public space.” Charles Whitman had shot a total of 43 people, killing a total of 13 people. An Austin police officer shot and killed Whitman before he could do anymore harm.

‘How much of me is actually me?’ I pondered. Biology teaches me with emergent properties that tiniest cells are nothing alone, but can make a cognitive and intelligent human being together. I am fascinated with life.

Walt Whitman is considered one of the most important writers in the history of American Literature. The people of his own time called him a radical, a madman, and a pornographer. These days he is greatly appreciated and entitled as a fearless prophet of a new stage of human development. Sometimes Whitman would be in a slump and he felt that he needed to deflect the people who inquired too directly. This even meant using examples of homosexual elements in his work, as well as unbelievable stories of him having affairs with numerous women and fathering many children, unknown to him. Throughout these sorts of times W. Whitman has gone through both resentment and flattery, nevertheless showing us

Whitman was able to do this almost effortlessly because he saw what was really going on. He volunteered as a wound-dresser; he wrote letters for wounded soldiers, he gave of himself tirelessly. Whitman saw his nation divided and stood to tell his tale. He was an everyman; he was any man. Whitman was the human embodiment of undying compassion. Most of all Whitman is something

Michael Conlin, professor at the University of Wisconsin, stated, "But Whitman was, in the 1850s, consumed by the coming of the Civil War. It was in the midst of the crisis that Whitman wrote some of the most egalitarian and profound verse relating to African Americans." Being born into a lifestyle where he was taught to take full advantage of white privilege and to show nothing more but hatred towards blacks can explain why he was often between mind and matter when expressing himself. The Civil War caused dismay for many whites because they believed that blacks would make life in the North chaotic. Post Civil War drew in even more worry and tension between black and white men. As humans we all want feel accepted by our peers and sometimes worrying about validation from them drifts us away from our own self beliefs. That may have happened to Walt Whitman as well. Deep down he knew that even a scientific theory could not come to the conclusion that integrity, wisdom, and lack of humane quality was based on race. With that thinking, his works provided and showed how e really felt about African Americans. This dismay could have caused him to be called a "nigger lover" by his peers. His thoughts being diminished based on how his peers felt about him may have been what caused him to take advantage of his white privilege and turn the blind eye towards blacks, the ones he once adored and stuck up for. Later on he discovered that that did not solve any problems because he was also confused on how he actually felt himself. That caused his later works to be bright line in which he was helping both races see the sides of their own madness, he too was expressing how he had connected both with the white and the black man. However, some people

He demonstrates being non-judgmental, which is something people of his time do not understand, let alone today in present time. He goes on later to say "I resist anything better than my own diversity, and breathe the air and leave plenty after me, and am not stuck up, and am in my place" (2756). Whitman feels that he has explored the world and the options around him and now has found his place. He knows his inner self and it has guided him to the place he needs to be.

"Why should I pray? Why should I venerate and be ceremonious?……I find no sweeter fat than sticks to my own bones." (pg 40)Nature and all of her wondrous facets, especially the human body, was Whitman's religion. Walt Whitman was indeed an intensely spiritual man in his own unconventional way. His epic classic "Song of Myself" demonstrates these attitudes of his, and in his view how the proverbial "poet" of his America should believe. Humanity yearns for spiritual fulfillment and Whitman believed that everything around us and even ourselves were walking testaments to what true ethereal life is.

Days before he committed these tragic crimes, he wrote himself a letter. "I don't quite understand what it is that compels me to type this letter.... I don't really understand myself these days... Lately I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts. These thoughts constantly recur, and it requires a tremendous mental effort to concentrate. I consulted Dr. Cochrum at the University Health Center and asked him to recommend someone that I could consult with about some psychiatric disorders I felt I had.... I talked to a doctor once for about two hours and tried to convey to him my fears that I felt overcome by overwhelming violent impulses. After one session I never saw the Doctor again, and since then I have been fighting my mental turmoil alone, and seemingly to no avail. After my death I wish that an autopsy would be performed to see if there is any visible physical disorder. I have had tremendous headaches in the past and have consumed two large bottles of Excedrin in the past three months." Whitman’s body was taken to the morgue and an autopsy report displayed a glioblastoma multiform tumor erupting from beneath the thalamus, impacting the hypothalamus, extending into the temporal lobe, and compressing the amygdaloidal nucleus (Charles J. Whitman Catastrophe, Medical Aspects. Report to Governor,

However, this stereotype did not last long Whitman began to write increasingly troubled journal entries detailing his mental state: “Recently I cannot recall when it started I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thought”. Whitman’s suicide note requested an autopsy to examine his brain, where they found a tumor nestled between his thalamus. In addition, a further study requested by governor of Taxes John Connelly, a group of scientists illustrated that the brain tumor could have played a significant role in his criminal actions. Michael Koenigs, an expert on brain lesions suggested that the position of Whitman’s tumor could have affected his mental state (Frederick). In addition, the Whitman family had a long history of dysfunctionality. Deprivation as a young boy and an overbearing father contributed

In the future, we may be able to build a computer that is comparable to the human brain, but not until we truly understand one thing. Lewis Thomas talks about this in his essay, "Computers." He says, "It is in our collective behavior that we are most mysterious. We won't be able to construct machines like ourselves until we've understood this, and we're not even close" (Thomas 473). Thomas wrote this essay in 1974, and although we have made many technological advances