One morning, novelist Howard Engel went to get the paper and found that the English language suddenly looked like gibberish to him. Letters no longer had meaning—they were just incomprehensible marks on a page. And, yet, he could still write.
There's a fascinating (and beautifully animated) video that explains what happened, and how Engel has managed to re-teach himself to read. I'd post it here, but the code provided keeps giving me an embeded audio interview, instead. It is very much worth following the link. Naturally, this is an Oliver Sacks joint, along with NPR and artist Lev Yilmaz.
(Via Steve Silberman)
