Clive Wearing - Explorer Quest PDF

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Clive Wearing...

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Liu 1 Sophia Liu Professor C. Stallard MUSC 1300 December 13th, 2017 Clive Wearing There are countless unfortunate cases of memory loss, and can completely change one person’s life, as well as the people surrounding that person. Clive Wearing is an example of such a case, as he suffers from anterograde amnesia. Anterograde amnesia is the loss of the ability to create memories after a certain event that caused the amnesia. This results in either a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past, while at the same time, being able to recall long-term memories. Before his diagnosis with amnesia, he was a talented musicologist, conductor, tenor and keyboardist. 30 years ago, he contracted a brain infection, a herpes encephalitis virus that attacked his nervous system, which results in his current situation, in which he can only stay in one state of mind for 7 to 30 seconds. Clive Wearing describes his condition as consistently waking up as if his consciousness was essentially rebooting. Wearing claims that he does not have any recollection of any memory at all, but is still able to play the piano perfectly, despite his condition. In the documentary, his wife states, “He remembers almost nothing, unless he is actually doing it, then it may come to him. This most so happens when he plays the piano, mainly due to his great musicality and his playfulness, he can easily improvise, joke and play with any piece of music.” Wearing, although describing his life as a haze between consciousness and slumber, still recollects the fact that he has children and a loving wife. Every time Wearing’s wife comes to visit, it is shown with his

Liu 2 tone in his voice and his facial expressions that he is greeting his loved one with intense joy, describing every encounter with his wife as “falling in love for the first time all over again”. Clive Wearing, though unaware, shows that music, along with his family; are the only connection between his current state and the musical genius he was before. To many people, music is considered a hobby. To Wearing and his wife, however, music is a gap in consciousness and an escape from his agony. Wearing may be conscious, alive and well but to him; every blink of an eye is a new day for him. He feels nothing because he is incapable of remembering how to feel. One may ask him a question but whilst in the middle of providing you with an answer, he would have already forgotten the question itself. Imagine how an individual can survive on those terms; waking up every morning just to feel the same as if you are waking up every few minutes. Wearing kept a journal once he was diagnosed with anterograde amnesia, and within the journal, one can tell he does not understand his surrounding. In his journal, he will state that “I am awake now”, but in a couple of minutes, he will cross it out and rewrite something else such as, “Now, I am fully awake; I do not know who wrote the line previously but now I am awake.” To live a life where the only thing you remember is emptiness behind you is not only scary but you constantly feel loneliness. Clive Wearing is a victim of anterograde amnesia, ergo a man living such an unfortunate life. However, he latches on to his life with the memory fragments that still linger in his brain. The two things Wearing held dear to him the most stayed with him; those two being his family and music. He recognizes his wife and acknowledges the fact that he has children, and can take a break from his current reality and play a piece on the piano even though technically he does not ‘know’ how to play the piano, he plays it with no problem. Music

Liu 3 plays an important role in many people’s lives, and it is shown in Clive Wearing’s life that it is indeed quintessential to him, as it serves as a connection to his past life and identity.

Liu 4

Works Cited “Brain Scene Investigation: Clive Wearing's Fleeting Memory.” Biological Psychology , www.oxfordpresents.com/ms/lambert/brain-scene-investigation-clive-wearings-fleeting-m emory/. Cherney, Isabelle D. “The Effects of Active Learning on Students' Memories for Course Content.” Active Learning in Higher Education , vol. 9, no. 2, 2008, pp. 152–171., doi:10.1177/1469787408090841. “Clive Wearing: The Man With the 30 Second Memory.” Futurism , 30 Nov. 2016, futurism.com/clive-wearing-the-man-with-the-30-second-memory/. Rathbone, Clare J., et al. “Autobiographical Memory and Amnesia: Using Conceptual Knowledge to Ground the Self.” Neurocase , vol. 15, no. 5, Sept. 2009, pp. 405–418., doi:10.1080/13554790902849164. Sacks, Oliver. “The Abyss.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 6 July 2017, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/09/24/the-abyss. Silverbird69. “Orlandus Di Lassus - Motet for 8 Voices - Osculetur Me Osculo.” YouTube , YouTube, 25 Oct. 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5OhIKZ4Wbo.

Liu 5 Self Reflection

While writing this paper, for some reason, it was really difficult to write. Usually when I write about other people where I can do research on it should be rather simple, but for Clive Wearing, it was a task I did not know if I could complete. I know I could have done a better job writing this paper; the paper itself is full of information but at the same time I know I am repeating a lot of information. I love to learn about new people, especially people whom I never heard about, I like to learn about individuals and their lives because I learn so much. By learning about them, I get to learn more about different situations and to reflect that information I learned about myself. In my most humble opinion, I believe I can relate to many very easily; I am able to understand a certain situation and analyze it. Which makes writing papers for me really personal. I tie everything together, at first it may not make sense but by the end of the paper; usually, everything is explained. Now, this case may not always be the best way but for me; that is how I am able to do research papers and others. I know my grammar is actually pretty horrific, I know I need to proofread my work a lot more than I actually do. Sometimes it gets difficult because I been staring at this essay for so long and to reread it another time is excruciating. Learning about music has made me open my eyes to many different things. I feel as if my horizon and barriers have expanded a lot after I took this class. Not only because of the information I learned but also because of the way I learned it. The way my Professor taught the class made it fun, which in return made me pay attention more and I was able to absorb more information than many of my other classes....