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in your shoes. Get to know the wool runners, pipers and loungers at Alberts dot com. That's alll bi rds dot com. Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClain smith. For the weeks in between episodes, we look at the stories that, for one reason or other, didn't make it into the show. In last week's episode, Here Is Always Somewhere Else, we looked at the beguiling story of Shanty Devi, a young girl from Delhi, India, who believed she had
once lived another life. Devi's claim was considered so convincing it was investigated by a number of journalists and dignitaries, many of whom were left in no doubt that it was true. When researching his first book in the early nineteen sixties, psychiatrist doctor Ian Stephenson, who dedicated much of his life's work to investigating the possibility of re incarnation, traveled to India for part of his study. In just four weeks, he was said to have found twenty five
individuals with compelling claims of a past life. Critics of the book argued that such an overabundance of Indian based
stories revealed the folly of his work. That so many people would claim to be reincarnated, they argued, was evidence of a clear cultural bias that readily accepted the apparent phenomena as fact, Stevenson argued in response, it was precisely because it was more widely accepted that possible incidences of reincarnation were recorded, when those from other cultures would instead dismiss the evidence as merely a coincidence or the result
of a subconscious absorption of information. Regardless of what you believe, there is no doubt something fascinating at play at the heart of all carnation stories, which is the notion of what it is exactly that is apparently being reincarnated. For some, the idea that Shanti Devi had once lived as a young woman named Lugdi Bai has us trying to imagine the experience for ourselves, dying one day only to re emerge in the mind of a young child the next.
For those more familiar with the Hindu and Buddhist concept of reincarnation, however, the process is not apparently that lugdu Bai was reborn, but rather that a central, nameless essence, once contained in the body of lug Du Bai but very much distinct from what we might ordinarily consider to be her, later re emerged in the body of Shanti Devi. Either way, it is almost impossible to conceive of such a thing without thinking of it in terms of the self.
Most of us, regardless if we believe in a soul or not, will tend to uphold the importance of the self, that thing which we feel makes us who we are, individual and distinct from others. It might be surprising, therefore, to learn that, despite how firm your sense of self might be, that seemingly solid idea of you could well be nothing but a useful fallacy. Are you always taking care of your family? Do you often take care of
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Unexplained podcast. On thirteenth September eighteen forty eight, construction workers just south of the town of Cavendish in Vermont, USA. We're busy blasting through rock to make way for a new railroad. It had just gone four thirty pm when twenty five year old foreman Phineas Gage began preparing for the next blast. It was a fairly rudimentary but highly dangerous procedure that involved first boring a deep and narrow hole into the rock before filling it part way with
explosive powder. The mix would then be topped off with sand and all compacted down with a three and a half foot long iron rod. Gage was just packing the explosives when, having been distracted by a coworker, he accidentally scraped the rock as he brought the iron rod down onto the powder. In an instant, sparks flying off the
rod ignited the powder and caused a catastrophic explosion. The rod, one and a quarter inches in diameter, was rocketed into the air straight into Phineas's face, penetrating just under the cheek bone. It dismantled the left eye socket before shooting through the left side of his brain and out through
the top of his head. Gage, in turn, was thrown to the floor, where he lay on his back convulsive, his left eye bulging out of its socket as the blood poured freely from the giant, gaping hole in his head. His co workers rushed to help, but naturally feared the worst, so it was with great surprise when moments later Gage began to talk. Realizing he was still alive, the men dragged him to the nearest ox cart, sat him on his back, and had him taken to Cavendish Town, three
quarters of a mile away. When they arrived at the town's hotel, Phineas walked out of the cart himself and was even able to walk up the stairs to a nursing room, where he waited patiently for the arrival of the doctor. When physician Edward Williams arrived twenty minutes later, he was shocked and horrified by what he found. Perhaps most surprising, however, was that not only did Phineas recognize him, but that he seemed completely self aware, uttering the famously
understated line, doctor, here is business enough for you. As Gage recounted the details of the accident, Williams watched incredulous as what was left of his brain pulsated from within his skull. Moments later, Gage got up to vomit, causing half a tea cupful of his brain to fall on to the floor. Soon after, they were joined by doctor John Harlowe, who, together with Williams, worked fast to clear the extensive wound, pulling large fragments of bone and brain
from out of Gage's skull. After only staunching the flow of blood, Harlowe made a final examination for more bone, finding that he was able to place the entirety of his index finger through the three and a half inch
hole without meeting any resistance. The next few weeks proved to be a fraught period of convalescence, as the wound became infected and Gage drifted in and out of delirium and consciousness, but by the twentieth of October, with the infection having cleared up, Gage was able to get himself in and out of bed. Within weeks, he was taking walks into town, and on November twenty fifth, only ten weeks after the accident, he was permitted to return to
his parents' home in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Incredibly, despite losing a significant part of his left frontal lobe, Gage's memory seemed completely unaffected by the injury, and by eighteen fifty, according to Henry Biggelow, professor of surgery at Harvard University, he appeared to be quite recovered in faculties of body and mind. According to Phineas's friends, however, something fundamental had been lost. Though there has been much speculation as to
how exactly the injury affected Gage. According to Bigelow, it had turned the apparently wants composed and benevolent man into something far more fitful and irreverent, who was now prone to indulging in the grossest profanity. Friends apparently found him so radically changed that they no longer considered him to be Phineas Gage. We can only speculate as to how much Gage himself thought he had changed from the man he was prior to the accident, or if he was
even aware of having changed. At all. But certainly, if we were to swap the fundamental characteristics we hold most true to ourselves with completely opposite characteristics, there are few who wouldn't consider their sense of self to be radically changed. Such an analysis, however, might say far more about what we believe personal identity to be than it does about
the truth of who any of us actually are. According to philosopher Daniel Dennett, the fact we have any sense of self at all is merely a useful fiction, a notion best understood by considering the self a center of narrative gravity, just as an object's center of gravity might be thought of as a physical property, It is nonetheless an abstraction. Though we might be able to calculate its location,
there is no tangible reality to it at all. As such, we find in a similar way, the self is not a solid single thing, but rather a number of separate neurological functions that the brain attempts to order around what is effectively an illusory narrative center. That many of these functions are enacted before we have even become aware of them confirms this process as something that is completely beyond
our control. As the psychologist Susan Blackmore notes, any subsequent notion of self arises only when we look for it, driven by the arbitrary conviction that we should reduce our various experiences into a singular entity, and the illusion of continuity created by the linear sequencing of memory memories, which incidentally are likely to be only a loose rendering of the complete truth of what it is that you think
you are remembering. As Dennett also notes, in theory and possibly in practice if we consider, for example, the legitimacy of multi personality disorders, such a notion suggests there is no reason why our sense of self couldn't be multiple selves, or even divided into fractions of selves to be shared out with others. Nor would there be anything to prohibit two or even infinite, seemingly separate selves converging into one
singular identity. And if you find all of that a little disconcerting, you might at least take comfort in the notion that if there really is no fixed you, then every passing moment is but another blank canvas on which to imagine who it is you are going to be next. If you enjoy listening to Unexplained and would like to help support us, you can now go to Unexplained Podcast dot com. Forward Slash support. All donations, no matter how
large or small, are massively appreciate. All elements of Unexplained are produced by me, Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and rate the show on night Tunes. Feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com or on Twitter at Unexplained pod Now. It's time to take care of yourself.
To make time for you, Tell a doc gives you access to a licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video any time between seven am to nine pm local time, seven days a week. Teledoc Therapy is available through most insurance or employers. Download the app or visit teledoc dot com, Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast Today to get started. That's t e ladoc dot com Slash Unexplained Podcast