One of the most popular of the TED talks, Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroscientist who describes her own experience with having a stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain. Fascinating…
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This movie started off some what slow for me. I seemed as though there was a lot of information given in the beginning. I thought it was great that she brought the real human brain on stage to prove her point that we are all he and we are all connected. I found it very interesting how she explained the right and left sides of the brain. The right side is thought of as a parallel processor and the left the serial processor. I was compelled by her story of her stroke. I was amazed at how much the brain is still processing while there is hemorrhaging. Overall, I thought this was a good video.
By: shaza nassar (psyc414) on October 7, 2008
at 2:48 am
Psyc 362
Jill Bolte Taylor is an amazing woman! For her to have a stroke and have a positive outlook on her experience and a better outlook on life is great. She put so much emotion and description into her story. My favorite part was when she said “how many scientists have the oppurtunity to study their own brain from the inside out?” The way that she described having the stroke was very interesting. She made it sound like it was fun and an enlightening experience, but it’s normally thought of as painful. It’s good to know that she had the ability to wait her time out to recover after eight years. This Movie Monday was intense, but I liked it a lot.
By: Jena Wagner on October 7, 2008
at 3:07 am
I was really blown away by this talk, Jill Bolte Taylor was able to share her message, her idea worth spreading with a very personal experience. It is really incredible that as a neuroscientist she experienced the loss of function in her left hemisphere from the inside, and that she figured out how to get herself help in her diminished state.
I feel like her overall message is really powerful, that we have the ability to choose how we live, whether in our left-brain analytical separate selves or in our right-brain energetic connected completely present selves, or a good balance of both. I think many people don’t realize that we can all tap into that part of ourselves, it has been taught out of us since left-brain skills are so much more valued in our society and educational systems. He description of what it was like to just function from the right brain, the euphoria, nirvana, energetic sense of her limitlessness and connection to all things reminds of what some people experience during meditation, tai chi, yoga, other spiritual practices, even during sexual and sensual intimacy and some seek this by doing mood-altering drugs. But ultimately, we all have the capacity to be more connected to that part of ourselves, what a different world this really would be!
PSy 362
By: Emma Schutz Fort on October 7, 2008
at 5:20 am
Jill Taylor shared a very personal and one of a kind experience with the world. I found the information on the happenings of the stroke to be a bit dry however I thought she finished her presentation with a bang. I have never heard of the brain being described as two halves having two seperat Identities. Further more each half has a different perspective.
PSYC 362
By: Jason Amarena on October 7, 2008
at 6:02 am
THIS IS AMAZING!!! It’s something that I think we’re all aware of, but choose to over look, this kind of thinking is amazing to me and I hope that people take this kind of thinking/this philosophy seriously.
By: Trevor Hill on October 7, 2008
at 6:24 am
PSYC 362
This was an amazing story!! I really loved how she made the connection at the end that we have the control to choose between giving up and fighting. I thought the information in the beginning of the talk was also very helpful in understanding what was happening to her body during the stroke. The real brain was also very cool (i love watching the Oprah show when Dr. Oz is on where he brings in all the real organs!) She did a great job giving her talk mixing in the facts into her personal story. I can’t wait to learn more about the brain this week in class.
By: Carolyn Toillion on October 7, 2008
at 7:04 am
PSYC 414
I really enjoyed this video. It was such an inspirational story in how even though she suffered from a stroke, Jill was still able to overcome it and look at life in such a positive light and do such extensive research to educate people about the brain more. I never thought that we could choose which life we wanted to live, based on the sides of our brains, until I heard her discussion. This video really made me think about how powerful your brain is when it comes to someone’s identity and how it can define you.
By: Kristi Schroder on October 7, 2008
at 7:30 am
Wow this was an amazing experience that she faced and I love that she is appreciating what she went through and sharing it with others. Her message that we get to choose is something that I discovered for myself after my first chemo treatment. It is interesting that near death experiences can really help us define what life means to each of us. Life is a choice…everything about it we individually get to choose. I really agree with her when she says we get to choose how what we want to be or who we want to be. Inspiring!
By: Rebecca PSYC 414 on October 7, 2008
at 8:14 pm
Wow, this was, by far, the very best of the films I’ve seen. This woman (Jill Bolte Taylor)had a religious/mystical experience and has chosen to share that with the world. “Everyone who is alive can find Nirvana.” Sounds pretty cool to me.
Paul Hubbard Psyc 362
By: paul hubbard on October 7, 2008
at 11:10 pm
Another good TED talk. I liked her story, though I was a little dissapointed that a neuroscientist didnt get into more detail about what was going on in her brain other than the left and right hemisphere dynamic. I would have liked to know more about the exact processies that were inhibited or exacerbated by her stroke, that gave her that nirvana experience.
psych 401
By: Jack Coplen on October 8, 2008
at 12:34 am
I thought she was a great speaker, knew what she was going to say and how to say it in a way that captivated the audience. i thought the information about the brain in the beginning was really cool and a great way to open her talk. I wish she had tied her experience back to her brother at the end but i suppose time restrictions limited her. I was a little unsure about where she was going about the whole world finding Nirvana, but it is a nice thought and i think there are different type of Nirvana for different people. It proves just how vital our brains are to our existence. Great movie
By: Katie Roberts PSYC 414 on October 8, 2008
at 6:12 am
That was fascinating! I was so blown away by what she said… The really cool thing was that she actually managed to keep the awareness of the ‘nirvana’ expererience alive in her, even after she came back to fully functioning consciousness. She talked about what the saints and sages of the world have been saying for so long, and I believe that anyone who’s had a glimpse of this exerience can have such a powerful effect on the world in sharing it w/ others.
It’s really cool that she’s a brain researcher and not some ‘new-agey’ person saying all of this stuff, b/c it makes her exerience more credible to the way most pple think, meaning that more will listen and be open…
I wonder how much of her being able to retain not just the memory but the awareness of this experience had to do w/ the way her mother nursed her back to health (ie, letting her sleep and keeping negative pple and things away) — I’m guessing quite a bit.
This was the best movie yet, in my opinion.
By: Sharon Morelock (psych 362) on October 8, 2008
at 4:41 pm
I really enjoyed this talk! Jill was able to use her personal experience to clearly explain the left and right hemispheres of our brain. I appreciate her descriptive language as well as her honesty. Her positive outlook on life is inspiring. I personally would like to learn more about consciously connecting to the right side of my brain more, it sounds wonderful! Jill also posed some great questions about humans on this planet. Her thoughts on becoming a peaceful world offers hope, and also puts the choice in our hands.
By: Julie Gregerson on October 8, 2008
at 5:02 pm
wow this was a really great video! i thought her story was extremely interesting and kept me intrigued throughout the whole thing. i thought the real brain she brought out was gross but really cool at the same time! it was really neat to hear her story and to hear her near death experience. she used amazing detail.
By: ashley moyer (362) on October 8, 2008
at 5:16 pm
This movie absolutely captivated me from beginning to end. It is amazing to me that someone can remember a stroke so vividly and be able to completely relate it back to someone else…it’s almost like going to the other side and coming back to tell everyone what it was like. I personally don’t ever want to go to that side because eight years is too long to get home again but it’s amazing to me that someone did it. I think this was one of my favorite movie mondays.
By: Brittney Bartram Psyc 362 on October 8, 2008
at 6:33 pm
This video was so fascinating! My eyes were glued to it the entire time. I even found myself getting emotional and crying at the end! Jill Bolte Taylor has an energy to her that makes it obvious to why she lived. She has a very spiritual nature to her and I love how she thought it was cool that she was a brain scientist and she got to experience a stroke. Truly an amazing person and a great video!
Psyc 401
By: Desiree Ribolin on October 9, 2008
at 1:02 am
I really enjoyed this video. Jill Bolte Taylor is an amazing speaker and person. Her story was very real. It was very interesting to hear her experience of going through a stroke. Although she went through a tramattic patch in her life, her courage and strong spirit kept her strong through her hard times. This topic was probably hard for her to present and she did a great job expressing her story. Overall, this has been my favorite video so far.
By: Jaime McComas on October 9, 2008
at 1:28 am
Psyc 414
This by far was my favorite talk. She was incredibly moving and inspirational. What I found most interesting was that she was able to operate solely with her right or left hemisphere during the stroke which took her to a drug like euphoric or infant state. I also found it intriguing that she suggests one can choose whether to think with your left or right. I suppose that would almost be like mediation. But I find it difficult to turn off my inner voice (left hemi) and focus solely on the moment. She truly had a once in a lifetime experience and I very appreciative that she shared it.
By: Jennifer Cissell on October 9, 2008
at 1:45 am
oops I mean 404 haha
Psyc 414
This by far was my favorite talk. She was incredibly moving and inspirational. What I found most interesting was that she was able to operate solely with her right or left hemisphere during the stroke which took her to a drug like euphoric or infant state. I also found it intriguing that she suggests one can choose whether to think with your left or right. I suppose that would almost be like mediation. But I find it difficult to turn off my inner voice (left hemi) and focus solely on the moment. She truly had a once in a lifetime experience and I very appreciative that she shared it.
By: Jennifer Cissell on October 9, 2008
at 1:46 am
This video was amazing. It’s crazy that Taylor lost function in her left hemishere and somehow figured out from the inside out how to help herself. She basically was like an infant and had to learn everything over. And it took her 8 years to fully recover but with her mom on her side she made it. It’s sad but there’s a happy ending. By far this has been my favorite video.
By: Cinthia Orozco(psyc 362) on October 9, 2008
at 2:24 am
Such a good video! I got a little freaked out at first when she had the real brain on stage but it was also pretty cool. Jill Taylor is a amazing women. I loved her talk and how she shared her near death experience. I loved at the end how she said we are the ones who choose who was want to be in the world! good video
By: Megan Webster - psyc 414 on October 9, 2008
at 3:00 am
First, it is amazing that she had a full recovery from a stroke, and in only eight years. But I hate to say this, and you can call me a jerk if you want, but I found her talk rather new age-ish and hard to believe that she could both analyze and remember her stroke. I kind of wonder if she was talk what police and emercy response units told her what was observed in her apartment and then reconstructed memories of it. However, there is one thing that I found every interesting is that she mentioned that her right arm was paralyzed (when trying to dial) and that her stroke was in the left hemisphere. And I think that this is a clear demonstration of contralateral. And I really heard anything close to this with the exception of contrallateral neglect.
By: Andrew Lowenhaupt on October 9, 2008
at 3:08 am
PSYC 414
This movie was absolutely amazing to watch and listen to. It was crazy to think that she recovered from a stroke with such an insight into her life and the world around her. I can’t imagine going through that and being completely aware of what is going on. The actual human brain was pretty crazy too. It kind of weirded me out but this was really an awesome story to hear about.
By: Brittany Tom on October 9, 2008
at 6:11 am
This was an amazing speech that told a powerful story. The way she explained and portrayed what she was feeling throughout the stroke was very captivating, and it is amazing that she survived and is now changing lives. What a wonderful story!
By: Erica Brick Psyc 414 on October 9, 2008
at 6:17 am
It was amazing film. I cannot believe that she recovered from the stroke, especially after she lost a lot of left hemisphere. It is a very powerful story. I am amazed at how flexible our brain is and how strong a person can be. I just wonder how she recovered from the stroke.
By: SHIH YA HUANG PSYCH 362 on October 9, 2008
at 6:28 am
I found this movie to be very inspiring. i know it sounds cheesy and cliche but its true. it was hard not for me to wonder how many other stroke victims experienced this feeling of nirvana but never lived to tell about it or for one reason or another couldnt tell about it. i think the most profound thing that her story did for me was put a scientific and experiential narritive perspective on many of the concpts i have come across in my personal studies of the eastern religions, (especially zen) and from my own personal insights. i think she was as correct in her content as she was clever in her title. I’m so happy she survived to share that with me.
By: Foreman on October 9, 2008
at 6:31 am
I really liked the movie. I felt that she was a very theatrical speaker and because of this held the attention of everyone. i thought that at some points during her world and nervana part that it was a little over the top and for me was hard to relate and listen to but if that was the expierence that she had that is great. i thought that bring out the brain was really cool and a great way to tie us all in. it was very interesting to hear her take us through step by step what it is like to have a stroke and what those people go through. she was really smart and fun to listen too. i really liked the video!
By: Krista Winkler on October 9, 2008
at 6:45 am
PSYC 414
She is right to say that we spend too much time trying to define ourselves separate from the rest of the world. We try to be the best on whatever we do, day after day, and forget to share with others what we know, or we are too busy to talk to someone. We know that we have to foster cooperative work on children, but we don’t do it because often times we don’t know how to do it ourselves. It is amazing that she was able to recover fully from the stroke, and made her change her view of life. I know it is hard to learn from someone else’s experience, but the least we can do is try.
By: Juana Barcenas PSYC 414 on October 9, 2008
at 2:32 pm
She is right to say that we spend too much time trying to define ourselves separate from the rest of the world. We try to be the best on whatever we do, day after day, and forget to share with others what we know, or we are too busy to talk to someone. We know that we have to foster cooperative work on children, but we don’t do it because often times we don’t know how to do it ourselves. It is amazing that she was able to recover fully from the stroke, and made her change her view of life. I know it is hard to learn from someone else’s experience, but the least we can do is try.
By: Juana Barcenas PSYC 414 on October 9, 2008
at 2:37 pm
To me this was the most inpspirational and touching video so far. I was curious to see the end of the video to know what the point of the speech was. If she was promoting research or a theory or something. But I got chills when she was in tears at the end and said that it was about having two cognitive minds, and we can choose to live in the right hemisphere and find peace. And that peace can radiate out of us to others. And what a peaceful place it would be if we could all do that and think as if we were one. I want to learn to live in that hemisphere! If everyone could do that what a wonderful world it would be!
By: Molly Conrado on October 9, 2008
at 3:46 pm
I really enjoyed that video!! It was extremely powerful and kept me so interested! Jill went through so much, and still is looking great and speaking awesome! I thought that it was really cool that she brought a real brain out.. it brought it all to life. All and all I really enjoyed the video and found it very informative.
By: Morgan Carney on October 9, 2008
at 4:39 pm
This weeks movie was very interesting! It’s amazing how much a stroke can really affect you up. The brain is such a fascinating and important part of us, I can’t ever image having something happening to mine. It’s amazing how much she went through and learned and over came. It really was an inspirational story.
By: Ashley McGinty (414) on October 9, 2008
at 4:56 pm
I thought that was a very amazing story. it is facinating how she was able to analyze her stroke durrin such a psychological crisis. her strenght mentally to overcome the physically unabling symptons of a stroke is very inspiring and it does show just how powerfull the mind isand how it found away to adjust to stroke.
By: Phillip Brooks (362) on October 9, 2008
at 5:11 pm
This movie was very interesting to me. It was interesting that she had actually gone through the experience of having a stroke rather than just explaining it from different studies and other peoples experiences. She was able to give a very descriptive image of the morning of the stroke when she was talking. What I found to be interesting is how much she vividly remembers that morning before, especially since that morning everything was so difficult for her to do. I have also heard that sometimes when people go through certain experiences like that they sometimes black out right before and their minds erase what happened, so it was interesting to hear what she remembered and get an idea of it. It was also interesting to realize the differences of the right and left side of the brain. They both hold completely different functions.
By: Danielle Pallavicini on October 9, 2008
at 7:11 pm
I thought she did an amazing job explaining her story and the brain in such an understandable way. I thought that her quote that the two sides of the brain have two different personalities. I also thought that she was able to tell her story in a way that made me feel as if she was able to overcome a HUGE obstacle. I really enjoined this one!
By: Jessyca Findley on October 9, 2008
at 7:15 pm
This movie was very interesting to me. It was interesting that she had actually
gone through the experience of having a stroke rather than just explaining it
from different studies and other peoples experiences. She was able to give a
very descriptive image of the morning of the stroke when she was talking. What
I found to be interesting is how much she vividly remembers that morning
before, especially since that morning everything was so difficult for her to
do. I have also heard that sometimes when people go through certain experiences
like that they sometimes black out right before and their minds erase what
happened, so it was interesting to hear what she remembered and get an idea of
it. It was also interesting to realize the differences of the right and left
side of the brain. They both hold completely different functions.
By: Danielle Pallavicini Psyc 414 on October 9, 2008
at 7:20 pm
Yes! Peace is an idea worth spreading. This TED presentation was far out, sounds like the speaker had a pretty profound expierence, which allowed her to access what she calls he deep inner peace circutry which made everything okay. As far as getting people to do this and join her in “nirvana” i think she is still a little far out, like people who have done alot of acid back in the 70’s. Your body releases certain chemicals when your body is injured greatly and it makes everything at peace at okay; I think its great that she had this experience and that she has the professional knowledge to possible help others with her experience.
By: Robert Plante (401) on October 9, 2008
at 7:31 pm
I really enjoyed this movie!! She was very passionate about her studies and described her stroke very well. I couln’t imagine having all of those thoughts going through my head and not being able to do anything. Crazy!! Her thought processes were still working but her body was physically unable to. I think this was one of the most interesting talks yet. It was also very inspirational how she decided to recover so that she could do research and share her experinece with others.
By: Danielle Daeseleer (414) on October 9, 2008
at 7:46 pm
I found this movie to catch my attention right away when Jill was discussing her brother’s story. I think it is really great that she decided to get so into studying the brain because of him. i enjoyed and also learned a lot when she discussed and compared the right to the left hemisphere of the brain. She brought out a real human brain to show the audience that the hemispheres are obviously two different parts that do two very different things. She explained that the right hemisphere was in charge of the present moment, the right here and the right now. The left hemisphere is responsible for the past and the future. It takes the present moment, and organizes the details of it to show us our future possibilities. It is the hemisphere that is in charge of language, it connects our internal world to our external world. Then Jill went on to describe the morning of her stroke. She used so much detail to explain what was going on during her hemorrhage, it absolutely amazed me. I could not believe she remembered in that extensive detail what happened that morning. I found it interesting how she explained how she “shifted away from a normal perception of reality” and how that atoms and molecules of her body blended into the walls and everything around her that she could not tell where her body began and where it ended. When Jill was describing how she was “at one with all of the energy around her” and it was “beautiful there,” i remember thinking while i was watching that it sounded like she was in that “moment” we all hear about before we pass away. Right after i was thinking that, she went on to say she felt her spirit surrender and she felt a moment of transition. at the end of the film she was explaining to the audience that this experience was a “tremendous gift” and that it gave her insight to life and the motivation to recover. I thought these words from her were so powerful and so true. I really enjoyed the message Jill delivered in her speech and I was very entertained watching this movie!
By: Sarah Shwedel (414) on October 9, 2008
at 8:04 pm
This was by far my favorite movie monday! To think how she lived through her hemorrhage and stroke and to think she is strong enough to want to share this experience with others. Her inner body experience and thoughts seems so intense, where she felt at one with the world. I think about how frustrating that must have been to try so hard to find out how to dial her work number, to her they just looked like squiggles and she had to go through a pile of that squiggly writing and numbers to find out what her work number was. Then to think by the time she called all she heard on the other end was what sounded like a golden retriever and her voice sounded the same. I cannot even imagine going through an experience like that and how lucky she is be alive. Hearing of real life experiences like this make me appreciate life all the more.
By: Amy Parshall PSYC 414 on October 9, 2008
at 8:08 pm
I really enjoyed watching this video, she is very descriptive of her stroke, I really love that, you can almost feel what she was feeling at that point in her life. She is an amazing motivator. It was really interesting. I felt that she did an incredible job in sharing her story.
I loved the way she just brought out a human brain and explained its functions I thought it was really unexpected.
I love how she has such an optimistic view on life.
By: Daniella Galaviz (psy 362) on October 10, 2008
at 5:23 am
I thought this video was very interesting! I loved that she brought an actual brain on stage and was able to talk to her audience and explain different parts of the brain while being able to see them at the same time. I liked that she talked about both, left and right, hemispheres. I thought it was interesting that she took her brother’s situation and dedicated all her time into researching the brain and its functions when one part of the brain in damaged. I thought overall this was a great video and very informative because you do not hear much on topic such as this one
PSYC 414
By: Ashley Hamilton on October 11, 2008
at 5:14 pm
Oct 6
Because people need to formulate thoughts into solid concepts through language to communicate our understanding of ourselves, it makes it difficult to live more fully in our right hemisphere. If we could communicate our thoughts through feelings alone then understanding through the right hemisphere would make it easier to facilitate this peace.
By: Ryan Prior Psych362 on October 16, 2008
at 7:54 am