Savant

The skills displayed by savants, whether they are memorizing and reciting entire books or instantly calculating the square root of any number, are unlike the high levels of individual skills sometimes displayed by people of normal intelligence. Savant skills often appear in an individual very suddenly, rather than developing over time; the abilities are fully formed, and don't increase as the savant grows older. One musical savant could hum complicated opera arias when she was six months old. Another, at the age of four, could flawlessly play the works of Mozart at the piano. In some cases, savant skills disappear just as suddenly as they appeared.

The skills of savants appear to be almost robot-like in nature. For example, a musical savant may be able to reproduce a complex musical piece after hearing it once, but if the original rendition contains a mistake, the savant will repeat that mistake. An artistic savant may be able to produce an impressive copy of a specific artist's work, but most cannot evolve a recognizable style of his or her own.

Neither do savants seem able to make connections between their talents and the rest of their lives or the world around them. Further, they do not appear to be able to reason about what they are doing. For instance, a savant who can read and perfectly memorize a book containing the complete works of Shakespeare, even to the point of being able to recite a specific page of text when given a page number, probably cannot explain what those plays and poems mean. Furthermore, he or she might be unable to recall the same text if given some other cue, such as the title of a specific work. A musical savant will more than likely be unable to read music. A savant who can make complex mathematical calculations might be unable to make change for a dollar.

Savants' skills do not seem to require their total attention. Many can play a piece of music, draw a picture, or make complex mathematical calculations while their mind appears to be elsewhere. They seem to exercise their talents without conscious effort, as if some part of their brain, unconnected to the rest, operates automatically.