Watchmaker (beginning)

The Watchmaker I refer to is the famous argument for creation by design by a supreme being by William Paley in 1802. This type of argument is called a teleological argument. I'm just mentioning this since it makes it seem like there was some actual purpose to all those philosophy classes I took back in college and grad school.

Moving on...

A read a book quite a while back, late 80s I think, that described a medical condition that stuck with me. The description, I mean. Fortunately I don't have the condition! It seems that a young couple was living in a flat somewhere in England. The guy took a shower, used up most of the hot water and left for work. His wife then went in the shower and the hot water heater came on. Unbeknownst to the couple, the pilot had gone out and natural gas was released when the hot water heater--located in the bathroom with the showering woman--came on. The woman for some reason didn't smell the gas and was soon overcome and slumped to the shower floor. Fortunately her husband had forgotten something and upon his return the the apartment she was removed from the shower and her breathing was resumed. Unfortunately she was without oxygen for long enough to have some brain damage. Very specific damage it was. The cells in the body that burn the most 02, or in other words are the most active, are the neurons in the brain. And of those cells, the cells in the visual cortex are the most active. It was this area, the visual cortex of the frontal lobes, that was destroyed by lack of oxygen. In all other respects she recovered fully from her ordeal. That's the setup.

I have to process some cells so I'll finish this later tonight!

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