As further evidence that the average human mind possesses incredible latent abilities, a Czech speedway driver who was recently knocked unconscious in a crash was reported to have come out of his coma with a previously unknown ability to speak perfect and fluid English. 18-year-old Matej Kus was unconscious for about 45 minutes after the accident, but when he woke up he conversed fluidly in English with paramedics. Perhaps even more oddly, he spoke in a clear English accent. The teenager had just recently begun to study the language and his friends and teammates describe his previous language skills as “basic at best”.
Peter Waite, who works for Kus's team, the Berwick Bandits, said, "I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was in a really clear English accent, no dialect or anything. Whatever happened in the crash must have rearranged things in his head.”
Kus had some English language training prior to the incident, but those who knew him well say it couldn’t possibly account for his instantaneous and perfect command of the language.“Before his crash Matej's use of the English language was broken, to put it mildly.
He was only just making a start on improving it and struggled to be understood, but was keen to learn,” explained Waite. "Yet here we were at the ambulance door listening to Matej talking to the medical staff in perfect English. Matej didn't have a clue who or where he was when he came round. He didn't even know he was Czech. It was unbelievable to hear him talk in unbroken English.
"Kus strange and sudden ability eventually disappeared as he recovered. Presently, he cannot remember the accident itself nor the following two days. But he says after hearing what happened, he is now very interested in studying English.He told the Daily Mail, through an interpreter: "It's unbelievable that I was speaking English like that, especially without an accent. Hopefully I can pick English up over the winter for the start of next season so I'll be able to speak it without someone having to hit me over the head first. There must be plenty of the English language in my subconscious so hopefully I'll be able to pick it up quickly next time.
"The type of phenomena experienced by Kus is rare, but not unheard of. Usually in concurrence with some sort of brain trauma, or disorder, several notable cases exist where individuals were inexplicably able to use savant-like abilities to make incredible mental calculations or perform stunning feats of memory. In some cases, the new ability was a permanent “improvement” on the individual’s otherwise normal mental capacity.
Such was the case for Orlando Serrell, who did not possess any unusual skills until he was struck by a baseball on the left side of his head on August 17, 1979 when he was ten years old. Serrell suffered from a long headache, but after the headache ended, Orlando inexplicably had the ability to perform calculations of amazing complexity. He can also recall details of his life, like the weather, where he was, and what he was doing every day since the day his head was struck.
Mind expert Allan Snyder of the University of Sydney and director of Center for the Mind, is certain that all people possess incredible latent abilities, but only some are able to express them through “malfunctions” of overriding brain functions whether through brain trauma or certain forms of autism."They are exceptional in that they can tap in and somehow we can't. They have privileged access," explained Snyder.Snyder is currently involved in research to find a way to safely (as in no baseball bat involved) activate these “savant” abilities without compromising normal brain functioning.
译文:
捷克少年撞车苏醒后能讲一口完美的英语
据报道，一位最近被撞昏的捷克赛车手苏醒后能说一口完美流畅的英语，而此前不知道他具有这种能力；这一事例进一步证明，普通人类大脑中拥有难以置信的潜在能力。梅特库斯今年18岁，意外发生后他昏迷了约45分钟；当他醒来后，用流利的英语与护理人员交谈起来。更为奇怪的是，他操清晰的英式口音。该少年最近刚刚开始学习英语，他的朋友和队友形容他以前的语言技能为“最多只能算有些基础”。
彼得维特与库斯同在“贝里克强盗”队工作，他说：“我简直不敢相信我所听到的。这是纯正英式口音，没有方言或其它东西。撞击时发生的一切很可能在他的头脑中重新安排了一些东西。”
事故发生前，梅特库斯接受过一些英语培训；但那些跟他很熟的人说，那点培训不可能让他突然间完美地掌握这一语言。“说得委婉一点，梅特库斯撞车前的英语是不连贯的。”
“他才刚刚开始提高英语水平，正在努力地让别人听得懂他说什么，但他热衷于学习，”彼得维特解释道。但是现在，我们在救护车门外听到，梅特库斯用完美的英语与医务人员交谈。梅特库斯醒来时不知道他自已是谁、在哪里。他甚至不知道自已是捷克人。听到他讲连贯的英语真令人难以置信。
随着梅特库斯的康复，他突如其来的能力最终消失了。目前，他既不记得意外事故，也不记得事故后两天发生的事。但是他说，听别人讲了所发生的事情，他现在非常有兴趣学习英语。他通过译员告诉每日邮报，“我能那样讲英语真是太令人难以置信了，居然还没有母语口音。希望我在下个赛季开始前的这个冬天能重拾英语；这样我就能不用别人撞我的头也可以说英语了。在我的潜意识里可能有大量的英语，所以我很有希望下一次很快地把英语捡起来。”
梅特库斯所经历的这类现象是罕见的，但并非绝无仅有。通常发生在有某种脑损伤、脑紊乱的人身上。有几个著名的例子，其中一些人能莫名其妙地利用专家般的能力，做令人难以置信的心算或表演出惊人的记忆力。在某些情况下，新的能力永久性地“改进”了这个人原有的普通的心理能力。
对奥兰多瑟雷尔来说，情况就是这样。瑟雷尔并不具备任何不寻常的技巧，直到他被一个棒球击中头部左边；那是在1979年8月17日，当时他10岁。瑟雷尔遭受了长期的头痛，但头痛结束后，他莫名其妙地拥有了进行复杂运算的能力。他也能记住他生活的细节，像天气怎么样，他在哪里，头部被击中后每天他在做什么。
悉尼大学的心智专家、“心智中心”的主任艾伦斯奈德坚信，所有的人都拥有令人难以置信的潜在能力；但只有一些人因为脑外伤或某种形式的自闭症，引起最重要的大脑功能“失灵”，而表达出这种潜力。“他们是例外的，他们能利用潜能力，而我们不能。他们有特权进入，”斯奈德解释道。斯奈德目前正在参与一项研究，以期找到一个方法，在不损害正常的脑功能的情况下，安全地（不用棒球球棒）启动这些“专家”的能力。