Man is severely beaten and becomes a mathematical genius

Jason Padgett’s story is special. It starts on September 13, 2002, the day.

32-year-old high school dropout Padgett, who now makes a living as a bed salesman, goes to a karaoke bar with friends in the city of Tacoma, Washington state.

But instead of a pleasant evening with friends, a nasty beating awaits him in front of the bar. Two men attack Padgett from behind and hit him with punches and kicks, including to the back of the head. Only when he handed the attackers his leather jacket did they stop the violence, ‘Focus’ writes.

Padgett is then taken to hospital with injuries. Because he suffered ‘only’ a severe concussion and kidney damage, the doctors sent him home that same night.

But the blows and kicks to the head triggered something completely different, initially unnoticed, in the young man’s brain. The next morning, Padgett was suddenly fascinated by the flow of water from the tap – he noticed a distinct geometric pattern in the movement of the water that he had never noticed before.

It was the first sign of a profound change in the then 32-year-old’s brain. Suddenly he recognized such mathematical patterns in everyday things everywhere – be it in the arrangement of windows, the curvature of spoons, even in the rays of light reflecting through his car window:

The American developed a huge interest in mathematics and physics and literally devoured books on these subjects – although previously this area did not interest him at all, as he himself said.

Padgett’s new ability to draw so-called fractals was particularly impressive. These are extremely delicate, regular structures, like those in a snowflake or the veins of a leaf. There are only a handful of people worldwide who are able to create such patterns without technical tools.

Jason Padgett now also gives TED talks:

The cause of his completely changed interest and behavior had long been a mystery to Padgett himself. But one day he saw a BBC documentary about ‘Savant Syndrome’ on television. This is a phenomenon where people develop extreme talent in one area. In German we also speak of island talent.

These talents are often innate, and the people who have these abilities are often severely limited in other ways. For example, savant syndrome occurs in autistic people.

However, there are also – very few – cases where people develop an insular gift as a result of brain injury – this is what happened with Padgett. There are only about 100 people worldwide who have savant syndrome. And only a fraction of that is the result of an injury.

Cases have been documented of people who suddenly became fluent in a new language or were able to construct complex technical devices after a brain injury. But like many things in the neurological field, it is still unclear what exactly causes Savant syndrome.

For math genius Padgett, the fateful night in September 2022 was both a blessing and a curse. Although today he makes his living by lecturing on his history and selling his geometric patterns as works of art, he has, on the other hand, one An obsessive-compulsive disorder regarding hygiene developed and he has been neurotically washing his hands ever since.

When asked if he would like his ‘old’ life back, the now 54-year-old replied: