The Man Who Died and Lived

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The Man Who Lived and Died There are people who believe that personality comes from our soul and that there is not a single existing person who can take that away; however, that belief is nothing more than a false notion. I can say this with such confidence due to a case study of a man during the year of 1848. It was about a man who went through a life changing and gruesome injury. Phineas Gage was that man and he influenced theories and discoveries about the brain being responsible for a person’s personality to transpire. Phineas Gage is famous for many reasons that are deemed important to understand. Before understanding why he is famous, what exactly he has influenced, and why all this is important to know, his story must be understood first. It is the story of how a man survived and died at same time in one day. Phineas Gage’s story is important to know for the reason of understanding personality and the brain. The story takes place in the year 1848. An accident occurred for an unfortunate man named Phineas Gage. He was the foreman of a railway construction crew. The crew was working for the contractors preparing the bed for the Rutland and Burlington Rail Road near Cavendish, Vermont (Thagard). Gage made a mistake that caused an accidental explosion with the blasting powder that ended up having a 4-foot long and ¼-inch thick iron rod going through his face (Morris&Maisto). This unfortunate event caused the outcome of his prefrontal cortex to become severely damaged and to have basically zero if not little existing functioning ability. Gage was a lucky one and survived the incident. With great astonishment, he even remained conscious and was able to talk as well as being able to walk a portion of the distance to the doctor (Thagard). While being taken care of by John Harlow, a local expert doctor, Phineas was able to live for another 12 years

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