So I got an e-mail from my mom this morning that had some good news and some bad news. The good news is that my dad got a used Honda Civic (’99) off a friend, and that will be my new car.
The bad news is that my cousin’s grandmother just died. (No, not my grandmother… My mom and her mom are sisters, and her father’s mother was the one that just died.) I didn’t know her that well, but I do remember visiting her when I lived with my aunt and uncle. The first time we met, she remarked on how big and Buddha-like my ears were, and told me that when I ran for President, she would vote for me. (Running for President was her idea, not mine.)
For the last couple of years, she had been suffering from something, perhaps a form of Alzheimer’s, or maybe just dementia. But yeah… one of the symptoms she had was the Capgras delusion, which is the belief that some of the close people around her had been replaced by look-a-likes. I guess she also became paranoid, and she would physically abuse her husband — whom she thought was a duplicate who was trying to harm her — and run away from home. My uncle was the only one who would calm her down, because he was closest to her as a child, and I guess he was the only one that she didn’t think was a duplicate. Anyway, I know how hard it’s been for their family, and I hope she’s at peace now.
Rather random, found your post while searching for V.S. Ramachandran, where he attempts to explain the Capgras delusion: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/vilayanur_ramachandran_on_your_mind.html — blastfromthepast.com