Man as robot

Joe Bieger wandered the city for nearly a month lost in a fugue state, a strange form of amnesia thought to be triggered by stress or other conflict. One morning, Joe stepped out of his house to walk his dogs and, within moments, had all his memories erased.

2016-11-21:Fugue memories are never recovered

It seems astonishing, at first glance, that a man can live 20 years of life without leaving a mark. And yet, in this regard, Powell was not unique at all. Many people are just as disconnected from the world as Benjaman Kyle. 1000s of people die alone and unidentified each year, and are buried in nameless graves. They represent the most isolated members of society: the elderly, the homeless, the undocumented immigrants far from home—people who have been pushed to society’s margins. Like Powell, they are found stripped—in Powell’s case, literally—of any link to their legal identity. It was only an apparent accident of his brain that caused him to lose his identity in life, not death. Had he died in front of the dumpster in Richmond Hill, his body would not have become an object of national fascination and intense speculation; it would have spent eternity interred in a potter’s field. Instead, he was reborn twice: first as Benjaman Kyle, and then, again, as William Powell.