Word of the Day: Anosognosia

An interesting world opened (or perhaps I should say 'reopened') up for me after reading this illuminating series of five pieces in the New York Times. This world was the curious world of anosognosia.

The word, according to Part 2, was first coined by Joseph Babinski (1857-1932), a French-Polish (oh dear, that sounds like furniture treatment) neurologist of some note. It is derived from the Greek nosos, or 'disease', and gnosis, or 'knowledge'. It seems to be intended to mean 'knowledge of not having disease', but really means the state of being diseased but acting as if you know you're not.

This kind of self-reflective blindness is common. The only cure for it is for people to tell you something is wrong with you and for you to trust that they are right. Unfortunately, you don't think you need a cure, and you don't believe it when they tell you something is wrong.

It seems to be a conundrum common to the human race. It is like having a huge blind spot; in fact it is as if all humans walk around with cognitive blind spots of different shapes and sizes. Some are odd, like the one about the bank robber who thought lemon juice made him invisible and who claimed to have tested it by taking photos of himself which didn't turn out.

I know a lot of leaders who have serious anosognosia. But I have come to realise that when you see others with the syndrome, you are most likely a victim yourself.