Oliver Sacks Put Himself Into His Case Studies – What Was the Cost?

The neurologist Oliver Sacks' practice of inserting himself into his case studies has sparked debate about the cost of his narrative approach. Some commenters, like lloydjones, felt that Sacks' writing was overly pretentious, while others, like Veen, assumed his patients were composites, fictionalized to illustrate a point. A tongue-in-cheek remark from Angostura about a spoof title, "The Man Who Mistook his Patients for a Publishing Opportunity," captured the sentiment that Sacks' storytelling may have prioritized style over scientific rigor. As jtrn bluntly put it, when a scientific story feels "sexy, cinematic, and narratively perfect, it's likely fabricated."

Snapshot generated from the HN discussion