Over the summer Andy Clarke, OSR’s MI-5 liaison mentioned that the term ‘brainstorm ‘ wasn’t used in the UK as proper term was ‘thought shower’ as to not offend epileptics. Anyway, in 2005 a survey of charities and mental health workers found that the vast majority (93%) found the term inoffensive, once again showing the legendary senses of humor of epileptics. Thinking that the offensiveness of brainstorm had been manufactured I was delighted to find the following foot note in Oliver Sacks new book Musicophilia:
“Victorian physicians used the vivid term ‘brainstorms’ to apply not only to epilepsies but to migraines, hallucinations, tics, nightmares, manias, and excitements of all kinds.” (Sacks, 74)
