Yankee magazine ran a fascinating article recently entitled "Sensitive Specialists." It described men who make their living making extraordinary use of their natural senses. They cited the practiced eye of a diamond inspector, the sense of feel of a wool inspector, the developed ear of a cymbal tester, the sense of smell of a fresh fish inspector, and the sense of taste of a milktaster. All the men acknowledged that they had no special gift in the area of their senses. They had simply trained themselves to use what they had to a high degree. (1)

In People magazine, a couple of months earlier, there was a story about J. Paul Barnett. Barnett is an unusual musician. He is a concussionist. Notice I did not say percussionist. He does not play the drums. No, he is a concussionist. He plays the…