Project Gutenberg 2020-01-24 Public domain in the USA. 107 Harmon, Jim 1933 2010 Harmon, James Judson Dyas The Big Headache Produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, September 1962 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Big Headache" by Jim Harmon is a science fiction novella written in the early 1960s. The story revolves around themes of medical ethics, the consequences of scientific experimentation, and human cognition. It focuses on the potential for a new treatment aimed at curing headaches, which leads to unforeseen and dramatic results concerning intelligence and mental capacity. In "The Big Headache," biologists Dr. Ferris and Dr. Mitchell seek to test their experimental virus that purports to eliminate headaches by affecting the pituitary gland. They persuade the renowned mathematician, Dr. Elliot Macklin, who suffers from severe migraines, to participate in their trial. Initially successful in alleviating his pain, the procedure drastically reduces Macklin's intelligence, transforming him into a simple-minded man who rejects returning to his previous self. This state of bliss raised ethical dilemmas regarding autonomy, mental capacity, and whether it is better to live in ignorance without suffering or to be burdened by the pressures of a complex mind. The story culminates in Dr. Ferris envisioning a future where they can profit from this discovery, while the moral implications of their actions hang over them, illustrating the balance between scientific ambition and ethical responsibility. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 78.8 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Scientists -- Fiction Experiments -- Fiction PS Text Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy 63295 2025-06-24T09:53:45.884526 text/html 39916 2024-10-17T15:56:25 text/html 289334 2025-06-24T09:53:48.065546 application/epub+zip 288169 2025-06-24T09:53:46.362531 application/epub+zip 88578 2025-06-24T09:53:46.090510 application/epub+zip 330242 2025-06-24T09:53:49.519506 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 322585 2025-06-24T09:53:47.830504 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 123253 2022-09-27T16:37:05.857147 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 55695 2023-09-26T08:18:19.362408 text/plain 35871 2024-10-17T15:56:25 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 16755 2025-06-24T09:53:49.668507 application/rdf+xml 23381 2025-06-24T09:53:46.190519 image/jpeg 3999 2025-06-24T09:53:46.141527 image/jpeg 439922 2025-06-24T09:53:45.898618 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia