This kind of study is really great because so much of what we know about short-term vs. long-term memory is based on just a few (admittedly, very convincing) lesion studies. I was always a little skeptical about the supposed clear distinction between short-term memory, long-term memory, and cognitive function, but this story really made me update in favor of this model! The fact that you could still perform pretty well on the spelling bee even without seeing the letters in front of you is impressive! I hope we see more LessWrong self-experiments along these lines (hopefully safely and under clinical supervision). :)  

Kahneman and his books were a big reason I got into science, this is such a loss. I remember reading that story for the first time in college. And it's not just a loss for psychology and neuroscience; he was also a pioneer of adversarial collaboration. 

I definitely agree! Historically, lots of scientists have made their best contributions in letters or in commentary. I'm trying to comment and reach out more too. :)