I must say the writing in this is pretty great.
The moment when he described viscerally a perhaps mundane action - laughing - I paused and realized that I had never read such a description of laughter ever. It was as if he was dying, I was genuinely afraid for him and confused what was happening.
Great read on an interesting topic, phenomenal writing.
(I know I'm going a little overboard with my praise but I was always a sucker for words)