In August of 2015, my hands stopped working. I could still control them, but every movement accumulated more pain, so every motion came with a cost: getting dressed in the morning, sending a text, lifting a glass. I was interning at Google that summer about to begin a PhD in Scotland, but coding all day would have left me in agony. In relating this story, I often mention that for months before I learned to work without my hands, I had nothing to do but go to a bar and order a shot of...