The Link Between Genius and Insanity 402
An anonymous reader writes in a story about the link between certain mental illnesses and high intelligence. "Genius and insanity may actually go together, according to scientists who found that mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are often found in highly creative and intelligent people. The link is being investigated by a group of scientists who had all suffered some form of mental disorder. Bipolar sufferer Kay Redfield Jamison, a clinical psychologist and professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said that findings of some 20 or 30 scientific studies confirms the idea of the 'tortured genius' or 'mad scientist.'"
Ive thought this for a long time (Score:4, Insightful)
Not unique (Score:5, Insightful)
I suspect it's more to do with (Score:5, Insightful)
the work ethic, the subversion of conventional wisdom and norms, and the increasingly esoteric and complex lexicon of the specialist being incompatible with social life, ultimately leading to isolation, stilted interaction, and resultant mental illness (some of it a matter of social construction, some of it legitimate disability).
At least, that's my experience—it's not that bright people are "inherently" socially awkward so much as that their practices, habits, and knowledge are incompatible with the lives, thoughts, and communicative practices of virtually everyone else, leaving them to be lonely, without much of a reliable support system, and feeling tremendously misunderstood, perhaps even hated, as well as having to deal with the knowledge (which can be quite persuasive) that everyone *else* thinks they're crazy, and the total lack of cooperation and support that can come with this.
Re:I suspect it's more to do with (Score:5, Insightful)
...the subversion of conventional wisdom and norms, and the increasingly esoteric and complex lexicon of the specialist being incompatible with social life, ultimately leading to isolation, stilted interaction, and resultant mental illness...
Nah, Issac Newton was nuttier than a mercury laced fruitcake, and there was no esoteric complex lexicon of the specialist around for him, he was just starting to create it.
Mental illness causes isolation far more than isolation causes mental illness - of course, the observation is more than a little circular since "all well adjusted individuals enjoy the company of others" by definition.
It's just God's practical joke/sense of humor. (Score:2, Insightful)
"Genius" requires much self-sacrifice (Score:3, Insightful)
One thing about being an actual productive "Genius" vs. just having a genius level intelligence. In order to produce genius type results often requires a manic dedication to something that doesn't improve your life in a direct way. Basically you have to dedicate yourself to a subject in such a way that even if you do get monetary/social advantages from what you produce, you can't really take advantage of them. If you did, you wouldn't really have the time to make that next breakthrough.
Sometimes, by putting such people in the right type of social situation, so called “ivory tower”, they can have a slightly more balance social life. Basically lot's of the details of keeping things running in their life falls to others.
Time to work on advanced problems is so important in this kind of situation, you don't play games or watch tv, instead you are always brainstorming on new ideas. True breakthroughs are hard and time consuming, even for the genius that finally make them.
There is a link but it is not all roses (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I think people don't understand genius... (Score:3, Insightful)
One addition is that it is more likely nowadays than ever before for a really messed-up person to survive long enough to provide a contribution to society. Once upon a time, people that saw the world differently were more likely to be abandoned by parents, killed by peers, or starve to death as beggars. Nowadays, geeks are more likely than ever before to find a few people that understand them and are willing to give them a job, turning their unique attributes to good ends. Where geeks used to be lucky to avoid being executed for heresy, nowadays they can make a good living and sometimes even become rich and famous.
A few relevant thoughts come to mind.
First, all greatness depends on insanity. The sane come up with an interesting idea, start thinking about it, see a lot of hard work and little chance for reward, and give it up before it gets very far. The insane pursue the idea to the bitter end. 99% (or more) of the time, "the bitter end" means self-destruction and disappointment. 1% (or less) of the time, the result is something truly great that pushes science/art/civilization/whatever forward another tiny step. Sometimes it is both -- many important innovations were only seen as good long after the innovator had been punished for the crime of innovating.
Second, similar but not quite the same as the first, is a saying that I'm probably going to misquote. "The rational man adapts himself to fit into his surroundings. The irrational man persists in trying to adapt his surroundings to fit himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the irrational man." Unmentioned here is that 99.9% of the time, the irrational man will fail and will be harmed due to his efforts while 99.9% of the time the rational man will thrive or at least survive.
Thought patterns of mental patients (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously, a lot of patients with mental problems are actually very very smart !!
They might be "mentally troubled", but, the manner of their thought process, - the way their brain managing information flow - if can be adapted and applied to research projects, could yield surprising results !!
The phrase "Think outside the box" is so common these days. For the mental patients, thinking "inside the box" turns out to be an almost impossible task
When you got a high IQ, you got nobody to talk to (Score:5, Insightful)
Even at 140, which is not that spectacular, you are already one in a thousand.
In a city of a million, that's only 1000 souls. And you probably won't get along with some of them.
How do you even find someone? Let alone form a peer group?
How socialized can a man be, when he lives alone on a planet of chimps?
Is 'insanity' a thinly veiled slur hurled at elite minds by a slow witted reporter from the bully pulpit?
What is normal behavior? What is insanity?
Is 'Normal Behavior' defined as what is accepted as normal by the majority in the 90 to 110 group?
What is insanity? Cutting your ear off?
Or merely being incomprehensible to the normals?
Is 'Smart People are Insane' a meme to make people feel better?
Is 'Smart People are Insane' part of what Ayn Rand talked about when she said "the PTB are out to say that thinking was 'hard, dangerous and pointless?'"
Don't go out there Billy! Thar be dragons!
Here's a Rifle and a credit score!
No need to think. We'll tell you what you need to know. We'll define you and your paradigm.
You cannot steal ideas? (Score:3, Insightful)
you cannot steal ideas
Try asking Xerox Palo Alto research center about "mouse", and "Steve Jobs"
You'd Be Insane Too... (Score:5, Insightful)
You'd be insane too if you were a genius that had to put up with the common man. Nothing in this world is more frustrating than people who insist on standing in your way because they think they know better, all the while lacking the mental capacity to understand why they need to sit down and shut up.
Re:Thought patterns of mental patients (Score:3, Insightful)
The phrase "Think outside the box" is so common these days. For the mental patients, thinking "inside the box" turns out to be an almost impossible task
And here is the problem -- one can only be allowed to think outside the box after he achieved complete mastery of thinking inside all the boxes involved. Otherwise he would produce ridiculous nonsense that may only by a rare accident happen to be in any way useful.
Re:Thought patterns of mental patients (Score:4, Insightful)
She was very sharp but my wife never knew when something would trigger her to "go off."
That isn't how bipolar disorder works. Your wife's coworker might have been short tempered, but that isn't necessarily related to being bipolar.
It is not uncommon to find mental illness such as bipolar disorder running in families. Children growing up in such an environment may have some personality quirks. Dealing with mentally ill parents is stressful. Additionally living with mentally ill parents is something a child often wishes to hide, which is also stressful. This is not a great environment for raising future Mr/Ms Congeniality.
If you do a bit of research you will find quite a few "variants" of bipolar disorder. Almost like generalizing everything that might make one throw up as a stomach disorder. There is a lot left to discover in the field of mental illness.
Re:Thought patterns of mental patients (Score:4, Insightful)
And what did [imagineering] accomplish outside of a very narrow area of producing animation for kids?
Android presidents, android pirates, holographic ghosts, theaters with moving seats, polaroid 3D thirty years ago... I see you've never been to EPCOT.