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Are Genius and Insanity Closely Related?

Sunstone

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
Are genius and insanity closely related, or is that just an old wives tale? Why or why not?
 
exl2398

exl2398

Wonderer
I don't know if it is insanity that people relate to intellectuals. It's usually depression that I hear people link to intellectuals. I think they operate under the assumption that intellectuals over think things to the point that they find themselves uncovering all aspects of a thing that can go wrong, and they dwell. Or, some argue that intellectuals kill hope for themselves by uncovering the true extent of something.

Not entirely sure if it is always the case.
 
madhatter85

madhatter85

Transhumanist
It is shown that Insane people are generally geniuses, I think probably a brain-chemical imbalance could produce a person with above average intelligence and also cause them to have warped views life, and ultimately become a sociopath.
 
gnomon

gnomon

Well-Known Member
Kay Redfield Jamison touched on this in her book, Touched by Fire.

Touched With Fire: Manic-depressive ... - Google Book Search
She drew a strong parallel between writers, painters, poets and other artists who exhibited signs of manic depression. There are criticisms in the accuracy of determining if those artists did indeed have or even exhibit manic depression. While this may show a strong correlation between some of the more innovative artists it doesn't take into account the number of individuals who suffered from manic depression and did not exhibit outstanding talent in any field. Of course, it's obvious that such a figure is unknown to us.

I have not seen a similar correlation among scientists there does seem to stand out some abnormal traits among some of the leading scientists. Newton, Einstein and Hawking. However, sometimes it seems rather selective because Planck, Maxwell, Copernicus, Leibniz and numerous others who pioneered certain fields and stand as tall, in my opinion, as Newton and Einstein, do not exhibit signs of madness.

Of course, it may all depend on who we consider to be geniuses. I do believe there are many people who suffer from mental illnesses that exhibit an intelligence different from the norm because they do not usually fit in with the cultural norm.

madhatter85 said:
It is shown that Insane people are generally geniuses, I think probably a brain-chemical imbalance could produce a person with above average intelligence and also cause them to have warped views life, and ultimately become a sociopath.
Click to expand...

Sociopath?
 
madhatter85

madhatter85

Transhumanist
Sociopath - a person, as a psychopathic personality, whose behavior is antisocial and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience.
 
Ozzie

Ozzie

Well-Known Member
Sunstone said:
Are genius and insanity closely related, or is that just an old wives tale? Why or why not?
Click to expand...
A lot of people with genius intelligence are socially isolated. Are they insane because they do not have lots of friends and a rich social life?
 
Smoke

Smoke

Done here.
Imagine you work in a large office building. Imagine you can hear every conversation in the building. Imagine you can follow every conversation in the building simultaneously. Would it make you insane? Probably not. Would it make you seem very odd to your co-workers? Almost certainly. Intelligence is sort of like that.

I don't know, however, of any reason to suppose that geniuses are especially likely to become sociopaths, as Madhatter asserts. I can't even think of a sociopath who is or was a genius. I can think of a few who were excessively religious, though. ;)
 
madhatter85

madhatter85

Transhumanist
I never asserted that geniuses are predisposed to becoming sociopaths, I said that with brain-chemical imbalances that it happens that way.
 
madhatter85

madhatter85

Transhumanist
um, Duh? read my posts correctly, i said with both variable circumstances, also there are many different chemicals in the brian with carying efects on a persons mood or attitude. Geeze, take it for what I said, stop reading it wrong.
 
gnomon

gnomon

Well-Known Member
madhatter85 said:
It is shown that Insane people are generally geniuses, I think probably a brain-chemical imbalance could produce a person with above average intelligence and also cause them to have warped views life, and ultimately become a sociopath.
Click to expand...

madhatter85 said:
I never asserted that geniuses are predisposed to becoming sociopaths, I said that with brain-chemical imbalances that it happens that way.
Click to expand...

So your assertion is that while geniuses are not predisposed to becoming sociopaths, that with brain chemical imbalances that it happens that way. Ultimately.

madhatter said:
um, Duh? read my posts correctly, i said with both variable circumstances, also there are many different chemicals in the brian with carying efects on a persons mood or attitude. Geeze, take it for what I said, stop reading it wrong.
Click to expand...

I'll stop reading it wrong when it is written correctly.

edit: But if you are indeed asserting that mental illness is only an aspect of a sociopath and that anti-personality disorder is not common among the mentally ill, then there is nothing more to continue on this line. Also, genius is usually connected along manic-depression and schizophrenia among mental illnesses. There is also genius related with certain forms autism called autistic savant. None of the three I mention correlate with sociopaths.
 
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