Credit: AFP
Had Sir Isaac Newton been alive today, he would have been a Harry Potter fan. He was fascinated by alchemy and the existence of a philosopher's stone that could turn any metal into gold.
Despite being grounded in the pure sciences and best known for devising the law of gravitation, Newton devoted a great deal of his time to alchemy and theology. His genius is unquestionable and his influence vast, but at school he was initially a poor student.
Newton was introverted, insecure, depressive and as an adult became embroiled in vicious quarrels with several of his scientific peers. Could he have had a mental illness, and could this have contributed to his genius?
Genius comes in all shapes and forms, from those with a creative bent in the arts – writers, painters and musicians – to those grounded in the sciences – physicists, mathematicians and philosophers.
Geniuses are defined as individuals of high intellect who possess exceptional creativity and are capable of original thought. But they are also often obsessive, depressive, compulsive, introverted or manic.
And are these behaviours within the normal spectrum – albeit occasionally at the extreme end – or do they indicate an underlying neurological malfunction that might be a factor in their genius?
The perceived link between genius and mental illness isn't just coincidence: it extends from observations made centuries ago. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle asked, "Why is it that all men who are outstanding in philosophy, poetry or the arts are melancholic?"
More recently, 19th century Italian psychiatrist Cesare Lombroso theorised that a man of genius was essentially a degenerate whose madness was a form of evolutionary compensation for excessive intellectual development.
Mental illness, by the very phrasing of the term, has long had negative connotations, and can be very destructive for the sufferer and for those around them. But things are not always black and white: having a mental illness can actually prove a boon.
Affective disorders, including bipolar disorder – also known as manic depressive illness – are believed to have contributed to the creation of some of history's most lauded poems, novels, artworks, discoveries and original ideas.
More recently, a number of history's most brilliant minds have been retrospectively diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome – a high functioning form of autism characterised by narrow interests and 'workaholism'. In fact, some researchers believe that these two types of mental illness might confer traits that are conducive to genius.
Academics and historians have trawled through diaries and biographies written about geniuses looking for 'red flags' – traits that allow them to diagnose a mental illness according to current criteria outlined in the psychiatrist's bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
But diagnosing someone who is no longer alive is difficult since the evidence for one disorder or another may not be clear-cut. To augment their data, researchers look for biographical information about family members. On occasion this can reveal patterns of inherited traits or disorders that helps with the diagnosis.
Thanks
I worked this out years ago when I discovered that not everyone was composing a new painting nor the next idea for a story or how to get solar fuel to earth; how very odd. I used to sit in the train and write a book in my mind as much as read one. Curious, I started to question people about their thoughts, so I did a survey and asked friends and workmates - "if you were standing at a bus stop and had 10 minutes free time to think what would you think about?"
The results terrified me, mainly it was what to have for dinner that night? (What no weekly menu?) Picking up the children, work and (to me) equally boring thoughts. I can't describe how isolated and different I felt.
I know friends are important and work hard at keeping them, although their conversations do bore me and I have to switch off somtimes, I'd rather shut myself away with my pc or my easel, or for relaxation organise my cupboards to perfection. I also have friends just like I am, not many, we seem to recognise each other and come out of our respective cupboards, so to speak. I also have a very supportive husband; who seems to like my odd ways and is even proud of me.
So I am wired differently and at times it is hard to manage the simple things, put me off my routine and I am uncomfortable. I do go through fearful times as I create, for many reasons, mostly that I percieve a shared conciousness, that frightens me because I explain it and I am logical - but I wouldn't swop my brain for anyone elses. I am never depressed, thankfully, but sometimes my head does feel if I don't write that book or paint that picture to get it off my mind I will go mad as if there is too much banked up there - ideas ready to be born.
Any more like me out there, I bet a lot of you read cosmos?
Thank you for it.
Hear, hear
I can relate to what you write. I have worked very hard through the years to become socially adept (and it's largely paid off), but I often long to live alone, going days without seeing anyone, able to decide the when and where of my social interactions instead of having them overwhelm my life. It's such a catch-22; I love my family and the life I've built very dearly and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but I also mourn the life I didn't choose, a solitary life with all the time and space I could want for my writing, and to study mathematics and celestial mechanics, anthropology and languages. But as I've aged, I've realized you really can't have it all and do everything. Not well, at any rate.
The rub is that there is no perfect choice, though I think I'm ultimately more fulfilled surrounded by my family, children and friends and often unable to hear myself think than I would be independent and childless and free to do just what I want when I want. There would be a hole then, too. And, of course, now I hold up the future as a beacon for myself: when the baby starts school, when the kids leave home, when....
My husband has also been amazingly supportive, urging me to pursue my interests, doing much of the daily-grind work of house and home, and easing me through my rougher days with love and understanding.
I do think I should work on reserving my one-track-minded-perfectionism for things that really interest me, instead of trying to keep the perfect house (which bores me utterly, and ensures that one is never done cleaning, especially with three kids). Oh, and on inventing a way to get by without sleep. I read a short story about that once and have been wishing it'd come true ever since ;-).
do you have to be nuts to be a genius?
hello sister i too do not relate with most folks
that maybe it was cause i am an "only" that's not it the conversations are more than boring they aree a waste of my precious time as an elder i may have 10-15 yrs to go before i rest
i have my easel up in front room with a painting in progress covered my style is called intuitive expressionism big word for simply playing very interesting music that will engage my mind while intuition or sub concious or superconscious or angels who knows? guide my hand and brush in about an hour or so something begins to coalesce the last one became a firebird/ phoenix and a dragon prob from the relationship between man and woman in china i learned while i was a volunteer english speaker
teacher in 1983
so i dont believe in the medical illness thing
i have a brain chemical imbalance or mineral deficiency
do take a very small dose of meds which keeps me in balance
i would rather think of my "manias" as high peaks of creativity i do not get depressed tho become very tired and cranky there is a website for we bpers bipolarartists@yahoogroups.com
love and hugs joyce eaglelight bovee' new mexico usa
do you have to be nuts........
"When a high intelligence and a psychpathic temperament coalesce" is supposed to produce an effective genius who will become famous.
This was patently true in the case of Jack The Ripper, and Branwen Morgan's
conclusion worries me immensely.Life's hard enough with sociopaths trampling their way to the top over their victims' moral restraints, without allegations that our greatest visionaries were/are/will be total nutcases.There is no true definition of insanity any more than there is a definition of normal.The human feature I prefer to see researched is why so many humans seize allegiance to ideals and philosophies as excuses for violence and killing. Are we all killers at heart, just looking for a legal or socially acceptable circumstance to allow us to murder without criticism or punishment? Can this trait be cured?Perhaps Cosmos might like to look into this?
Lionel Hurst
Brisbane
do you have to be nuts to be a genius?
hello lionel
as a person of hi's and low's temperment
i am not ill i am creative
as to your Q here in new mexico usa often bp's who dont take their meds are percieved as "nuts" and taken away by the police put in jail one or two have been shot!!
well that's the violent usa for ya
i believe we are trained to be violent think of the millions who go to the violent/adrenalin rush movies
as for the sociopath they have no conscience i believe and then there are the double y chromosome folks most of whom are in prisons they dont seem to be able to quit before tragedy occurs like mike tyson and the bitten ear
we are promised rewards education glory fighting for moral of country etc if we are trained to kill think of the armies who fight for corporations to make money
well i could go on and on
i believe we the hyper ones could be the leaders of the now and the future as we have use of both sides of the brain and are accessing the fifth one that is showing up in many babies in last 10 yrs
happy trails as we say in new mexico
joyce eaglelight bovee'
nuts to be a genius?
as a being who has a brain chemical imbalance or mineral deficency why does it have to be an illness
so we can be a patient make money for docs and drug co's?
i am not ill i have use of both of my brains plus the one in the middle and two in the back and the 5th one that is just developing
this one is very creative paint dance write garden invent when i do not have the $ to buy something
innovative clothing well on and on
i do take meds very low doses
recently i was in france home of my ancestors
and i did become manic it was from excitement
and joy to be there the psychdoc told me this could happen nothing awful did happen i just got tired
joyce bovee' new mexico