is it true that genius is more akin to insanity?

Question

why?

Answer 1

I belong to Mensa. It's a social organization for people with IQs in the top two percent of the nation (you have to take a standard IQ test or show SAT scores to get in). Again, it's strictly a social organization with local chapters and meet-and-greet type events. It's kind of an "odd fellows club" for people who don't fit in elsewhere because they process things a little quicker than the rest.

There are a lot of people there who have poor social skills in the sense that they "don't fit in" well. Some say that this quality goes hand-in-hand with a high IQ. But others say it just reflects the nature of Mensa: The organization tends to function in practice as a support group specifically for geniuses who have trouble fitting in elsewhere, while the more socially adept and successful geniuses tend not to join the organization.

But in any case I rarely see anything close to insanity there. Mensa has plenty of oddballs, but true insanity doesn't seem to automatically accompany high IQs, at least at the Mensa level of genius.

Answer 2

No, very rarely is 'genius' found in mental illness, or vice versa.
The reason so many people believe that this is so is probably through historical accounts of people claiming that those who had ideas that were outwith the social norm of that time (even though they were later found to be invaluable contributions to science and so on) were 'mad' or 'dillusional'. There is little evidence to say that these people were actually mentally ill, but lots to show that their ideas were indeed correct and possible-we use many of their breakthroughs today!
People with autism are often related to genius status, although again this is EXTREMELY rare and is over-hyped by Hollywood and the media.
Someone who is genuinely mentally ill is likely to have ideas and thoughts that are impossible and they will have difficulty in explaining how these ideas could become reality (or are already a reality if they believe them to be). Someone with a serious mental illness may sound very convincing and as though everything they say is real because they are not attempting to deceive you, they believe in it themselves. However, more often than not, they soon begin to realise the impossibilities behind their claims. A true genius would not claim the impossible.
It is not impossible for a genius to suffer from a mental illness, and it may be that sometimes suffering from a mental illness causes them to withdraw from being social and focus on one main talent in their lives, causing that talent to grow to amazing abilities, but they often lack in other more 'everyday' abilities. This makes it difficult to define a genius aswell-is someone who can paint very well, or has a good head for numbers a genius even if they cannot even spell their own name or maintain a basic social relationship? I'm not suggesting either way, just trying to explain how difficult the term is to define in itself.
Also it is important to remember that mental illness can be cured, and it is not often (with todays medicine at least) that someone suffers from continual mental illness from birth until death (unless they suffer from a mental disability which is NOT the same as a mental illness). If 'genius' and mental illness were strongly related then surely the 'genius' mind would increase/decrease with the control/flare ups of the mental illness. Again there is no evidence to say this is so.
On the whole though, very rarely is 'genius' and mental illness found in conjunction with each other as this idea does come from biased media and historical accounts.
Hope this helps a little.

Answer 3

Yes it is. The more you know about this world the less your mind can handle it and the more you need to find insane ways to deal. The people in this world are horrible and the things they do. Genius people know all of this and the fact that there genius minds can't come up with a way to solve these issue, or problems it drives them crazy

Answer 4

I do not believe that old wives tail. To say the Stephen King, Harold Pinter, Jenna Jameson, Jim Carrey, Barry Bonds, etc...are insane denies their collective genius.

Answer 5

I have known two people in my life that I would describe as genius. One went mad and the other is as strange as hell. Both don't give a flyin fig what anyone else thinks of them and both almost ignore anything that you tell them try and work everything out for themselves.

I don't think this answers your question really but in my limited experience it is true....

Answer 6

Everyone that has commented here is a complete moron. It is an utter a ridiculously stupid wives tale. Insanity has nothing to do with genius.....Psychology has demonstrated that for years...However, if you have to question that you may not be as erudite as you perceived....

Answer 7

Yes, Captain Jack Sparrow told me so. Actually, yes it is in alot of cases because very smart people are often odd and quirky, and in order to come up with truly new ideas you have to think outside of the box, way outside for some applications of science and technology.

Answer 8

It seems that mental disorders and artistic genius go hand in hand....not exactly sure why but it would be an interesting topic to write one's thesis on.

Answer 9

There is femous proverb that : no one could be genious without bit of insanity...

so it means atfirst you would have to be bit insane then you could be genious...

your query is quiet inverse.

Answer 10

Yes....

More brain...more thinking ability...more complex...easier to mess up...

Insane Joe *grin*