The most 'gifted' people in history have often had mental problems and/or drug addictions. Why is this?

Question

Do you have to be 'on the edge' to contribute in a major way to society?

Answer 1

Genius often do sacrifice aspects we might take to be well-being issues just to maintain, or to keep from interruption, what compels them, what inspires them, what keeps them going.

They serve higher purposes than preservation of their body. Take any discipline to its boundary and you will understand the level of masochism involved.

We don't remember Einstein because he was a womanizer. We remember him because he was the most brilliant physicist ever.

Answer 2

It's true that there's a fine line between genius and madness. As someone else already pointed out, the two concepts are part of the same mental continuum - part of the mysteries of the human brain that scientists are still trying to understand fully. Some historical examples that come to mind are Van Gogh, Da Vinci, and Picasso. It's a sad commentary on human nature that some geniuses are only recognized as such and revered for their social contributions posthumously. While living, they were often thought of and shunned by society as madmen. Maybe they were mad, but this madness also allowed them to think freely. Think of how our school system also stifles a child's natural creativity and shoehorns them into social norms. A child who shows some unconventional behavior is sometimes seen as rebellious or problematic.

To answer your second question, I don't think you have to be "edgy" to contribute in a big way. Of course, as always, there are modern day geniuses who some would consider mad. But look at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, for example. They, in many ways, are both boring, seemingly normal people, with the exception of being very good businessmen and at making money. Recently, as you probably know, Buffett combined his wealth with Gates' foundation to continue and expand Gates' philantrophic deeds around the world. Not to mention the other also seemingly normal celebrities and wealthy people who also donate time and money to different charitable causes.

Answer 3

Interesting question. I don't think that mental problems or drug addictions are necessary in order to contribute to society in a major way and it certainly isn't a role model to try to follow, but I do sometimes think that the difficulty associated with seeing the world in a radically different way than those around you can cause a person to seek refuge in substance abuse or antisocial behavior.

Another thought - people with extreme intelligence often exhibit limited social intelligence. Maybe the great historical geniuses were simply not geniuses in all areas.

Xan Shui,
Philosophical Philanthropist, Honest Man

Answer 4

No, it's just that the ones with "issues" are often more interesting to learn about. There are thousands of talented musicians, but everyone loves Beethoven cause he was deaf and yet learned how to write beautiful music.

Albert Einstein was quite a womanizer, but he also had some really interesting stuff in science, and his help led to some discoveries of new laws in science and better understanding of the universe. Of course no one else wants to study other scientists who have also contributed greatly to society if they were "normal" and didn't do anything strange or weird.

Helen Keller was a blind and deaf woman, yet managed to learn to write some pretty interesting stuff in her life.

Basically, people with problems are usually more interesting to remember/read about, which is why you hear about them so much.

Answer 5

Usually a person with a very high I.Q. thinks about how to feed the world and how to stop war. They tend to forget things like, how to tie their shoes, or how to cook and because they are so preoccupied with humanity and what we are doing, not only to ourselves, but to the world at large, it depresses them so they turn to drugs and alcohol to try to ease the guilt they feel at not being able to come up with all the answers.
You dont have to be on the "edge" to contribute to society, but having the intelligence to contribute well, can push a person to, if not over, that "edge".

Answer 6

Perhaps we call people who are mentally unstable "gifted" because their very instability allows they to really "think outside the box," as it were. I mean, if the majority of humanity is what we call stable, and thinks in basically the same way, then _of course_ we're going to be fascinated by people that think differently than we do, and are able to create things that are truly original, whether they be art or scientific theories.

(And yes, I am including substance abuse in with mental disorders.)

Answer 7

perhaps these people must turn to drugs in an effort to lower their intellectual interaction level to meet the feeble needs of their peers ever heard of "its hard to soar with eagles when you flock with turkeys" moreover i dont know about you but i could huff paint till dooomsday and still have more viable neurospace than 90 percent of the world population. lets face it as time goes on average iq is a rapidly decreasing function last i suspect that gifted people can reap far greater benefits from the "high" they seek than the cretins they are "flocking with"

Answer 8

There's are a couple of good books on this by Kay Redfield Jamison. Do an Internet search on her books or read descriptions about them on Amazon.com. The reasons/theories are a little too involved to do justice to here. Good question though, with fascinating possible explanations.

Answer 9

My opinion is because true genius is hard to contain and the human brain has a hard time processing it. To cope - true genius creates outlets, usually harmful (drugs, alcohol, mental problems).

Answer 10

high intelligence can be thought of as a mental defect in that it those afflicted with it require greater amounts of mental stimulation to avoid boredom....

Since the rest of the world is not very accommodating (especially the educational system) they turn to self-stimulation...