I've often heard people say that genius and insanity run together. While I've never come across real research to support this, I am curious as to why so many people see that connection. Why do you think those traits are linked?
2006-09-14 18:14:38 · 13 answers · asked by Subconsciousless 7 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
People praise geniuses for thinking differently--coming up with new ideas, solutions, works of art, inventions, etc. Why wouldn't a genius' brain be different in other ways, too?
My brother and I are both considered "geniuses" according to an IQ test and eligible for MENSA, and we're constantly told we don't think like anyone else. But he has OCD, and I have clinical depression.
2006-09-14 18:23:40 · answer #1 · answered by GreenEyedLilo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Interesting question.
I am a genius. I haven't taken the Mensa test, but qualify to do so with an IQ 98%+ higher than the general population.
I have also been certified mentally disabled by the government and my employer since 1996.
At $140 an hour, my clinical psychologist gets plenty of questions when I meet with him. Genius is evidently determined on you are hardwired. By this I mean nerve synapses in the mind, number, strength and direction. Insanity seems to be a chemical reaction issue as those nerve synapses fire off. This is frequently a insufficiency of one of the few chemicals so far identified.
By the way, I may be nuts, but I haven't given up chocolate.
2006-09-15 01:21:39 · answer #2 · answered by Joe Cool 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
All the good stuff is over the edge. You have to be willing to make that journey into the unknown to be able to bring back something new and amazing. Some don't return in the same condition they were in when they "left."
We function in our normal waking state at 13.0 to 40.0 hz (brain waves)- this is the Beta state. All our little social graces are intact in Beta. We're doing our best cocktail chatter and we can pretend we adore someone we really can't stand becuase it's socially correct.
In a light sleep state (Alpha- 7.0 to 13.0 hz) we have those crazy dreams where we cn hear the alrm clokc and include it into our dreams and if we wake up we can easily close our eyes and drift righ back down to a dream state. We mumble out loud and sometimes talk in our sleep in this state. Conscious monitoring is off duty here.
In a deeper- R.E.M. state ( Theta- 3.5 to 7.0 hz) we are in a very deep sleep, and not as easily awakened. This is when our bodies do some major healing and it's what we need to get to when we say we need a Good Night's Sleep.
The slowest brain waves (Delta- 0-death to 3.5) are more like a coma.
I think that some really brilliant people are also some really sleep deprived people. It's slike the get SO overtired that they are walking around, eyes open in an Alpha state and it can look like mumbling, paranoid, confused behavior.
Like I said though, the good stuff is over the edge. Every brilliant thing was first a dream..........
2006-09-15 01:28:23 · answer #3 · answered by Mimi Di 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't think genius and insanity are linked. Even people with normal intelligence have become insane. Many genius people have lived sane throughout their lives. Sometimes genius people become arrogant and obstinate with their behaviour and this probably leads others to think of them as insane. Unless there is real scientific evidence to show a link between genius and insanity, we should discard general opinion about this.
2006-09-15 01:31:57 · answer #4 · answered by yuvan53 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, we call people crazy when they think differently, not normally. When they don't see the world that most people see. Normal is something that most people do. Normal is just number. If crazy people were more than we than we would be crazy and they_normal. Genius is a person who sees the world in some different way than normal but also realizes that most people don't understand things that he does understand and he can't make them understand it. If this genius forgets that most people see the world in other way he will try to ensure that his world is real and not theirs. What will you think if someone comes and tells you that you're blind although you know that you're not. It's more likely that you'll call him crazy, just because he sees something that you can't see.
2006-09-15 05:24:54 · answer #5 · answered by chuncho_ts 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it's the metality that person is. Their brains wired in other ways that genius is thought as insane, while the insane is thought to be the genius.
2006-09-15 03:15:29 · answer #6 · answered by crashonme 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the minds, both of genius and insane are running at a far greater rate than the norm; constantly looking around and absorbing and processing information at a different concious level than the rest of us/ kind of like looking at one of those 3D holographs. We all see different perspectives, angles. convolutions etc. Some just at a more advanced rate.
2006-09-15 01:27:21 · answer #7 · answered by BONNIE B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it has to do with creativity. A genius can be very creative and so can an insane person. To those of us who are neither genius or insane it can be hard to differentiate between genius and insane ideas.
2006-09-15 01:24:13 · answer #8 · answered by chris B 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Dude! here's the link- G. Bush Jr. He's not close to any of the posted question so that might be a start to where or who farts and how hard.
He's a cancer you know, very very capable of making choices in porn and building structure
2006-09-15 19:44:53 · answer #9 · answered by NEMESIS 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Edge of Chaos is a breeding ground for creativity. You've climbed farther than any other, see new horizons...but exercise caution not to fall off the cliff.
2006-09-15 02:02:27 · answer #10 · answered by LUCKY3 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋