Weirdos and Geniuses

I just watched A Beautiful Mind for the first time. John Nash sounds like the sort of person I would like to have a discussion with. I notice patterns too, just not the same kind-- not the mathematical kind. There is a theory of mine I wish I could run by him, and it occurred to me I could just post it here.

My theory is, you can't be a genius, or even particularly smart, without being deficient in something else.

We all probably know about savants, like Rain Man, or Kim Peek, or other such folks. But what I have noticed is that the degree of genius in a specialized area seems to be proportional to the amount of defect.

The defect can be anything-- psychological issues, physical disabilities, chemical problems, neurological problems, or just being bat-shit crazy in some other way.

The reasoning for why this is depends on the type of problem, but most can be put down to simply putting more effort into the special interest area. Though in the case of autism, savantism can be put down to the way the brain is wired; one savant who does number calculations uses the exact same brain pathway for number calculations as he does to construct a simple sentence. Not really surprising that pathway becomes super-efficient, is it?

But when it comes to everything else, I think it's simply that the defect makes it difficult for the affected person to live "normally". And the time that person would have spent doing "normal" things is instead invested in the special interest.

For example, I am a self-declared weirdo (damn proud of it, too!) so when I was a kid, not many people wanted to hang out with me. So I spent a lot of time reading books, playing with the cat, watching movies... You know, the misfit thing. So I ended up with a good vocabulary, knowing how to approach the kitty for playtime (and when kitty was DONE being played with), and being able to quote movies at will. Simple, right?

Well, my theory is that's exactly what happens with most smart people, only on a bigger scale. A person in a wheelchair probably can't play sports, so they might spend more time with computers, and thus gets good at working with them. A person with serious psychological issues doesn't trust people, and thus doesn't spend much time with them, and therefore maybe spend more time drawing or painting (which also might help work through some of those issues).

So, it's not really a complicated concept-- I just have no proof to back it up. ^^'

Now if you'll excuse me, my kitty wants to be petted.

--Ilsa

Just finished watching The King's Speech, it was excellent! I should have watched it years ago, I love it.

I'm so glad this movie came out, because it really highlights that disabilities aren't something you can just "get over." and with so many people having seen it... It's really good that it's out in the mainstream.

Such a great story, too...

An Open Letter To All Webcomic Artists Who Had Their Comics On Webcomic du Jour,

To Whom It May Concern,

Okay, this is starting to bother me, so I'm going to put thisnup for all to see.

Let me just state this for the record: I know Adam Kaump, and he is not a bad guy. He didn't mean to piss anyone off or commit copyright infringement. He's just a guy trying to make webcomics easier to read.

I know this because I have sort of helped him with the app from the beginning. I read a lot of webcomics, and when I found one not on the list, I would suggest it.

I happen to know the exact reasoning behind the app being paid, because I Adam and I have been in contact pretty much since it started. The reasoning is because he was putting a bunch of work into making the app work correctly, so he might as well kinda get paid for it. Because seriously, the app required a lot of work. It was pretty buggy in the beginning. The payment wasn't for the webcomics, it was for the work put in to display them. You guys might think that's dumb, but I KNOW it's an honest mistake.

Adam didn't ask me to write this. In fact, he doesn't even know I am and probably would tell me not to bother. But he's a good guy, and he had good intentions. Google Reader basically does the same thing, only it's not paid. Here's the thing: Google probably pays someone to keep Google Reader running. But Google is a GIGANTIC COMPANY with ridiculously large amounts of money. Adam is just one guy. He did this in his free time, just because he wanted to do something nice.

I know, I know, good intentions pave the path to hell. But in a moral context, they need to be taken into account. He's not a gigantic douche, and now that he knows it bothers people this much, he's shutting down the app. So put a leash on the name-calling, please.

I know I'm going to get a lot of backlash for defending Adam, but he's a good guy who made a mistake and doesn't deserve all the hate being thrown his way.

As it happens, I draw as well, and I'm starting to draw comics, and I hope to eventually draw webcomics. However, my art isn't good enough to be ripped off, so I guess it's harder for me understand. Maybe I'll understand better in a few years when my art doesn't completely suck, and someone decides to rip it off.

But for now, could we please just calm the hell down?

--Ilsa

P.S. If you have no idea what this is about, feel free to ignore it.