There IS a link between genius and madness - but we don't know why we evolved this 'gift'

UK Daily Mail ^ | June 4, 2012 | Rob Waugh

[C19fan]

There IS a link between creative genius and madness - with both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder frequent in highly creative and intelligent people. The idea was investigated by a panel of scientists who had all suffered some form of mental disorder. Kay Redfield Jamison of John Hopkins school of Medicine, who suffers from bipolar disorder, said that intelligence tests on Swedish 16-year-olds had shown that highly intelligent children were most likely to go on to develop the disorder.

[whd23]

My point is that almost everything has a drawback - there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Absolutely, no argument there.

My argument is simply that hyper-intelligence (as opposed to moderate-intelligence) hasn't really given humans a reproductive edge. Sure, the inventor of the spear, or wheel, or whatever was a lot smarter than his rivals, but using those inventions didn't require hyper-intelligence. The use of these inventions granted great reproduction advantage, but the invention of these things did not.

[MHGinTN]

Here is a link to 72 minutes of a presentation Habermas made fairly recently regarding many of the hundreds of cases he and his associates have collected: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skGf_vsthl8

[MHGinTN]

During the first few minutes of Gary's presentation, he explains the different levels of ‘death and dying’ and why the more final the death appears (no brain waves, no heartbeat, for several minutes and possibly even hours) the more stunning is the NDE and testimony of the recipient.

There are, to be sure, testimonies from persons who experience an 'out of body' phenomenon, which are fascinating stories and many times include evidentiary data. But the more 'dead' a person is, medically, and yet they recover and relate experiences while in that 'deadness' are the real clues to a brain/soul-spirit connection.

[Yardstick]

Finally, the idea of the soul accounts for the experience of self, which atomistic materialism cannot explain in a noncontradictory manner.

Bingo.

[allmendream]

The guy who invented the spearthrower and his entire population group (the genetics of which presumably gave rise to his high intellect) would have experienced a dramatic increase in wealth, hunting success and success in war. All of which would lead to a dramatic increase in population - and thus great reproductive success for himself and his family.

A farmer who knows what seeds to use and which to discontinue - what crosses will be favorable - when to plant - how to deal with disease or overburdened branches - will have a huge reproductive advantage over a farmer of moderate intelligence who plods along doing what he has always done.

A more intelligent hunter is a more successful hunter and a more successful hunter generally has better reproductive success.

A more intelligent mason is a more successful mason and a more successful mason generally has better reproductive success.

A more intelligent war leader is a more successful war leader, and a more successful war leader generally has better reproductive success.

A more intelligent person is more likely to achieve higher rank in society, and one with higher rank in society is generally has better reproductive success.

Any human endeavor conducted by a human of demonstrable higher intelligence will be done better than a human of moderate intelligence. When you do things better you generally have better reproductive success.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Can’t wait to check it out! Thank you

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Just finished listening. Amazing evidence. Thanks again.

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Thanks C19fan. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[Domestic Church]

Funny coincidence - this just showed up on my FB wall:
“The thing about smart people is that they seem like crazy people to dumb people.”

[Domestic Church]

Chocolate can help with that.

[Salamander]

“Post of the century award” *ping*

[shibumi]

You sure this guy “Boogieman” isn’t “listening in” on our private conversations?

Or perhaps it’s just a Jungian echo.

[Salamander]

Boogieman’s obviously part of the holograph.

[Salamander]

“Schizophrenia usually leads to a poverty of thought”

Oh, thank God...we’re safe.

;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eRvs9MpWRo

[shibumi]

Here's to You!

"Boogieman"

[Salamander]

I’d hit that.

[Bigg Red]

I remember reading some, years back, of a study involving a group of teens who were stereotypical nerdy braniacs. In mapping the subjects’ brain activity, the researchers found that their brains “fired up” in very unexpected ways. The part of the brain that should have been firing in social situations was just not involved.

Sorry, I am probably not describing this well, as this has been quite a while ago. Basically, the implications were that the academically brilliant nerdy kids just did not function well in social interactions, hence the strangeness factor you allude to.

[Bigg Red]

braniacs= brainiacs

[Lady Jag]

You said it best!

Just as tribal members feared shamans, people who don’t understand will be suspicious, fearful or critical.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

“I’d like to see a study on the link between intelligence and aspergers...”

My observations, anecdotal, suggest that those with aspergers are often highly intelligent people.