Archive for November, 2007

Eccentrics: Schizotypal personalities and creative achievement

“Psychologists believe that a number of famous creative luminaries, including Vincent Van Gogh, Albert Einstein, Emily Dickinson and Isaac Newton, had schizotypal personalities.”
That quote comes from the ScienceDaily article Odd Behavior And Creativity May Go Hand-in-hand, which explains, “Often viewed as a hindrance, having a quirky or socially awkward approach to life may be the [...]

Gifted adult development: Janitor or mathematician – adult achievement, or not

Good Will Hunting
The movie Good Will Hunting (1997), as summarized on Wikipedia, tells the story of Will Hunting (Matt Damon), “a troubled prodigy who works as a janitor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, despite the fact that his knowledge of and facility with higher mathematics far outstrips that of anyone in the university.
“Good Will [...]

Narcissism: Having a God complex

“If it weren’t for me, there wouldn’t be any Paramount Studios.”
Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond in the movie Sunset Blvd
For some people with exceptional abilities, the realization that they are, in fact, more capable in many ways than ordinary people can lead to a distorted self-concept, a deep sense they really are better than everyone [...]

Gifted adults: Wrestling with our intuition

Dismissive of intuition
It can be a challenge for people who are predominantly intellectual to acknowledge and make use of intuition.
Linda Kreger Silverman, Ph.D. notes, “Individuals with higher intelligence are likely to be well educated. Higher education indoctrinates students to think logically and skeptically and to dismiss intuitive information.
“Scientific evidence and logical argument are considered legitimate, [...]