What does it mean to be crazy and how do we differentiate
the insane from the brilliant?
There is no normal when it comes to a human being. Everyone
has his or her own quirks and differences that make them who they are. We could
go on for days debating which quirks are “crazy” and which are “normal”. But
instead, chew on this idea for a minute - creation and creativity occur when
crazy meets brilliant.
Take Michelangelo for example. We all know his immense
creativity and his famous works of art. But at the heart of all his exploits was
a man who many might deem crazy. The man barely bathed at all, even by 16th
century standards, and would rarely change his clothes. In fact, he would
typically sleep with his shoes on and according to his assistant, when his
shoes did come off his skin would often peel away with his boots much like a
snakes skin does when shedding.
Then there is Nikola Tesla. The Serbian inventor had his
hand in everything including radio, air conditioning, and robotics. But he too
would probably be considered crazy by today’s standards. Tesla had severe OCD
and would have to do most of his daily tasks in threes. He was also a
germophobe (I don’t think he and Michelangelo would have gotten along very
well). Perhaps his weirdest quirk of all, however, is that he refused to touch
anything round which is pretty bizarre for an inventor.
The most perfect example of insanity meeting brilliance and
creativity is the story of John Nash.
Nash won the 1994 Nobel Prize in economics and was the inspiration for
the movie Beautiful Mind. He also is
a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and suffers from hallucinations, delusions,
and voices. He was institutionalized against his will multiple times over the
course of his life and was treated with drugs and shock therapy.
The point here is that the line between crazy and genius isn’t
a fine one. It is very much a blurred, muddled composition that should be celebrated.
What does it mean to be crazy? I don't know -- because you didn't define the term. Do you mean it in the psychological DSM sense, as a mental health issue? Or are you using it as per the looser social construct as "different from what I consider to be normal"?
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of crazy people, using either definition. There are lots of creative people. You can create a Venn diagram and put people like Michelangelo, Tesla, and Nash in the middle. But that does not say anything interesting about either craziness or creativity.
Your final sentence, and the final word linking to a TED talk about one person's experience with bipolar disorder, hints that you are talking about a DSM diagnosis. But your failure to follow up leaves me unsure.
Whether to take medication for manic-depressive mood swings is something everyone afflicted with the disorder should decide for themselves -- after reviewing the impact that staying unmedicated has on their life, and the life of those around them.