Tuesday 8 July 2008
Was Einstein Mad, Weird or Abnormal?
Einstein’s brain was thought to be abnormal as the parietal lobe and the temporal lobe were inter-meshed. This gave rise to experiencing the universe and his world in ways very different to most of us. He has said that he visualised much of what he later converted into mathematical equations due to a strange anomaly of his brain. The parts of the brain that are normally separated by a 'fissure' or a gap were in his brain merged. This gave rise to aberrant communication between nerve fibres which in most humans do not usually communicate during perception. This makes his brain abnormal and his theories therefore 'abnormal' too?! For if other brains that are thought to be abnormal (like that of my patient's or the man in the epilepsy clip are abnormal) and whose contents are also thought to be abnormal, then why should we confer a special status to Einstein. He was known to be quite absent minded and lost in his own world - quite an eccentric if you were to live with him! But what made him a genius is his capacity to translate his 'theories' into mathematical formulae - that ultimate symbolisation of reality that cannot be otherwise be visualised or contemplated.
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6 comments:
Einstein was supernormal and not subnormal. So, in one sense he was abnormal. But mere absence of an anatomical fissure could not be held responsible to mark him mad.
That depends on how one defines madness. If it is the lay way, then he was not, but if it any one of the multiple disorders identified withint the internatinal and american nosological systems, he'd come very close to having strong personality traits if not disorder. But your point is well taken. I wqs merely trying to demonstrate that anatomical abnormalities can give rise to features not different from 'madness'.
Einstein was Curious!!! only
He was very clever and that's all, so clever that other people will call it mad until people are able to catch up with him. Leonardo davinci is a Genius but at that time everyone thought he was mad. And your all making a fuss over nothing this anatomical feature as you put it doesn't mean anything, if you find a person with the same thing he will be the next Einstein? of course not. If he wasn't interested in school would he still have went into Physics. The answer is "no" he'd be another man though sometimes a but slow.
I am a lay woman. Interesting compilation on this great persona.
I immediately thought of Van Gogh, Thomas Edison. Van Gogh for his 'mad' and eccentric behaviour and Edison for being a failure in formal learning in school etc.
Isnt there any Medical Reserarch to prove that there is a pattern of some kind among intellectuals vs. avg people, biologically. In behavioural science, I think there is enough work.
But I do agree that we do meet people who are considered 'intellectuals' by society are often eccentric. Some of my own friens (?) - and I always thought that this was because they do not find many people to intellectually stimulate them (general conversations)
Having said that - I feel that Eisten used this 'abnormal intelligence' Constructively and hence the birth of a Genius! there could be many more with similar brain structure but languishing somewhere owing to poor channelizing of what 'extra' they have.
To end, I agree with Dr. Harvey - Eistein was born with an average brain and it depends on how it was constructed at birth. One can not acquire intelligence. Wow!
anmol
Rachel, intelligence can be acquired upto a particular threshold, not beyond it. einstein's brain was abnormal but he used it creatively to come up with studpendous outcomes. but that was b'coz he was interested in physics. if he'd been into music or painting, he might have been a van gogh, who knows. the article is more tongue in cheek rather than deterministic. i'm sure many of your friends who're intellectuals are not wired 'abnormally' in their brains, they're just a little awkward socially, or uninterested in what's going on aroudn them beyond their areas of interest
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