Comments on: Goodbye, Soren http://thecriticaledition.net/chapter-45/goodbye-soren Life, annotated Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:02:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: G. Scott http://thecriticaledition.net/chapter-45/goodbye-soren#comment-33 G. Scott Sat, 03 May 2008 12:32:54 +0000 http://thecriticaledition.net/?p=45#comment-33 "Do we medicate because of the social problems these diseases cause and end up destroying the intelligence or creativity that often happens as a result?" Even the thought of medicating simply to avoid social problems is somewhat troubling. While working with autistic children, I found myself seeing things in entirely new ways because of the quirky way they saw and explained the world. That's probably why genius and "insanity" are so linked -- someone steps outside the flow of normal human experience and reports what he/she sees. The rest of us say, "Wow." “Do we medicate because of the social problems these diseases cause and end up destroying the intelligence or creativity that often happens as a result?”

Even the thought of medicating simply to avoid social problems is somewhat troubling. While working with autistic children, I found myself seeing things in entirely new ways because of the quirky way they saw and explained the world. That’s probably why genius and “insanity” are so linked — someone steps outside the flow of normal human experience and reports what he/she sees. The rest of us say, “Wow.”

]]> By: Thud http://thecriticaledition.net/chapter-45/goodbye-soren#comment-26 Thud Fri, 02 May 2008 11:39:43 +0000 http://thecriticaledition.net/?p=45#comment-26 Bipolar disorder is dangerous and often deadly, but you're right -- many of our very creative people had what appears to be bipolar disorder. But it's not the only mental disability that might indicate a different kind of intelligence. ADHD is a good candidate; so is Asbergers and autism. Do we medicate because of the social problems these diseases cause and end up destroying the intelligence or creativity that often happens as a result? Bipolar disorder is dangerous and often deadly, but you’re right — many of our very creative people had what appears to be bipolar disorder. But it’s not the only mental disability that might indicate a different kind of intelligence. ADHD is a good candidate; so is Asbergers and autism. Do we medicate because of the social problems these diseases cause and end up destroying the intelligence or creativity that often happens as a result?

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