Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
[Albert Einstein]
I’m not trying to call anyone out on mediocrity of the mind here. I’ve just been thinking about how easy it is to pursue mediocrity if we don’t ask what’s possible. If we don’t open the door to other possibilities.
I came upon that Einstein quote when I was looking for articles about the connection between mental illness and genius. I was looking for such information after my partner pointed me to this article in the Independent: “You don’t have to be bipolar to be a genius — but it helps.” The article is about a big study that showed people with top grades in school were four times more likely to develop bipolar disorder than people with average grades. They note that the link was strongest among people who studied literature or music.
The article includes this quote:
Men have called me mad, but the question is not yet settled whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence…
[Edgar Allan Poe]
All this got me thinking about the things we dismiss or reject because they don’t fit inside our perception of how things work. Maybe we dismiss someone as “living on another planet” because their ideas seem to have no grounding whatsoever in the reality we know. Or maybe we dismiss someone as being “over-the-top” because their views seem so extreme in contrast with those we normally encounter. We dismiss, we reject, but do we stop to think: what if it’s possible? What if they see something I don’t see?
Most revolutionaries are probably pretty bad at getting in quality family time. Some of the most admirable entrepreneurs took an idea that sounded ridiculous to most of their peers, and they worked “unreasonably” hard to make it happen. “Crazy people” see things we don’t see. And maybe the Things We Don’t See are immensely valuable and eye-opening, rather than delusional.
Generally, different makes people uncomfortable. If you’re striving for a challenging goal, people will probably feel uncomfortable about it. Maybe they’ll try to play it down in case of failure — trying to protect you. Or maybe they’ll dismiss it, waiting for you to wind yourself back down into the realm of acceptable goals — “get a real job” and all that.
Yesterday I was sitting on my motorbike at a big intersection, waiting for the light to turn green. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a woman wearing a jumble of bright colors and mysterious bags, standing on the grass. When I looked over, she broke into a goofy smile and motioned urgently at something to her left. Seeing nothing of particular interest, despite her frenzied gestures, I dismissed her as crazy. The light turned green, and I drove ahead; but I felt slightly unsettled. What did she want me to see? What would she have told me if I had gone to speak with her?
Who knows, but it’s just a thought.
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Lovely post (again) Zoe, Thank you, you have also reminded me to get on the motorbike which I love but it scares me a bit! I enjoyed the lovely feeling of expansiveness thinking over what you had written. I might even go and paint, or write or draw or something! Thanks,
Marianne
nothing makes me happier than to think my writing may have inspired some creation… I love looking at the work on your site : )
“the things we dismiss or reject because they don’t fit inside our perception of how things work”–this reminds me of another einstein quote, something to the effect of: if at first an idea doesn’t seem completely absurd, it’s hardly worth following…
go back and find that lady with the colorful bags!
Sounds like another excellent quote! I always wonder where they said these things, who wrote them down….
Hi there … new here, and first time commenting.
I love this idea from Einstein that anything not sounding completely absurd from the start is hardly worth following. The idea to start a tribe moving ever so determinedly toward nonviolence, in order to create a more loving, nonviolent world, struck me as utterly bizarre about two months ago. Who was I … ?? What could I … ?? How was it ever … ?? Could things ever … ??
I decided in the end I wanted to believe in the possibility of goodness and change and in the power of love to be greater than anything else. So I started the tribe. I’m glad to know Einstein would likely applaud. Seems like a good man to have on one’s side.
Love what you’ve written here in this post, Zoe. That motorbike story is amazing. I, too, would love for you to find that woman again and try to discover what she’s found!
Thank you for reading and commenting, Christianne! I’m very intrigued by your pursuit, and am checking out your site now… here’s to absurdity : )
This reminds me of a conversation I had with a college boyfriend. He had dropped out of school after some personal problems and was working at butcher (and then a printer) and hanging out at home. When I met him, he had aspirations to be a writer. As we dated these seemed to fade and I called him on it. He said he liked just working and coming home and watching football. I wondered about living a life of mediocrity and he asked me “What’s so wrong with mediocrity?”
I’ve thought about that time and again and I just don’t want to live a life of mediocrity. Yes, I do work at a job, come home, and watch some tv or read. But I also spend a ton of time working on my jewelry and trying to make a living off of that so I don’t have to work that other job.
Mediocrity to me is accepting what others want for you. It’s about deciding not to pursue your dreams. I’ve become sick of being upset because I have to live in someone else’s set of life parameters. Sure the ups and downs can be more extreme. But I would rather suffer the downs in order to have the highs rather than to just muddle along somewhere in the middle.
Once again Zoe, you’ve given me plenty to ponder.
That definition really got me thinking: “Mediocrity to me is accepting what others want for you.” Your story’s interesting, because your college boyfriend acknowledged ‘mediocrity’ and challenged your criticism… I always wonder what pushes someone to abandon pursuits, dreams, etc. — I suppose it varies quite a bit person to person…
When you write about dismissing ideas because they seem so different from our reality, I thought about how we can become so stubborn and restricted by what we are sure we “know” that we consider anything else crazy or strange. It’s not necessarily that the genius is actually genius; it’s simply that our own sight is so narrow and focused that we can’t see beyond it and therefore miss so much more.
(The example that comes to mind is Galileo and the idea of the earth revolving around the sun. At the time, the church was so determined that it alone knew the truth that Galileo’s idea was dangerous. In truth, Galileo simply saw what was already there, but the others couldn’t because of their so-called blinders.)
Yes, think about all “facts” we “know” now, and I wonder what will seem hilarious/ridiculous down the road…!
Surely someone has written a book on this topic? I went to an astounding folk art exhibition in Atlanta’s art museum many years back and much of the best art was made by those with real mental illness. Detailed meticulous beautiful art. I’ve always been intrigued by those minds. Great post, Zoe (how do I get the dots over the “e” I wonder). I’ve tweeted/FB’d to the world!
Kelly
I was just reading something in which an autistic woman credited her success in her particular field to the perspectives resulting from her autism… and she said that if given the choice, she would not choose to live without autism. Of course I forget what I was reading, and cannot cite it. But important and fascinating to hear these perspectives!
[the dots over the e: on a PC, it's alt+1+3+7 on the side keys; on a mac, it's option+u, then press e
]
Hi Zdub…
Dismissing eccentricity is bad. Not dismissing convention is worse. Your motor bike at the intersection story is moving and a perfect illustration for this post. But how many of those opportunities do we not even take notice of because we’ve accepted societal norms unquestioned and, as such, have precluded so much from even becoming a blip on the radar screen? How many colorful people have we passed by?
And as a corollary, how many paths have we not walked down because we’ve not allowed ourselves to stray from the well beaten path, for fear of being dismissed, passed by…???
Right on point… I can’t even imagine how many of these opportunities we are blind to.
And so we are always searching, listening, looking, hoping to have our sense opened wider…!
Hey stranger!
I’ve encountered this scenario a few times in my experiences with local poetry events. There are some individuals who are just out there, even by my standards. After some initial hesitation, I took to striking up conversations with these kinds of folk. There are some people who just have an amazing outlook on life, and it’s a shame that I’ve been missing out on that for so long.
Talk to you soon,
Matthew
Wow, hi!! Great to see you here.
Yes, it’s a pretty amazing feeling to open yourself up to an outlook that your mind seems to automatically reject… I think that’s what makes our ability to connect, to draw patterns, healthy and blossoming…
What a perfect post and perfect thought to start the day with. What is possible? You don’t have to be crazy to truly be curious and work to find out; just open minded and willing to follow a path less beaten.
Now to remind myself of this every morning…!
A quote I found as a teenager stuck with me all these years from F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Crack Up “the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” From Hamlet “there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy” I always figured the smart kids in class were more depressed or biploar because they realized knowing answers would get them beat up and ostracized. (I played dumb a lot and have watched my own students refuse to answer even when they knew — it’s not worth the taunting). To be really good I think artists have to have deep and powerful emotional experiences and in an ephemeral world that challenges our perceptions and faiths, the sensitive are cut the deepest. Also, standing out in the crowd be it via arts or even sciences means you can expect some conflict or even rejection. It is a daring thing to do and often the world tries to beat you down. Prophets are typically the one’s at the edge of sanity and tip to one side of the line or the other based on the number of people they enchant: Jeremiah, Jesus or Mohammed vs. choose any cult leader or various other failed messiahs contemporary to Jesus but likewise done away with. One is crazy the other just talked to god. Carl Jung treated James Joyce’s daughter for schizophrenia and allegedly said the girl and her father suffered similarly. Try reading Finnegan’s Wake. Van Gogh. Anne Sexton. The list is so long of creative types who were slightly or horribly unhinged in some way. Perhaps madness/creativity is the spilling forth of randomly connected thoughts. Some can sort them into a never before seen order or expression, while some others can’t at all, and still others have literary critics who create meanings even the artist/crazy person didn’t see.
I love this Fitzgerald quote, Kevin. You’re right, rejection is part of the process, and it’s a fine line…! I completely agree that madness/creativity is the ability to connect things in a new way, one that might not even be decipherable to many… or perhaps deciphered in a completely different way…
Just discovered your blog and you coaxed me in with this post. Great thoughts… I’ve often felt the same, which is to say that perhaps we both have some disturbing thoughts about what genius could truly be. Anyways, I’ll be following.
p.s. I like your name – it’s the same as my niece’s
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