October 31, 2014

How we get rid of geniuses these days

 A question we have raised from time to time: Where is today's Albert Einstein? Our answer: Probably on Prozac somewhere. . More on this topic:

Washington's Blog -  Scott Barry Kaufman (PhD in cognitive psychology from Yale)  writes in Scientific American:
Research … has supported the notion that under certain conditions, people with ADHD characteristics are more likely to reach higher levels of creative thought and achievement than people without ADHD (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). Recent research by Darya Zabelina and colleagues have found that real-life creative achievement is associated with the ability to broaden attention and have a “leaky” mental filter — something in which people with ADHD often excel.

Recent work in cognitive neuroscience also suggests a connection between ADHD and creativity (see here and here). Both creative thinkers and people with ADHD show difficulty suppressing brain activity coming from the “Imagination Network.”

... Consider the case of John, who in 1949 attended Eton College and dreamed of becoming a scientist. However, last in his class, he received the following comment on his report card:
His work has been far from satisfactory … he will not listen, but will insist on doing his work in his own way … I believe he has ideas about becoming a Scientist; on his present showing this is quite ridiculous, if he can’t learn simple Biological facts he would have no chance of doing the work of a Specialist, and it would be a sheer waste of time on his part, and of those who have to teach him.
This was Sir John B. Gurdon, winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his revolutionary research on stem cells. Like so many other highly creative, competent individuals, he might have been referred for testing and given the label “attention deficit hyperactive disorder.”

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