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What’s Crazy about genius?

When is eccentricity a mark of genius and when is genius merely an excuse for tantrum throwing Times Life asks the creative world for a few tell-tale signs

TIMES NEWS NETWORK


SHINEY Ahuja, moping on film sets after his hit Gangster, was aiming for genius . Two films down, when genius became an excuse for tantrum throwing, much like Abhay Deols whimsical refusals to emerge from his trailor post Dev Ds success, the tags he was given were mostly muttered under peoples breath. Self-absorption , they say, led to Ahujas descent.

When Polanski fled to the US to make his cult classic Chinatown, Thomas Kiernans The Roman Polanski Story, published in 1980, claims he left behind a reputation for paedophilia and sadism. Said Kiernan r e c e n t ly, Ro m a n just couldnt u n d e r s t a n d why s****** a kid should be of concern to anyone.

Hes s***** plenty of girls younger than this one, he said, and nobody gave a damn. While the entertainment industry stood behind Polanskis far greater evils, few stood behind Shineys alleged misdemeanours. The difference The weight of genius.

But is genius excuse enough for crime James Oleson, professor of sociology and criminal justice on fellowship to the US Supreme Court, thinks so. Most geniuses should be punished the same as average offenders, but some geniuses should be exculpated.

Not because (as Aristotle suggests) they are above the law, nor because (as Plato suggests) geniuses are mad, but because an IQ that is too high can result in severe communication and socialisation problems

the extraordinary genius might have such a different conception of m o ra l i t y from the rest of us that he is functionally insane. Sherlock Holmes said of his arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty, a mathematician and an expert on eclipses, He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson. He has a brain of the first order He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker.

Rishi Valmiki was once cut-throat dacoit Angulimala , Darth Vader walked on the bad side, and Ravana, his 10 heads symbolising one who has mastered 10 senses, stands for all evil today.

Genius is always troubled, isnt it offers Prahlad Kakkar. From Sean Penns outbursts, Brian Laras personal trials, Michael Jacksons plastic-surgery , child-loving ways to Kurt Cobains drugs and Giorgio Armanis mafia links, creative geniuses have led troubled lives.

Mike Tyson had been arrested 38 times before he was 13. Geniuses are able to commit their offences with the same acumen that they bring to bear in other areas of their lives, which makes them very dangerous. At white-collar crime, they obtain more money than less-intelligent criminals can.

At violent crimes, their ability to elude apprehension enables them to inflict harm or even death over long periods, states Oleson. Cullen in The Bell Curve indicates high-IQ increases criminal behaviour while low-IQ crime is merely more prone to being caught. We bandy the word genius about like currency , says Kakkar, A genius is always both loved and hated because he mirrors societys best and worst, and yet he is all alone, because very few people like him for showing them what they really are. Gallerist Usha Mirchandani agrees.

Issac Newton, Van Gogh were geniuses . We use the label far too generously we see someone who stands out and say Oh, genius but we dont mean it. Its an attentiongetting word. True genius comes along very rarely. Psychiatrist Asit Seth explains , A genius takes chances, defies convention and is often manic depressive. He is driven by perspective. Your lines are not his lines. Like Picasso .

Pritish Nandy points out the joy of batty genius too. Kishore Kumar, poet Shakti
Chattopadhyay, artist FN Souza, filmmaker Ritwick Ghatak, he lists, Genius at times reflects in eccentric, unpredictable behaviour, not bad behaviour.

The geniuses I have known were well-behaved to the extreme , but never boring. So, what of gentlemanly genius Nandy enumerates geniuses with grace as well as talent; Satyajit Ray, Vijay Tendulkar, Vishwanathan Anand; painter Gaitonde; Ravi Shankar; RK Laxman and Ustad Amir Khan. Mirchandani points out that genius is always insecure, lonely in its quest.

Ive heard Ravi Shankar didnt allow his own son to come up, one hears that Lata didnt allow anyone else to come up. I see it in the art world. Genius is a threat to those around it. What is the hallmark of true genius Reclusivity , in artists like the late Tyeb Mehta, AR Rahman , S Ramanujan, Newton, Darwin, Gregory Perelman, and chess genius Bobby Fischer. Geniuses have fewer inhibitions, they dont do things normally , which translates into abruptness . They are curious, and nothing passes as insignificant. Who amongst us would find inspiration in a boiling kettle says Mirchandani .

Dr Seth explains, A genius is a problem-seer not a problem solver so he jumps out of problem situations quickly, doesnt stay to solve them. Answers dont come easier to a genius; for Edisons every patent, there were 999 failed experiments. And what is not genius Celebrity status. Everybody has it these days, quips Nandy. The genius mind can easily be a criminal mind. That line is fine. But not every criminal mind that claims eccentricity can touch genius. As Princeton students say when pointing out Nobel prize-winning mathematician John Nash, Hes crazy, but he wont hurt you.