Are geniuses Brain damaged?

Makes me think of Asperger's sydrome. There are a few people here with Asperger's. Absane may have it, and either Superluminal or Spidergoat (maybe both?). It's described as a "mild case of autism".

 

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Dropping the idiot from idiot savants is a bunch of PC nonsense. It makes as much sense as FOX news calling suicide bombers homicide bombers.

You're dropping a defining characteristic of the condition from the name. Idiot Savants aren't just people with some great mental skill, they're people with a serious mental deficiency and some incredible skill.

If saying idiot savant is too harsh for your delicate sensibilities, at least use the term autistic savant.

 

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Here's an interesting video to watch, 5 parts to it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbASOcqc1Ss

- N

 

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I think that's the point. Circumvent emotional distractions, and you are totally focused.
The lack of communication between different parts of the brain makes people sharper.
(also a bit loony)

 

The dropping of the terms "idiot" and "moron" are a result of medical words being used commonly as insults, and so losing their original meaning.
A similar example is with "spastic". It originally had a medical meaning, but because anyone who did something stupid was given the same name as an insult, the charitable organisations which were using the word in its original sense dropped the term.

Is this Political correctness, or merely adaptation to the changing meaning of a word?
I'm glad though, that you are anti-FOX.

 

I'm not anti-Fox, I'm anti-BS.

Words have meaning. Calling an idiot savant a savant does not make him "wise", anymore than calling a suicide bomber a homicide bomber does anything to alter the fact that the defining characteristic of such an attack is the "suicide" part.

The newer autistic savant makes a lot more sense than just savant.

 

I would. I'm a moron =P

 

Great link. The originating site has many lectures of similar value.
By that I mean high value.
http://www.ted.com/talks?gclid=CMGokq_x1JACFQhRMAodthOyPg

 

The thread has stalled here on the original issue.
I would welcome furthur input on the effect of brain damage.
Or please open new threads on the subject.

 

More importantly, not all savants (defined as people with extremely developed yet narrow mental abilities) are autistic at all -- or "idiots". I do not have statistics on hand, but my understanding is that "lightning calculators" -- people who take tenth power roots and such in their head, -- are usually quite normal in their everyday functioning.

 

are you referring to autistic people?

 

If you are talking to me, I do not understand your question. The point of my previous post is: not all "lightning calculators" are autistic.