Why Creative People Are Eccentric

[Star Safyre]

The Unleashed Mind: Why Creative People Are Eccentric

This article is fascinating in many, many ways, but I immediately was drawn to this observation:

Too Much Information
Cognitive disinhibition is the failure to ignore information that is irrelevant to current goals or to survival. We are all equipped with mental filters that hide most of the processing that goes on in our brains behind the scenes. So many signals come in through our sensory organs, for example, that if we paid attention to all of them we would be overwhelmed. Furthermore, our brains are constantly accessing imagery and memories stored in our mental files to process and decode incoming infor­mation. Thanks to cognitive filters, most of this input never reaches conscious awareness.

There are individual differences in how much information we block out, however; both schizotypal and schizophrenic individuals have been shown to have reduced functioning of one of these cognitive filters, called latent inhibition (LI). Reduced LI appears to increase the amount of unfiltered stimuli reaching our conscious awareness and is associated with offbeat thoughts and hallucinations. It is easy to see that allowing unfiltered information into consciousness could lead to strange perceptual experiences, such as hearing voices or seeing imaginary people.

As a creative person from a very young age, I was always very sensitive to both distraction and lack of stimuli.  In noisy, crowded or overstimulating conditions, I find it impossible to think, hold a conversation, or think creatively.  Sometimes even the presence of another person quietly being in the same room is too much. 

Conversely, silence drives me insane.  When I try to sleep at night in a completely silent and dark room, I will stay up until ungodly hours filling the night with random thoughts, imagining, and, for lack of a better word, night-dreaming.  The absence of input makes my brain fill with all sorts of thoughts which make it impossible to fall sleep.  Night lights, running televisions, white noise machines all are quite necessary for me to get any rest.

[grdell]

As a creative person from a very young age, I was always very sensitive to both distraction and lack of stimuli.  In noisy, crowded or overstimulating conditions, I find it impossible to think, hold a conversation, or think creatively.  Sometimes even the presence of another person quietly being in the same room is too much. 

Conversely, silence drives me insane.  When I try to sleep at night in a completely silent and dark room, I will stay up until ungodly hours filling the night with random thoughts, imagining, and, for lack of a better word, night-dreaming.  The absence of input makes my brain fill with all sorts of thoughts which make it impossible to fall sleep.  Night lights, running televisions, white noise machines all are quite necessary for me to get any rest.

Hey! Stop describing me!  ;)

Yeah, I've always been pretty much exactly like this, too. I attribute it partly to being a musician and primarily apprehending the world through what I hear. When there are multiple conversations going on around me, I can't tune any of them out. I usually bring a book with me wherever I go, but if the background noise is anything other than pure white, I can't concentrate on the book because everything - and I do mean EVERYTHING - I hear must get processed consciously. I pay attention, whether I want to or not.

Yeah, it's a curse at times.

[Oniya]

Conversely, silence drives me insane.  When I try to sleep at night in a completely silent and dark room, I will stay up until ungodly hours filling the night with random thoughts, imagining, and, for lack of a better word, night-dreaming.  The absence of input makes my brain fill with all sorts of thoughts which make it impossible to fall sleep.  Night lights, running televisions, white noise machines all are quite necessary for me to get any rest.

I have to have some kind of noise in order to be comfortable.  Luckily, Mr. Oniya snores a little. ^^;  At one point, when we had satellite instead of cable, the service got cut off, and I wrote this:

It was the silence that bothered her the most, mostly because it reminded her of what used to fill it.  Voices, music, simple noise – whether it was important enough to listen to, it had been there.  Now, there was a void, broken only by the monotonous hum of a fan.  A void that begged to be filled with something – anything.

(more beneath cut)

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Anything except the ring of the phone.  That was a sound that sent her heart into her throat and her stomach into her shoes.  That was a sound that made her freeze, checking the number on the Caller ID to see if it was known (almost never) or unknown (almost always).  And then she would wait, stock-still, not even breathing as if the person on the other end might hear her breathing even as the phone continued to ring.  Eventually, they would give up, and the silence would return, more oppressive than ever.

She tried to do things to take her mind off it.  To take her mind off of the silence, and the reason behind it.  At first, she tried to do constructive things, but they slowly gave way to endless games of solitaire.  For a while, the simulated snap of paperboard soothed her, broken occasionally by a riffle as she unwound the twisted skeins of the suits.  It didn’t actually help the situation, but it was something she could control – something that eventually, she could solve.  Maybe not on the first deal, or even the tenth or twentieth, but eventually, the last suit would riffle into place and the tinny speaker would declare her victory.

On the flip side, we sometimes have to cut out distractions for the little Oni to do homework - at which point I put on headphones and a CD.

[Star Safyre]

I have to have some kind of noise in order to be comfortable.  Luckily, Mr. Oniya snores a little. ^^;

Mr. Fyre's snoring doesn't help.  If his breathing becomes at all irregular (which of course it does, him being all organic and all), I fixate on that instead. 

[Caeli]

I can't stand snoring. But the regular, deep breaths of sleep are really soothing to me.

[Oniya]

Like I said - it's just a little snore, not an earth-shaking, Cheyne-Stokes, 'Dad, breathe so we can breathe' snoring.  It's almost like a loud purring.

[Braioch]

I find at moments where I'm trying to be creative, such as with writing, I cannot do it with other people around me as well. Even their mere presence is enough to distract me from what I'm doing, that might be the whole me being diagnosed with ADD thing, but it still stands true. Hell I can have headphones on with music playing and they will still distract me to no end to the point that even if I manage a post later, I look at it and wonder what the hell I was thinking when I posted it.

Inversely, I can't post in pure silence, because the smallest sound in the silence distracts me and my brain peters off into random things and I never get the post done. I have to have music playing or something in order to post most of the time, even now as I'm typing this, I have my Mp3 on and playing in my ears. It wasn't until I was going to type that that I even noticed it was actually playing something and now I can't stop paying attention to it >.>

Damn brain.

Sleep is a pain in the ass for me too, I seriously need a white noise machine or fan or something because I can only fall asleep when the furnace kicks on and that won't work when the warmer weather comes in and stays. Too much noise and I can't block it out and too little and my brain fills the void of some noise and runs away from me.

I've also noticed that with how my brain works, I make weird connections to things, thankfully I'm surrounded by people who generally tend to get that. Though I've noticed some people like for instance my father, will look at me even when I try to explain why I said what I said, like I'm insane. A good chunk of my family is like that in all reality, at least my grandmother and sister seem to get it when I do that. Dunno, something about the sensory input makes my brain go into overdrive and think over it all and see what can connect with what whenever it can, and sometimes I'll say it out loud, or half a sentence, a word, or even my reaction to the thought and it makes no sense to other people around me, though when I try to explain it, it doesn't work.

Again, damn brain.

Also, I wonder. I wonder if creative people are more affected by scarier movies and thrillers than non-creative people, because I've always been the guy who's imagination runs away with him after certain movies. Thank you Child's Play 2 for making me permenanetly freaked out by dolls, I appreciate that. Also for the frickin' Final Destination movies for generating paranoid death fantasies that always end in me being eviscerated in some form or another.

As (once again) another idea...anyone else ever suffer from hearing something (usually something you don't want to) and immediately getting at the very least, a visual depiction of it? Usually something powerful to the mind like something emotionally strong, sexually or violently driven. Again, almost tripping and it ending in you somehow being destroyed brutally, or even something involving someone else doing something sexual? I get that all the time and it really can be quite distracting to me at times. Especially when it's someone attractive making a comment off hand about something sexual and immediately I see it in my head, and goddamn if I don't hear them too. >.> Things will constantly pop in my head like that, just visuals of sometimes the oddest things and I wonder if that's common or just a creative thing.

To be fair, the only thing I can do creatively is right much to my ire as I'd love to be able to draw, paint or play music. >.<

Also, sound off if you still have fantasies that resemble so much the imagination games you had as a kid, imagining you're an awesome mage, a skilled sword wielder, secret agent, zombie survivor, sound off please so I don't feel so friggin' weird. Haha.

/rambling

[grdell]

Also, I wonder. I wonder if creative people are more affected by scarier movies and thrillers than non-creative people, because I've always been the guy who's imagination runs away with him after certain movies. Thank you Child's Play 2 for making me permenanetly freaked out by dolls, I appreciate that. Also for the frickin' Final Destination movies for generating paranoid death fantasies that always end in me being eviscerated in some form or another.

I grew up on horror movies. Really. My mother liked them, so I was watching movies that would make adults scream when I was like 4. They don't "bother" me, really. I think I'm just too used to them.

Also, sound off if you still have fantasies that resemble so much the imagination games you had as a kid, imagining you're an awesome mage, a skilled sword wielder, secret agent, zombie survivor, sound off please so I don't feel so friggin' weird. Haha.

All. The. Damn. Time.

[Braioch]

I grew up on horror movies. Really. My mother liked them, so I was watching movies that would make adults scream when I was like 4. They don't "bother" me, really. I think I'm just too used to them.

All. The. Damn. Time.

It's only certain ones.

Like Child's Play 2 got me.

The Final Destination moves.

And a few books have, like IT got me...the book, not that wretched movie >.>

Also: Glad to know I'm not alone. Because of my recent WoW playing I've been having fun with a WoW fantasy and a book series I've been rereading has caused me a few fun ones as well. Only a small percentage actually become plot ideas though...

[grdell]

It's only certain ones.

Well, if you want to get technical...

The ones that are more far out don't bother me at all. It's the ones that could really happen that bother me. Like Hostel. Hostel gave me the creeps. It doesn't make me want to never travel to Eastern Europe or anything, but it does skeeve me out something fierce.

[Braioch]

Yeah, pretty much.

Though I personally felt the movie was just gory for the sake of being gory, which did nothing but turn me off from it. I really hate this idea that people have that horror means evisceration and internal organs being spilled out. Movie makers managed to scare people by making them think, not gag.

[Zombie]

That's interesting and I never really thought that. o-o Especially reading everything you guys have said I've realized I have a lot in common.

I tend to focus on weird things sometimes. Like if me and my boyfriend are laying there and his asleep and I can't sleep, I listen to him breathe and try to match my breathing to his. or if my boyfriend isn't there, since we don't live together, I listen to every little sound and go through my head sometimes what it is. I have trouble sleeping in complete quiet though, but if the tv is too loud I focus on every little thing on tv, even with my back turned and eyes closed. but if I can't hear anything at all I can't sleep, so I usually turn the tv down really low so it's barely audible. If that makes sense? Sometimes I have totally bizarre dreams and I have no idea where they come from, like crazy crap.

but other then the whole sleeping thing I have trouble writing or drawing if someone is nearby. Like today I was trying to reply to a roleplay and my brother was there trying to talk to me, But then I told him I was trying to write something, so he wanted to wait until I was done, but I shooed him away anyways because I couldn't write. xD Drawing is the worse though. In school I used to have people watch me draw and I'd stop all awkward and tell them I couldn't draw with them watching.

I also have this weird habit of watching or reading something and if something happens to a character I put myself in their shoes and go through the whole "What if-" thought process. It's really weird. Maybe I'm the only one to do that and I'm crazy.

Yeeaah o-o

[Oniya]

Yeah, pretty much.

Though I personally felt the movie was just gory for the sake of being gory, which did nothing but turn me off from it. I really hate this idea that people have that horror means evisceration and internal organs being spilled out. Movie makers managed to scare people by making them think, not gag.

I am so with you there.  And:

Also, sound off if you still have fantasies that resemble so much the imagination games you had as a kid, imagining you're an awesome mage, a skilled sword wielder, secret agent, zombie survivor, sound off please so I don't feel so friggin' weird. Haha.

Yes.  Oh god, yes.

[Sybl]

Also, sound off if you still have fantasies that resemble so much the imagination games you had as a kid, imagining you're an awesome mage, a skilled sword wielder, secret agent, zombie survivor, sound off please so I don't feel so friggin' weird. Haha.

/rambling

as a kid, all I had was my imagination. we didn't get out first tv until I turned 12, and the only music allowed in the house was my parents, and that was only played when they had friends over. Now, as a grown up, I must have some form of background noise, such as music, or the furnace ..something to break the dead silence. It drives me over the edge at times..

[if you want to learn fractal creation Braioch, send me a PM. I will send you a free program with directions]  :-)

[Starlequin]

Also, sound off if you still have fantasies that resemble so much the imagination games you had as a kid, imagining you're an awesome mage, a skilled sword wielder, secret agent, zombie survivor, sound off please so I don't feel so friggin' weird. Haha.

Wait a second...you mean, other people DON'T do that?  :D Starry night, I can't go thirty minutes without pretending I'm someone else. Of course,  whether that's a symptom of my creative eccentricity, latent schizophrenia, or just a desperate need for escapism is a roll of  the dice, lol.

[Oniya]

Of course,  whether that's a symptom of my creative eccentricity, latent schizophrenia, or just a desperate need for escapism is a roll of  the dice, lol.

Would that be a d20, percentile, or d6?

[Braioch]

Percentage dice are a viable route as well.

[Starlequin]

Hmm, due to my relatively extreme lack of experience with tabletop gaming, perhaps best to go with a good ol' 2d6, neh?   ;D

[Star Safyre]

Mr. Fyre and I need this website running to sleep.  http://www.simplynoise.com/  We love the osculating pink noise (which sounds much dirtier than it is...)


Also, when I started seeing the commercials for Bing, I felt almost insulted.  It's a perfect example of how my mind works, just making seemingly random connections all the time.

[Oniya]

Anyone here ever play the game of 'How did we get on this subject?'  After a typical conversation, you trace back the logical leaps that took you from point A to point Omicron (yes, so far removed from the original subject that you have to change alphabets).

[Star Safyre]

Anyone here ever play the game of 'How did we get on this subject?'  After a typical conversation, you trace back the logical leaps that took you from point A to point Omicron (yes, so far removed from the original subject that you have to change alphabets).

I think we could almost play that game with this thread.   ::)

[Starlequin]

*jumps up and down with his hand stretched up* ooh, ooh! Pick me! I wanna play, pick me!   :P

[Braioch]

I do that all the damn time, and here I thought it was my ADD that did that.

To be fair, that is a very fun game to play ;D

....what was the original topic of the thread again?

-is totally serious...or was until checking the title- >.>

[Shjade]

Anyone here ever play the game of 'How did we get on this subject?'

Often. Lately instead of "How did we get on this subject?" I'll play "Walk with me a moment," in which I explain to whomever I'm speaking with at the time the thought process I'd just followed to get to the idea I was about to share. Basically the same game, just with more of it taking place in my head rather than out loud.

Recent example that I can remember: riding in the car, we pass by a girl who looks maybe 14-15 years old in a pink shirt and jean shorts just walking to the park. Over the next couple of seconds I glance over the girl, consider what she might look like in another five years and how she'd look in those shorts then, make the connection between that thought and her current appearance and link it to the sort of thoughts that lead some people toward illicit activities with younger persons, hop from there to the kinds of violent arguments I've seen in which the "righteous" party asks questions like "How can you even think of children that way?" or declares that they would never etc. etc. and begin reflecting on the lies these people must tell themselves constantly if they really believe what they're saying or simply aren't introspective enough to take stock of the thoughts they're actually having, essentially taking what is often a reviled position and finding something in it to which I can relate and at least try to understand - not something I'd ever act on, but at least a concept I can grasp and compare with my own lines of thought.

The conversation that followed started with my saying, "My brain worries me sometimes." Then explaining the above train of thought in more detail.

[Braioch]

My brain worries me often

[Saerrael]

Anyone here ever play the game of 'How did we get on this subject?'  After a typical conversation, you trace back the logical leaps that took you from point A to point Omicron (yes, so far removed from the original subject that you have to change alphabets).

*raises a hand* I call it Random Association Syndrome ::)
Than again, I have it with everything >.>'

[Seaweed]

This is very much like me. I have been diagnosed with Aspergers as well. But I lack many of the filters people do, I can't keep irrelevant ideas out of my head. And thus I am plagued with this need, not just a desire, but a need to write. And I write on everything. I lack sometimes center and focus though.

Thank you giving us this article. It was a nice read.

[Noelle]

It's a shame the article is under a paid cut, I'd like to actually read the full thing and decide for myself.

I have been doing art my whole life and don't find the whole "overstimulation" thing to be true at all for me in most of my interactions. If anything, I'm a serial multi-tasker and I can rarely do anything without something else happening in the background. I tune things out easily when I am making art, but I like to have music there even if I'm not consciously listening to it. I knit while I watch movies, hell, I even put things in my grocery cart while making sound effects. The only place I require no other noise or stimulation is when I sleep -- even light snoring keeps me awake and I wake up at the drop of a hat.

The only times I've felt overstimulated is when I'm in an intense place or situation, but I don't think it's anything unusual that a "normal" person wouldn't feel in the same circumstances. Malls make me feel overstimulated after about an hour or so, at which time I shut down and kind of stop "seeing" things because there's just shit everywhere to look at and so many people at once and noise and the like, but I don't see that as a product of my creativity in the least :P

[Jude]

Agreed on the paid cut thing.  It's sad that the evidence behind what so many people are simply taking for granted isn't actually displayed on this thread at all.  There's just so much speculation about what is said and commentary supposedly confirming it, which has broadened out into all sorts of ambiguous talk that has nothing to do with the article -- even the title itself is slightly misleading when compared to the abstract of the underlying study given.  There's zero discussion about the plausibility and actual logic behind these findings, so running with them and being openly introspective in this way is like treating science as if it's a horoscope.

The snippets that are actually given about this article for free are completely worthless in determining the validity of its claims.  There may be something to this, but it probably has more to do with functional fixedness, genetics, and psychology than anything mentioned here.

[Trieste]

What's really shitty of Scientific American is that even if you have a subscription, you have to buy this particular article. I'm not certain if it's because the article is a part of the upcoming issue, or if they just have content that they will only sell as individual content. One thing is certain, though: at $6 per article, I know that my institution is probably paying more than enough money that students should be able to read this.

Disgusting.

[Star Safyre]

*snorts in disgust*

Bad form.  What's the point of offering an article for free for a short while and then making it pay?  Guh, decidedly lame.

[Shadax]

Also, sound off if you still have fantasies that resemble so much the imagination games you had as a kid, imagining you're an awesome mage, a skilled sword wielder, secret agent, zombie survivor, sound off please so I don't feel so friggin' weird. Haha.

Oh yeah... good entertainment, that.

The over/under stimulation thingis a big for me. If I cant get enough stimulation from my environment, then I have to make my own, either by playing a game, writing or delving into the depths of my brain for some epic fantasy. Too much though, like a big party, then I ether drift into a daze or if it doesn't interest me then I completely disconnect from it all and go off into my head again. The fun part though where my environment isn't providing enough but I cant afford to go into my own head or do something else to compensate, like playing multilayer board games where it takes too long to get back to my turn. Then, rather then being directed inwards as my usually white wall of thought all the mental energy gets turned outwards and I go completely bonkers hyperactive. The running joke is that I can somehow get drunk on air.

The background noise is a big for me too - I hate silence. Unless, for some odd reason, I am doing housework then the quiet helps me to concentrate for an hour or two.

Anyone here ever play the game of 'How did we get on this subject?'  After a typical conversation, you trace back the logical leaps that took you from point A to point Omicron (yes, so far removed from the original subject that you have to change alphabets).

Lol, that is a common breathing point for many a wandering convocation. Yes.

[WhiteTigerForever]

The Unleashed Mind: Why Creative People Are Eccentric

This article is fascinating in many, many ways, but I immediately was drawn to this observation:

As a creative person from a very young age, I was always very sensitive to both distraction and lack of stimuli.  In noisy, crowded or overstimulating conditions, I find it impossible to think, hold a conversation, or think creatively.  Sometimes even the presence of another person quietly being in the same room is too much. 

Conversely, silence drives me insane.  When I try to sleep at night in a completely silent and dark room, I will stay up until ungodly hours filling the night with random thoughts, imagining, and, for lack of a better word, night-dreaming.  The absence of input makes my brain fill with all sorts of thoughts which make it impossible to fall sleep.  Night lights, running televisions, white noise machines all are quite necessary for me to get any rest.

Wow!,... the similarities in personality are fascinating as you also just described me.. but in a crowded room or outside, I talk and talk out of a tension and nervous energy... desperately fleeing to my isolation for respite.  Where I can be comfortable, without the over stimulation.

... and like you, the total lack of noise drives me crazy as every sound keeps me up, so I keep strong fans for white noise going all the time! 

Thanks for the topic and quote!  ;D

[DudelRok]

Think the only difference between myself and others here is how I respond to such over stimuli (or lack there of). I become agitated, down right angry with all the noise around me. In fact I've even got to the point where I call unwanted verbal exchange as nothing more than noise.

It is frustrating with so many people around. You can hear them all, make out every single freaking conversation and when others demand you pay attention it's a wonder how the hell they even can with all all that freaking static. I get so, so, mad that people are talking talking talking, about mindless dribble. I've learned to zone a lot of it out, mostly because I had very bad anger issues when I was much younger, and focus on things elsewhere when possible.

I have, however, grown used to silence, especially since it's not noise, in that I realized it's never truly silent. Most so, though, with me is total darkness. A complete lack of visual stimuli (yes, even while sleeping) bothers me horribly. So I leave electronics on just for their illuminated "On" lights (their electric hum helps too). Heaven forbid the power go out or I'll start pacing the house as my brain just goes and goes and goes.


For all of the above reason, I was given video games as a kid and continue to use them as a proper bright and flashy distraction. Handheld gaming is the work of The Gods, I tell you. Batteries is all you need and they are always there when you need distracting. :D

[VincentD]

      I find that pure silence is a luxury for myself as I live a couple hundred feet from a major freeway, so quiet time is a very rare thing as you can imagine. Whenever I went on Boy Scout trips <stop laughing.> I used to stay up most of the night just enjoying the lack of sounds in the city. At home I can turn everything off and still here the electric wires humming, the cable box, the upstairs neighbor's fridge. Gah.

      I find that writing focuses my thought floods almost perfectly, barring the fact that sometimes the thoughts come too fast for me to get straight and place on the screen or on paper. That very reason is why I have lost creative ideas, as if my brain stamps a expiration date on certain thoughts and if I wait too long...Poof! Never to be seen again.

   On the "how did we get to this topic" point, I find in myself that because I like people to know excatly what I mean and intend when I speak to them that I give far too much background information. Usually, while I'm explaining the background info that will spark another branch in thought, so then we're off to the races on that thought and etc, etc, ad nauseam. I do it to my friends ALL THE TIME.

     

[selfexiled]

Damn it just wiped my post.

I think im lookin in the mirror when I read all these posts.
My brain never stops I need silence every so often so I can make the brain shutup a minute.

"Also, sound off if you still have fantasies that resemble so much the imagination games you had as a kid, imagining you're an awesome mage, a skilled sword wielder, secret agent, zombie survivor, sound off please so I don't feel so friggin' weird. Haha." from Braioch

Wait a second...you mean, other people DON'T do that?  :D Starry night, I can't go thirty minutes without pretending I'm someone else. Of course,  whether that's a symptom of my creative eccentricity, latent schizophrenia, or just a desperate need for escapism is a roll of  the dice, lol.

So so so so so me!!!!!!!

[Roxy Rocket]

(removed for now)

[Oniya]

One can be eccentric without constantly displaying those eccentricities.  There isn't anyone (who knows much about him) who would deny that Richard Feynman was eccentric, yet there are plenty of pictures of him in business suits.  Some would suggest that Murray Gell-Mann's interest in amateur archaeology and bird watching is 'eccentric', simply because they can't see the appeal of wading through undergrowth in Bhutan with a pair of binoculars, or digging a hole with a toothbrush and not getting paid for it.  Carl Sagan was an advocate of marijuana use, and his widow has gone on to do work with NORML, and yet most people can't quite reconcile that with the suited host of Cosmos.

[Roxy Rocket]

(removed for now)

[Oniya]

I never said it would 'blow their worldview'.  It's more of a 'whoa, really?' moment.  Eccentricity isn't something that can be measured precisely (unless you're talking about planetary orbits), and can range from the mild (a hockey goalie who knits his own toques might be seen as a little odd) to the full-blown, 'crazy cat lady'. 

I'm not claiming it's a two-way correlation (the crazy cat lady is not necessarily a genius), or that you can't be creative without being quirky - although someone who is able to think outside the box is more likely to come up with an innovative solution to a problem; or even that creativity equates to genius. 

[Reena]

I consider myself to be fairly creative, yet I think I'd be the exact opposite of what everyone is describing. I find myself focusing too much on certain things more often than too little. Once I find an interesting idea, I just stick to it and think about all the different ways I can go with it. I also can sometimes focus too much on music, and it takes a person shouting at me or tapping me on the shoulder to get my attention just because I get so immersed in it.

Unfortunately, this also causes a lot of information to get filtered out. This is why I'm horrible with people's names - my brain just doesn't seem to think that a person's name is a very important piece of information. I still forget the names of people I've known for years. There is such a thing as too much of a filter as well as too little.

Creativity is just one of those traits I don't think can quite be pinned down. I've seen creativity in all kinds of different people with all kinds of different personalities and backgrounds. And rarely is the creativity channeled into the same niche. When people think of creativity, they think of artistic people, but really creativity can be expressed in just about any form, from creating a sports play to solving scientific problems to deciding the best way a doctor can treat a patient who is unable to be clearly diagnosed. I doubt creativity is linked to a person's ability to focus.

[WhiteTigerForever]

One can be eccentric without constantly displaying those eccentricities.  There isn't anyone (who knows much about him) who would deny that Richard Feynman was eccentric, yet there are plenty of pictures of him in business suits.  Some would suggest that Murray Gell-Mann's interest in amateur archaeology and bird watching is 'eccentric', simply because they can't see the appeal of wading through undergrowth in Bhutan with a pair of binoculars, or digging a hole with a toothbrush and not getting paid for it.  Carl Sagan was an advocate of marijuana use, and his widow has gone on to do work with NORML, and yet most people can't quite reconcile that with the suited host of Cosmos.

Though I personally don't like or use Mary Jane, I am for the legalization of it.. seriously.. have you ever seen a group of stoned guys go up to a bank and rob it?  By the time they would have even gotten to the teller, they would have forgotten why they were there and robbed her of all her/his lollipops!  XD   I, as I always have been, and am a great lover of the beloved Carl Sagan.

(esp. when I learned the word googooplex!  ha ha ha ha ha)


There have been many studies, from hunter gatherer societies, including those in the mental health profession, going back to the 60's researching into the use of mind altering substances, ex: peyote, used appropriately for religious or ceremonial purposes and what it may or may not connect the individual to in many arenas not yet accepted or tolerated by modern science.

There is a razon's edge between the village medicine man/woman and the village idiot, cast out.  Cultural perception, timing, many things have to do with it. :D

[Oniya]

It's more that 'razor's edge' that I was trying to get at.  Again, there's nothing 'mind-blowing' about any of those eccentricities that I mentioned - they were simply something a bit outside the average expectation.  I deliberately chose scientists for my examples because most non-scientists consider them intelligent and possibly a bit stodgy.  Sagan was one that most people were exposed to (through Cosmos), and I'll admit that I was surprised to learn that little tidbit about him.  Feynman is on the other end of the scale - anecdotes of how strange he was are a dime a dozen, but he could also 'fit in' with the suited, stodgy set.  At least long enough for pictures.  ;D 

[WhiteTigerForever]

I began to love Sagan from my astronomy classes back in the day..lol.  I had never watched his show or knew about it until I looked into him as a person more.  *weakness for astrophysics, math, chem, physics majors* hee hee (ooops I just gave away my husbands majors before he said...."Okay, I've accomplished all this.", and then said, "Now what am I going to do with it?", then changed his major and started all over in teaching...lol  ;D  So those will be the subjects he will teach at a later level for the young 15 to 19 age group.  (Or at least that's his goals atm besides... us.. ;D but your point in this topic I completely agree with Oniya! 

[Jacqueline]

Wow, I found this article rather fascinating. Thanks for sharing it Star!

[Serephino]

It's interesting to me because I've been wondering about this.  It seems to me like there are a lot of people here that aren't quite 'normal', myself included.  It's nice to know you're not alone.

I sleep with the TV on too, and a fan.  They mix together nicely for white noise.  If I don't have it I can fall asleep, but I can't stay asleep.  If the power or cable goes out while I'm sleeping I'll wake up within the hour, and will keep waking up every hour or so until it either comes back on or it's time to get up.  My boyfriend sees no problem with shutting off the cable to save money.  I'd sleep eventually.....

I can't read with a lot of noise around me though.  I can't concentrate on what I'm reading.  I have to have absolute quiet for that, though my brain comes up with alternative plots as I read.  My stupid brain is incapable of doing one thing at a time.

The absolute worst is when I have so many thoughts going at once I can't make sense of any of them.  It's like my mind is blank with extremely random bits of a thought popping to the front every so often.  *screams*

[Oniya]

If you want to cut out the cable, get yourself a cheap radio and tune it to or near a talk station.  Since you're using it for white (or slightly beige) noise, it shouldn't matter if you can't pick it up exactly clearly. 

[WhiteTigerForever]

WOOT! for a desperate need for massive white noise, usually in the form of fans blowing away from me.  If the sounds go off, I wake up, and then even still have trouble sleeping.  The paradox is that if there is the slightest draft on me, I can't take it and have to cover ears and body...@,@... go figure... eccentric is an understatement...lol! (and that's just my quirky sleeping habits... he he

[manlocksol]

I notice that the more eccentric a personality is, then often the more creative the person. Not always but often.

I think most people have slight eccentricities and most spend their lives trying to hide them. But some don't care to hide them or are simply more eccentric than others.

I like to think of myself as fairly imaginative and have as many character .... nuances as the next person. Whether there is a connection? Who knows.

Good article, really good :)

[Nico]

I do not know if I am eccentric. I think that only other people really can judge that! I am an artist and I consider myself quite creative in my field, but eccentric? I dunno! ~laughs~

As for other people I know? I do not think that any of them is eccentric. Unique, certainly, maybe with their very own little quirks and stuff, but I don't consider them really eccentric!

[WhiteTigerForever]

I do not know if I am eccentric. I think that only other people really can judge that! I am an artist and I consider myself quite creative in my field, but eccentric? I dunno! ~laughs~

As for other people I know? I do not think that any of them is eccentric. Unique, certainly, maybe with their very own little quirks and stuff, but I don't consider them really eccentric!

Unique, eccentric, it doesn't matter Nicolas.. you are greatly loved! <3  (even by this very eccentric goofball!)

[Kuroneko]

I like to think of myself as eccletic, rather than eccentric ;)

[ShadowFox89]

The Unleashed Mind: Why Creative People Are Eccentric

This article is fascinating in many, many ways, but I immediately was drawn to this observation:

As a creative person from a very young age, I was always very sensitive to both distraction and lack of stimuli.  In noisy, crowded or overstimulating conditions, I find it impossible to think, hold a conversation, or think creatively.  Sometimes even the presence of another person quietly being in the same room is too much. 

Conversely, silence drives me insane.  When I try to sleep at night in a completely silent and dark room, I will stay up until ungodly hours filling the night with random thoughts, imagining, and, for lack of a better word, night-dreaming.  The absence of input makes my brain fill with all sorts of thoughts which make it impossible to fall sleep.  Night lights, running televisions, white noise machines all are quite necessary for me to get any rest.

Heh, I have the same problems....

Dunno about being eccentric though. I'd consider myself more of an apathetic person than anything.