Mental illness

[bennyboy]

In addition, the more I read, the more it seems likely that William Blake may have been the same way; his more esoteric and prophetic works may very well have been inspired by visions consistent with Schizophrenia, but I've heard at least one person discounting the hypothesis on the grounds that it didn't really have much of a negative effect on his life, professional or personal.

I think you'll find that very many of the greatest minds and achievers flirt with various kinds of borderline illnesses: schizophrenia, delusions of grandeur, autism, etc. Really, the main difference is that the geniuses managed to "bring back" new ideas that others found useful or entertaining, and that crazy people did not.

I think this makes sense, as greatness is not normal, and is predicated on abnormal behaviors, ideas or experience, by definition. The goodness/badness of that abnormality depends on chance and the arbitrary attributions of others.