While reading The Professor and The Madman, I got a sense of deja vu. There was something about this story that I was familiar with. It took me a while to figure it out, but then I finally understood. This is yet another example of how utter brilliancy and utter craziness go hand in hand. The character of Minor is obviously complex in that he single-handedly contributed more than 1,000 words to the Oxford English Dictionary, but his brilliancy, much like a double-edged sword, equated his craziness as a murderer in an insane asylum.
I think people are genuinely fascinated by characters such as Minor. There are countless books and films with astounded popularity that will back up my claim. Think of characters such as Hannibal Lector, John Nash from A Beautiful Mind, or even the real life Howard Hughes. They are all brilliant men, and they end up being twelve kinds of crazy.
I just can't help but wonder what do characters like these suggest? That there is such a thing as being too smart or too brilliant? That being brilliant must come with a price? Its just an interesting concept that seems to have been proven true numerous times... and makes me somewhat glad that I am not a genius.
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Though it would be awesome to be a genius, I agree that it would have its downfalls, some of which lead to murdering and becoming completely insane. For that reason, I too am glad I am not termed "genius."
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