The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1915-08-09
Genius Is Not Insanity.
Nv n. ApplNcToN BRUCE,
Author OF The Riddle Of Personality"
Psychology and Parcnthood." ETC.

A mistaken notion. which has done much &c
| encourage self-satisned mediocrity Is that gen
| ius is form Of insanity. This absolutely RAISE
idea needs to be rooted out Of the popular mind
into which 1t was implanted chiefly oy the ef
forts Of q group OF European anthropoloeists
These gentlemen headed by the celebrated
Cesare Lombroso, arrived at their insanity
theory of genius by an exceedingly simple IL Ia
borious method.
They secured through thousands of biographs
of iustrious men, seeking evidence that al
some period in their lives these men had acted
"queerly."
Naturally they found a great many men OF
genius who had indeed acted queerly. and a
great many others who had been positively In
sane.
With this multitude Of horrible examples as
a convenient jumpingboard. Lombroso and his
disciples then proceeded to leap to the aston
| ishing conclusion that all men OF genius are
more or less insane.
To the weight Of their scholastic authority
| and to the bulky books they have published Civ
| ing details Of the vagaries Of certain men OF
genius is largely due the erroneous belief SO
| widespread today.
Actually the proportion of insanity among
men Of genius Is little. II at all, higher than the
proportion OF insanity among men In general.
| This has been demonstrated perhaps most
convincingly by the English psychologist Have
| lock Ellis.
| Unlike the Lombrosians, Mr.. Ellis made nc
| arbitrary selection Of individual men OF genius
| He took them in the mass studying the lives OF
Great Britans most famous men and women az
| given in standard dictionary Of biography.
| OF the one thousand and thirty men and
| women Of acknowledged intellectual pre-emi
| hence whose lives he analysed, be found only
A ascertainable cases Of insanity.
This is but AZ per cent. And even this per
| centage Is unduy high as indicating any
definite relationship between genius and insan
| ity.
| For OF the A men OF genius who were al
some time or other insane, the insanity OF IL
was merely the dementia so often observed In
old age, and developing long after the years OF
most productive activity.
Thus more than IS per cent. OF Great Britain's
most eminent and women have been az
sane as, perhaps saner than, the men and won
en- OF average Intellectual achievement.
| So far as | am aware, no similar survey has
been made Of the men and women who have
done most TO shed lustre on our own land. But
such a survey, have no doubt would yield ar
| Identical result
Indeed, a moments reflection ought TO satisfy
anybody as TO the absurdity OF the insanit,
| theory with regard 10 American genius.
Was Washington insane? Or Jefferson. Of
| Hamilton, or Franklin? Was insanity the dis
tlnguishing marx OF Abraham Lincoln? Car
Emerson. Longfelow. Lowell and Julia Ware
| Howe be dismissed with wave Of the hand Al
| Insane persons?
Coming down TO the present day, woult
| Thomas A. Edison be counted among the world
foremost lunatics? Or Charles W. Eliot? o.
| Lyman Abbott?
The sooner people rid themselves of the falls.
! insanity doctrine, the sooner the way will b.
cleared for intelligent bordering Of the question
Ii not the man OF genius. after all. representa-
tive OF higher possibilities open TO the human
race. and II II not possible TO some extent 4
produce more men Of genius by proper traininl
| and environment?
To this question for one believe that ulti
mately An affirmative reply will be given.