Being Crazy Smart

While I was handpicking tufts of grass growing in between the bricks on my patio, my neighbor Andy (who I like a lot), hearing me putzing in my yard began to speak to me through the 15 foot wall of arborvitae which separates our yards. He inquired what are you up to? And I told him. And he said what tool are you using? I said my hand. Andy remarked Try a can opener—that’s what I use. I replied Hmm that’s smart. And  he told me a story:

A man was driving his car and the rear wheel fell off. When the man pulled over to the side of the road he noticed all 4 lugs which would have held the wheel on were gone. The man did not have his cell phone so he went into the first building he saw to seek aid—which happened to be a home for the mentally ill. And a man greeted him at the door and asked if he could help. So the man with the car issue stated his problem. And the man who greeted him said Oh—that’s easy to solve--just take one lug from the remaining 3 tires—that way each wheel will have 3 luggs. That will be good enough to get you to the nearest gas station where they may fix the car. And the man with the car issue was thankful for such clever advice. And he asked By the way do you work here? And the man said No—I am a resident—just because I am crazy doesn’t mean I am stupid.

I had become friendly with the mother of one of my daughter’s friends—that is until I realized that she was a bit of a sociopath. She told me things that I wanted to hear as a tool of manipulation. And during a discussion, when her mania stood in full transparency, she made a raw comment about a good friend of mine. And I defended my friend but at the same time understood that her assessment was cogent—too cogent--so cogent it seared. I spoke of it to no one.  I locked it away—occasionally turning the key, taking a peek inside, and relocking  it again.

Unfortunately just because the woman was crazy didn’t mean she was stupid. In fact some of the most creative and intelligent people have been clinically insane—like Van Gogh or Tennessee Williams or Kurt Vonnegut. And some of the most innovative people fit this bill too: Howard Hughes and some might say even Steve Jobs. There can be a fine line sometimes between genius and madness. Which is why the converse to the adage is also true: Just because you are sane doesn’t mean you are smart.

Smarter people judge information solely on its content--the sanity of the source is always secondary information.