Hughes

"One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea" (Bagehot). I think that this quote encapsulates some of the dialogue in the Pearce text and the subject-matter of the course thus far. We have been reevaluating commonly held western worldviews, and studying cultural practices that seem hard for some to accept or even briefly indulge. In any event, I enjoyed the Hughes reading this week. It was interesting to see how many influential people throughout history suffered from some type of disease that either influenced or directly contributed to their legacy. Although, I'm not exactly persuaded that Sir Isaac Newton was a schizophrenic. Anyhow, I was wondering where Pearce's disorder, autism, fits into this discussion. Particularly, I was wondering how many other creatives, besides Pearce, throughout history were autistic. Pearce argues that his former disorder can facilitate the contemplation of great, new ideas, yet I think that he needs a little more corroboration to support the validity of this claim.