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Well, ok. I suppose anecdotal samples are not the best evidence for either side. I'd like to imagine that most artists are relatively well-adjusted.

Anyway, that's the kind of world I'd like to live in. Everyone can (and should) be an artist to some degree. While I do agree with the fairly obvious point that some people are more talented than others, I reject the idea that there are "genius artists", spikes of talent on an otherwise smooth talent-graph.



>>>I'd like to imagine that most artists are relatively well-adjusted.

Keep imagining. But great ones aren't. Go read:

Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament by Kay Redfield Jamison http://www.amazon.com/Touched-With-Fire-ebook/dp/B001D1YCM2

The Outsider by Colin Wilson http://www.amazon.com/The-Outsider-Colin-Wilson/dp/087477206...

The Price of Greatness: Resolving the Creativity and Madness Controversy by Arnold M. Ludwig http://www.amazon.com/The-Price-Greatness-Creativity-Controv...

EDIT to add: Why Jobs stood out is because the closest equivalent to what he was is a film director. But business is not set up to hand out accolades like Hollywood does. So instead of everyone learning who did what in Apple -- as with film we find out about sound editors, foley artists, etc, etc. -- we just get the face of Jobs.


Most evidence suggests the contrary.




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