Twenty five centuries ago, Greek philosopher Socrates claimed that to be wise is to be “ignorant… not [believing] that [one knows] anything” after having failed to prove that statement wrong (Plato). While ostensibly an empty paradox, these words have much to say about the state of mankind; in a society and a race in which narcissism and arrogance abound, there are none wiser than he who claims to not be, for he remains humble and open to new facts and opinions, instead of being blinded by his own ego. The undisputable fact that humility is the only true path to wisdom applies to all areas of life – limited view, shown by the American public’s reaction to the Vietnam War, limited scientific knowledge and limited overall ability of a species,
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Born in July of 1856 with an incredibly acute mind, Tesla excelled in all his initial studies, could do advanced calculus and memorize entire books in his head, and later went on to invent the modern world one wire and switch at a time. His 300 patents, which include AC electricity, speedometers, and VTOL planes, only account for half of the things he invented, a list that includes the radio, of which he, not Marconi, who had received both the credit and the Nobel Prize, was recognized by the Supreme Court in 1943 as the inventor, and the X-ray, which Roentgen was credit for discovering 3 years after Tesla did (Seifer). In 1917, he ironically received the Edison Medal, named in honor of the “inventor” of the light bulb, who Tesla viewed after working with and being scammed by as “extremely inefficient”, saved by “blind chance…[and] trusting entirely to… instinct and practical… sense” (Seifer). Tesla’s mind, his greatest asset, also became his greatest enemy. On a never-ending quest for knowledge, Tesla refused to marry and developed very few relationships in order to keep his mind uncluttered and pristine, wiggled his toes 100 times daily before going to sleep to stimulate his mind, and often suffered violent mental breakdowns. He was well-aware, even more than many …show more content…
He concluded that the depression and anxiety were caused by high IQ’s, due to the fact that the people with higher IQ’s have higher expectations of themselves and will work themselves harder due to these higher expectations (Coplan). Although there was a very strong correlation between high IQ’s and anxiety and depression, this correlation is indirect, because it was not the high IQ that causes the anxiety but the high expectations that often resulted from having a high IQ. Evidence showed that high-levels of anxiety were strongly correlated with high expectations on all IQ levels and that the low IQ’s only appeared resistant to anxiety because a large majority of the low IQ people had lower expectations of themselves; therefore, the only factor shown to cause high levels of anxiety was having high expectations, originating from a want to constantly exceed one’s limits (Coplan). It is important that all people, geniuses or not, recognize their limits and the limits of their race; even brilliant Tesla, although he initially refused, accepted his limits as he matured physically and, more importantly,
Born in July of 1856 with an incredibly acute mind, Tesla excelled in all his initial studies, could do advanced calculus and memorize entire books in his head, and later went on to invent the modern world one wire and switch at a time. His 300 patents, which include AC electricity, speedometers, and VTOL planes, only account for half of the things he invented, a list that includes the radio, of which he, not Marconi, who had received both the credit and the Nobel Prize, was recognized by the Supreme Court in 1943 as the inventor, and the X-ray, which Roentgen was credit for discovering 3 years after Tesla did (Seifer). In 1917, he ironically received the Edison Medal, named in honor of the “inventor” of the light bulb, who Tesla viewed after working with and being scammed by as “extremely inefficient”, saved by “blind chance…[and] trusting entirely to… instinct and practical… sense” (Seifer). Tesla’s mind, his greatest asset, also became his greatest enemy. On a never-ending quest for knowledge, Tesla refused to marry and developed very few relationships in order to keep his mind uncluttered and pristine, wiggled his toes 100 times daily before going to sleep to stimulate his mind, and often suffered violent mental breakdowns. He was well-aware, even more than many …show more content…
He concluded that the depression and anxiety were caused by high IQ’s, due to the fact that the people with higher IQ’s have higher expectations of themselves and will work themselves harder due to these higher expectations (Coplan). Although there was a very strong correlation between high IQ’s and anxiety and depression, this correlation is indirect, because it was not the high IQ that causes the anxiety but the high expectations that often resulted from having a high IQ. Evidence showed that high-levels of anxiety were strongly correlated with high expectations on all IQ levels and that the low IQ’s only appeared resistant to anxiety because a large majority of the low IQ people had lower expectations of themselves; therefore, the only factor shown to cause high levels of anxiety was having high expectations, originating from a want to constantly exceed one’s limits (Coplan). It is important that all people, geniuses or not, recognize their limits and the limits of their race; even brilliant Tesla, although he initially refused, accepted his limits as he matured physically and, more importantly,