::scr The Geek Syndrome

[Earle Martin]

On Fri, Dec 07, 2001 at 03:50:53PM +0000, Simon Batistoni wrote:
> I wonder briefly where depression fits in amongst all this...
> 
> Most (probably all) of the geeks I know are prone to bouts of
> self-doubt and varying degrees of depression, from mild week-long
> funks to what seems like pretty serious clinical stuff.

<raises hand/> I've suffered from depression since I was around ten years
old as I can recall - periodic bouts of clinical depression. Since I've been
hooked up it hasn't happened as much, probably because I now have someone
who's always ready to proffer a shoulder to cry on.
 
> I always had a theory that intelligence increases your vulnerability
> to these things. It's a cheesy way of thinking about it, but it
> almost seems the faster a person's mind whizzes internally, the more
> prone it is to wobble and fly off at an angle every so often.

This is pretty close to what I've always thought. I'd be interested,
actually, to compile a table of geeks and their various syndromes and
cross-compare it also to, say, their Keirsey types[0] - and also throw in 
a bunch of non-geeks. I would imagine that strong trends would emerge.

> > There are also other trends such as almost universally bad
> > handwriting (even before extended contact with computers precluded
> > writing stuff by hand.
> 
> My handwriting was always fairly average. A bit yickier than average
> maybe. 

Alright, it's time for the Write-a-particular-phrase-and-scan-it-in
Challenge. We'll also need control subjects of non-geekiness.
 

[0] http://www.keirsey.com/

-- 
We now know that the heart is the philosophers' stone
Our music is our alchemy                     - Saul Williams, "Coded Language"