Eccentrics: A Study of Sanity and Strangeness

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Feb 26, 1996 | by Holly McDermott

Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone and tried to teach his dog to speak. Benjamin Franklin, as well as "discovering" electricity, was a part-time nudist. What makes such talented people eccentric?

After conducting interviews and various IQ and personality tests on more than 1,000 subjects in Great Britain and the United States, neuropsychologist David Weeks and his research team pinpointed 15 characteristics common to eccentrics, the first five being most prevalent: "nonconforming; creative; strongly motivated by curiosity; idealistic; happily obsessed with one or more hobbyhorses."

Weeks and coauthor Jamie James illustrate these characteristics in Eccentrics: A Study of Sanity and Strangeness (Villard, 277 pp), a history of British and American eccentricity from 1551 to 1950. Readers will find here the likes of Henry Prentice, who was said "never to have shaken the hand of anyone over the age of 2"; and Jack Mytton, who fed his 2,000 dogs champagne and steak.

"Eccentricity is at least partly a matter of choice, a choice that requires considerable bravery," write the authors. Armed with the confidence to stand against the pressures of conformity during childhood, eccentrics report having felt "isolated" and finding pleasure in "solitary interests."

Challenging the notion that eccentrics may be mentally ill, Weeks distinguishes the differences: Eccentrics do not suffer from and do not want a cure for their eccentricity. He finds them psychologically and physically healthier than the rest of the population and attributes this to a happier state grounded in an optimistic approach to life and the reduced stress of nonconformity.