I met a homeless man who was into his 80s, but remarkably smart. He's been around before the television came out, so he's seen the whole explosion of technology era. But here is a list I made of him, that I always admired, but always wondered HOW to be like him?? Here it is:
1- Most (if not all) of his information, comes from reading.
2- He has 2 Phds that I know of (Chemistry and an Engineering degree) possibly more.
3- His memory is startling. He can remember whole layouts of cities. He would talk about buildings that were taken down 15 years ago in NYC. And he know the same about countries he's visited, like France. He'd say: "And if you walked 4 blocks North and made a left from there, you'd find a small bakery that's been around since 1889."
4- He knows everything, about everything...
Example: He'd talk about Airplanes and their origins. Then he would talk about the type of "rivets" they'd use and where "rivets" originated from. And 2 hours later, he's talking about the slaves in Europe that helped make it possible. And an hour after that, he's talking about the Fall of Rome. He can go on and on.
I don't know why he chose to be homeless. But he spends his evenings, either in the NY public library, reading a random non-fiction book (usually the encyclopedias), or standing in front of a Chase bank holding doors open for people so they could spare some change.
Bonus question:
Does being too smart eventually make you crazy/eccentric?? I keep hearing that, and I'm hoping it's not true because even though I'm not a genius myself, I am very curious by nature, and they say curiosity is a major backbone of Genius,
1- Most (if not all) of his information, comes from reading.
2- He has 2 Phds that I know of (Chemistry and an Engineering degree) possibly more.
3- His memory is startling. He can remember whole layouts of cities. He would talk about buildings that were taken down 15 years ago in NYC. And he know the same about countries he's visited, like France. He'd say: "And if you walked 4 blocks North and made a left from there, you'd find a small bakery that's been around since 1889."
4- He knows everything, about everything...
Example: He'd talk about Airplanes and their origins. Then he would talk about the type of "rivets" they'd use and where "rivets" originated from. And 2 hours later, he's talking about the slaves in Europe that helped make it possible. And an hour after that, he's talking about the Fall of Rome. He can go on and on.
I don't know why he chose to be homeless. But he spends his evenings, either in the NY public library, reading a random non-fiction book (usually the encyclopedias), or standing in front of a Chase bank holding doors open for people so they could spare some change.
Bonus question:
Does being too smart eventually make you crazy/eccentric?? I keep hearing that, and I'm hoping it's not true because even though I'm not a genius myself, I am very curious by nature, and they say curiosity is a major backbone of Genius,