Jasper County Democrat, Volume 22, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 August 1919 — Great Scientist, Scholar, Thinker, Usually Not an All Around Good Fellow [ARTICLE]

Great Scientist, Scholar, Thinker, Usually Not an All Around Good Fellow

There is always danger when any one concentrates that the concentration will be carried too far—so far that It produces a narrow, one-sided and warped point of view, observes a writer. The great scientist, the great scholar and great thinker in any line, Is usually not nn all around “good fellow.” “Crabbed,” “queer,” “peculiar,” “odd,” “funny,” and “warped”—are these not the adjectives that generally describe the geniuses of the world? The very effort to concentrate on the one subject which has brought success has made it Impossible to keep in. touch with the thousand and one currents of thoughts and topics of conversation which go to make up comfortable and easy-going life. Like the old sea captain, these geniuses miss something in their effort to fix their attention on one thing. In spite of this danger, It is a good thing to work for concentration. The likelihood of becoming one-sided is big where genius is concerned, but then It can be excused. Most of us can safely concentrate our attention and still feel sure that we will keep in touch with the world about us.