Vaughan Pratt wrote:
Aren't artistic types alleged to be more prone to mental illness than say sales clerks, real estate agents, auto mechanics, farmers, lumberjacks, etc? More generally, creative people? On that basis would one expect a higher prevalence of mental disorders among theoretical physicists (Boltzmann) than experimental ones (Rutherford), or among mathematicians than engineers, or among top chefs than short order cooks?
Everyone seems to be a mental health expert today, just as everyone is an expert on evolution and global warming (but not quantum mechanics or ecology or anesthesiology, funny how that works). I'd be uncomfortable with any innuendos of this kind about theoreticians vs. practitioners, or creatives vs servants, or prima donnas vs. choristers, without some solid independent evaluation of this question by professionals with a substantial track record in mental health. Has any such evaluation been made?
Vaughan Pratt
I seem to recall some such work on Asperger's see book by Ioan James and a benefides neuroscientist jim [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]