"Eccentric" Genius

 I've seen it most recently with the controversy over Joss Whedon. A creative genius is defended for bad behavior on the grounds that geniuses are often "eccentric".

 

Now, I know that "eccentric behavior" in this context is actually a euphemism for "asshole behavior". But I want to take the word "eccentric" at face value for a moment.

 

When I was in my early twenties, I had a year that I look back on as my "Year of Depression". I spent almost an entire year in a funk. One thing I remember thinking, often, that because I wasn't some kind of genius, it wasn't OK for me to be weird, different, eccentric, etc. It's OK for geniuses to be like that - not the rest of  us. The rest of us are losers.

 

I have a much more positive opinion of myself now in all kinds of ways. But one thing I strongly believe now is that everyone has a right to be eccentric - not just geniuses. And if by "eccentric" you mean "acting like an asshole" - well, no one has a right to be like that, genius or otherwise.