The confederacy of dunces

"When a true genius appears in this world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."—Jonathan Swift: Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting.

Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745, was an Irish literary genius, born in Dublin on November 30 1667. He lived the life of a satirist - at war with the world he saw around him, using words as his weapons. Given the litigious world in which he lived (which might sound familiar to anyone living in the modern Western world), he often wrote under pseudonyms. He is most famed for writing Gulliver's Travels, a satire on his times, and its problems. The quotation above is, perhaps, his most famous remark.

I bring up the matter of Jonathan Swift's remark, for a very important reason. People of genius, whether they be gifted children or talented adults, often find themselves opposed by others. Their new ideas are blocked at every turn by the concerted opposition of their ungifted brethren. This is not a new phenomenon, as the remark of Jonathan Swift, above, makes clear.

I have seen this force at work in my own life - and have read of many examples of an innovator, or creative person, meeting great resistance, from the society around them.

Rather than give you my own examples, at this time, I would like to invite you to comment on any experience that you or your gifted children may have had with this tendency. It may appear in two main forms - and a third unfortunate one. One is the resistance to adopting a new idea - people often find reasons why it won't work or they shouldn't do it. (Alternatively they might just plagiarize you!) Another category is resistance to the genius themselves: ensuring that the gifted individual cannot proceed with their project, idea, plan. There is a final category of resistance. In some times and societies, someone with a new or awkward idea is eliminated, permanently.

So, if you are a creative person, or have creative friends and relatives - and have any experience, major or minor, that supports Jonathan Swift's contention, please comment on this post. Thanks.

(If you would like to learn about a scientific child prodigy, Ainan Celeste Cawley, six, and his gifted brothers, go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html )