Eccentrics and Eccentricity: Definition, Famous Eccentrics, Benefits and Characteristics
Posted: Saturday, May 01, 2010
by Connor Davidson
Let's start with: what on Mars or any other bodies of mass, which are not the Earth (can't have clichés now can we?), is eccentricity and what the duck is an eccentric? Well, Wikipedia has a lovely list (which being, Wikipedia, they won't smite me for using it) which gives the characteristics of an eccentric and from which the definition can be derived:
* Creative
* Intense curiosity
* Idealistic
* Happy obsession with a hobby or hobbies
* Known very early in his or her childhood they were different from others
* Highly intelligent
* Opinionated and outspoken
* Unusual living or eating habits
* Not interested in the opinions or company of others
* Mischievous sense of humor
* Single
* Usually the eldest or an only child "
Essentially eccentricity is not acting within the set-parameters of this, at times, elusive idea of normality. For example someone who goes out to buy the new X-factor CD is considered to be normal but someone who spends hours scouring the internet to find a single copy of an ancient record by an obscure artist that they are the only person in the town who knows of their existence would be considered odd. Another example would be someone who likes a little chat about this and that compared to someone who would like nothing better than a four hour discussion on the life and works of Leo Tolstoy (an eccentric himself).
However the thing few people realise is that the person with the obscure record and the Tolstoy enthusiast can be just as happy and sane as the X-Factor CD person and the little chat person. In fact research suggest that eccentrics may be happier. The physiologist Dr David Weeks suggest that eccentrics are less likely to develop mental illnesses.
Now, I think it is about time to look at some very interesting, important and famous eccentrics.
Albert Einstein
I would find it very difficult to argue that Einstein was not the greatest scientist of the twenty century. Einstein was also a great eccentric. In an article in The Daily Telegraph (http://bit.ly/aVug3C) it was explained that he would collect cigarette butts off the street in an effort to stop his doctor from stopping him smoking.
In the article his grandson also recalls that he talked continually about the Newtonian mathematics of soap bubbles.
Alfred Mehran
Alfred Mehran - also known as Sir, Alfred Mehram (comma is intentional) - was a man who lived in the departure lounge of Charles de Gaul international airport for 18 years and is thought to have been the inspiration of the film "The Terminal". He was very happy living in the airport and spent his time reading, writing in his diary (he now has an autobiography) and studying economics.
The reason for him living in the airport for so long was he could not provide adequate papers to the authorities and they did not know where to deport him to.
Hetty Green
Hetty Green became famous for her extreme stinginess. There are various stories about her eccentricities regarding money, some of which I suspect are extensions of the truth but many I'm very confident are true. She famously only wore one old black dress which she only washed the dirty bits to save money on soap. She also did not wash her hands either. She would eat pies that cost only fifteen cents and travel hundreds of miles to recover debts of only a few hundred dollars. Allegedly she stayed up late into the night to search her carriage for a single stamp. Oh and did I forget to mention she was a multibillionaire (in modern currency) and one of the richest woman in America at the time?
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde is arguably the greatest playwright of all time and probably the most eccentric. I mean have you ever read the Importance of Being Earnest? The things he comes out with are beyond the merger bizarre or the wilting whacking its out and out bonkers. Consider this dialogue from Algernon Moncrieff: "From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack. There is no objection, I admit, to an aunt being a small aunt, but why an aunt, no matter what her size may be, should call her own nephew her uncle, I can't quite make out".
After a brief 'Bunbury' into his works lets go and look at the man and his various eccentricities. Wilde's bizarre image did not simply extend to his clothing as he would also occasionally walk down the street with a lobster on a leash. He also had quite an obsession with bright blue china, sunflowers and peacock feathers. As to why we may never know.
I could go on since there are so many more eccentric people I could go into but you get the idea. The above are the more extreme examples. I'm widely considered an eccentric but look like a rather bland conformist by comparison.
The reason eccentrics are eccentric is because their perception of normality differs from that of other people's. I find normality rather stupid. If you like something like it, if you don't like it don't like it. Live your life the way that makes sense to you. Forget whether other people will find it totally nonsensical. After all they are other people.
Live long and prosper
Connor Davidson is a UK based writer. He writes on wide variety of topics with his main interest being science, maths and engineering.
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You can keep up to date with his writings by following him on twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Connor_Davidson.
Feel free to reprint these articles on your website by using the reprint button. If you have any questions or comments please post them below - I read all comments.
You can keep up to date with his writings by following him on twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Connor_Davidson.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Excellent article Connor, please keep up the good work!Yes, by today's standards you probably would be considered eccentric.I don't know but from time to time you probably even feel as though you have been placed on this Earth 1000 or so years prematurely. But this is the price that must be paid by forward thinking.But were it not for this eccentricity we would still be living in the dark ages, where many of the residents on this planet still reside.So thanks, and looking forward to reading your future insights,David LevittGood point. Though I suspect in hundreds of thousands of years when we are a space civilization Douglas Adams with his Hitchhikers Guide will still be considered bonkers. Alas.Thanks for the comment.
I always wondered who held on to the keys of the could's and the should's.who makes up all the rules to live by. Very enjoyable article Connor. Thanks for sharing.Thanks for the commenent.
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