Do you-think of a brainiac as someone like Bill Gates, or those characters on the TV show "The Big Bang Theory"? What about the painter Van Gogh, or the self-taught and well-read cab driver? Most intelligence theories involve many different kinds of intelligence, and still the term "brainiac" is relatively new, and it's not even in my spell checker. Best I can tell it originated from a monster in the superman comics, but has lately become a term associated smart geeks. Do you have other examples of brainiacs, or different ideas on how it can be defined?
There were four responses:
1. At first glance, was not "Brainiac" the name given to one of the first super computers quite a long time ago?
I may be mistaken but I have some kind of vague memory of such a thing.
2. I think the term "brainiac" should refer not just to the scientifically knowledgeable, but to the worldly curious. I think we all should try to be as curious about almost everything, as much as we can.
One of the best experiences you can give a child, a growing Brainiac, or brain, is to ask; "Do you have any questions?"
Their response is often, "Questions about what?" to which you reply; "Questions about anything..." Then when they show their curiousity or concern about something, you help them find the answer, so much easier now, more than ever, using the Internet. Then watch as their enthusiasm grows, they becom enlightened in front of you, and so, do you. We grow better by wonder and curiousity, and trying to find the answer. If you encourage it in others, or even yourslef, you become wiser and smarter, often happier.
Brainiac for me, seems to represent someone who holds a lot of knowledge. It seems rather cold and distant, like one of the first large computers.
However, the best stories of The Big Bang Theory involve not just the intelligence of the characters, the Brainiacs that they are, but even more importantly, their kindness and love for each other, encompassing their geekiness for what it is, and being glorious there.
Hawk
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Definitely the guys on "Big Bang Theory", Temperance Brennan from Bones, the math guys on NUMB3RS (Charlie and buddies). They are folks who are very analytical and consider even everyday decisions on the basis of numbers and science. Example 1: deciding what to order in a restaurant, they might consider the nutritional value (maybe calorie count) versus price of the item to get the optimal value. Or they might consider preparation time to select the item that will be ready the fastest (while including the time it will take to eat the item). Or they might do a probability table to decide which item has the least risk of contamination. How it tastes and what they like wont even come into the picture. Example 2: attempting some physical feat (jumping a ditch, shooting a basketball), the person will first consider distance, trajectory, wind, etc.
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I consider myself a brainiac for the following reasons.
1. I study brains! I'm a doctoral candidate at MIT, studying the neural correlates of reading.
2. I use the other side of my brain too :-) I write young adult fiction in my spare time.
3. And I bring the two sides together in a brainy package on my blog "A Brain Scientists Take on the Art of Writing." (http://blog.liviablackburne.com)
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Livia (Liwei) King Blackburne
Graduate Student
Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
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Brainiacs are people whose minds cannot shut off, no matter how much they try. In fact, their minds go at such at rate that its actually detrimental to the person's health. They are smart, in spite of themselves. Most brainiacs are attracted to hard subjects b/c they serve as types of distractions for their brain.
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Sandra Ordonez
OurBlook.com
What do you think?
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