Why do think those who display "excellent knowledge" are always shot down?

[Thefringedninja]

No he did not. An unbelievable amount of crap is attributed to this guy that are simply not true. He was a very successful physicist, and like most physicists before and after him, he built upon the work of others. Nothing more, nothing less. Not the smartest person ever. Not the most successful physicist ever. Just a successful physicist.

I wasn't saying he was the smartest person to ever live, where in my post did I say that? I was just using him as an example of a highly intellegent person. I think intellegence comes in various different forms; Einstein wasn't academic, he only just scraped through in getting his degree, but he was able to come up with theories which no one had developed to the extent that he did.
Plus, he was autistic.

[Trinity Muse]

Like someone in this thread already stated, you don't praise yourself for being intelligent. You use it to bring results.

If we're talking about school though, smart kids usually get bullied for paying more attention to things that actually matter, often disregarding trends and not developping the kind of social skills required to survive in a community of peers.

When we talk about Kennedy etc, then I think it's important to define what an "intelligent person" is, really. Knowing too much info for one's own good? Being spiritually evolved? Being well-educated?

[Eris]

Einstein wasn't academic, he only just scraped through in getting his degree

[citation needed]

but he was able to come up with theories which no one had developed to the extent that he did.

What Einstein did was formulate an inspired hypothesis, that turned out to be correct. The bulk of the formalism was old Lorentzian aether theory, as well as some new stuff Minkowski put together. Einstein played a part in formulating the mathematical theory, certainly, but it was very much a collaborative effort.

Plus, he was autistic.

No he was not. I mean come on, the guy gets married. Not once, but twice. The first time in his early twenties. Good luck with that, even with a mild autism spectrum disorder.

[Thefringedninja]

No he was not. I mean come on, the guy gets married. Not once, but twice. The first time in his early twenties. Good luck with that, even with a mild autism spectrum disorder.

Wow, that's quite a controversial statement. Don't really know what to say to that. Considering I have friends who have the disorder I find that highly offensive. Anyway, this has become off topic.

I'm not going to pretend I understand Einstein's theory, as my forte is not physics or mathematics, but I don't understand how you can say that Einstein was not a genius, even if his thinking wasn't 100% original. Surely most scientists build on what is already there...it's called evidence.

[SuXrys]

@Thefringedninja [Answering what you wrote to Eris] It is not such a controversial statement since we don't know if he had that or not, the experts says that he may have had a disorder - but they/we don't know that for sure. It's just speculations. And when they talk about Einstein they talk about Aspergers, not autism (aspergers is in the autism spectrum - but still, since they are not exactly the same).