Emotional Genius

Brandenn Bremmer, a 14-year old prodigy who taught himself to read at 18 months, shot himself yesterday.

Comment from his mother: "He had this excessive need to help people and teach people. ... He was so connected with the spiritual world, we felt he could hear people's needs and desires and their cries. We just felt like something touched him that day and he knew he had to leave.”

There was something like this in a movie on child prodigies I saw, directed by Jodie Foster; and psychologist Alice Miller says something like this too. People with high intelligence also seem to have strong sense of responsibility for others; to be “sensitive.” They take on themselves the problems of those around them, and the problems of the world.

There is more to high intelligence than we understand.

Also, this special emotional sensitivity is the real “EQ.” It is the opposite of what is currently called “EQ,” which has to do with manipulating the emotions of others for your benefit.