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The Surprising Benefits of Being (Slightly) Crazy

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The Surprising Benefits of Being (Slightly) Crazy

Mark Manson,

5 min read
3 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Smoothing out all of your quirks will only make you small.

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Controversial
  • Bold
  • Inspiring

Recommendation

Author and blogger Mark Manson wants you to get to know your brain’s strengths and learn to cope with its weaknesses rather than being ashamed of its quirks. His short guide is a good one for people who’ve been told they’re somehow “too much” – too sensitive, too obsessive, too melancholy. Many of these traits are useful when creating and innovating. He points out that the definitions of what qualifies as a “mental illness” shift with each generation. Read his opinion with the caveat that if you’re suffering, it’s perfectly OK to seek the services of a competent mental health professional.

Summary

Many people have contributed a great deal to the world because of, not despite, their unique brains and traits that could be labeled as “mental illness” or “disability.”

If you’re in North America and you eat meat, the animals that became your dinner were probably moved to slaughter by way of a humane, practical system designed by Temple Grandin, a person with autism. People assume that “she overcame her disability” in order to rise to the top of her field. But Grandin’s autism is the very thing that causes her to think in pictures, a trait that ultimately allowed her to revolutionize America’s cattle industry. Her autism benefits her in another way that helped her shake things up: She doesn’t much care what other people...

About the Author

Mark Manson is an internet entrepreneur, a blogger, and the author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.

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