10 Geniuses Creepy Habits That May Surprise You!!

10 Geniuses Creepy Habits That May Surprise You!!

We hardly expect that geniuses and exceptionally smart people can have weird habits. Surprisingly, they are no exception and can have idiosyncratic behaviors like that of the ordinary human beings.

This is a notion well-observed among the likes of novelists, poets, composers, scientists and in many other highly famed people.

Were these quirks a consequence of sheer genius or is it due to the eccentric minds that they are so well known?

1. Edgar Allan Poe

He is one of the classical writers from an era where neither laptops nor typewriters were in use. Works were written on sheets of paper but the scenario was one step further for Poe. He would use a continuous scroll made by attaching paper strips with sealing wax.

This quirky and eccentric habit of Poe would make his editors uncomfortable. Poe was a fearful writer accredited to have written some of the goriest works of fiction. It is a weird paradox of his character. It was many generations after his time that these works were given the due credit.

2. Ludwig Van Beethoven

One can never praise enough the utter genius with which a stone deaf person composed some of the greatest pieces of classical music. But his process was about as dramatic as his musical compositions.

Since he was fond of writing when in between visits to the washstand, he would keep a tub of water nearby and pour it over himself and his room. This creepy habit of Beethoven would give him the focus and concentration he required.

3. Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie can also be listed with high-brows who had creepy habits. She wrote 66 of the world’s greatest detective and mystery novels with as many as 14 collections of short stories. Ironically, she never owned an office nor did she ever use a writing desk to put focus on her work.

Her disjointed process was ever predictable. She would write wherever and whenever it would suit her mood. But she did acquaint herself with a typewriter because she believed typing to be an essential part of her process. And she would sometimes start writing without a plot, and it would gradually reveal itself to her and her readers.

4. Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud is one of the pioneers of neuroscience, and he offered immense insight into the subconscious. There is much that can be accredited to him, but there were two creepy habits, he could never rid himself of. Early in life, his addiction to nicotine started, and soon enough he would smoke almost continuously.

Once his friend warned him that his habit was causing him arrhythmia, and he tried to quit too, but with no avail. This led him to 33 surgeries of his mouth to remove cancer. He was also addicted to cocaine to an extent that he wrote the “song of praise to this magical substance.”

5. Albert Einstein

As a child, he was slow to speak. Not only did he start speaking very late in life, but he also had trouble with fluent speech with many years to follow. According to him, this slow development gave him the chance and the time to enhance his imaginations and to seek answers from questions in his mind.

Perhaps it was these questions which allowed him to find breakthroughs such as the theory of relativity. Another creepy habit of Einstein was that he would take his violin along with him on bird-watching treks, and cry while he played it.

6. Nikola Tesla

Our current understanding and application of electricity would never have been possible were it not for Tesla. Many modern day inventions like radio, electromagnet and AC motor are attributed to him. His is another celebrity to be added in the list of high-brows who had creepy habits.

His working hours were truly shocking. He would work between 3 in the morning and 11 in the night. He would work continuously. This habit started early in life, and it led him to a breakdown at the age of 25, but he pulled himself together, only to resume this routine for years on end without a break.

7. Igor Stravinsky

This Russian-American composer would perform headstand everyday, because he believed that it enabled him to clear his mind and to focus on his work. Perhaps this is the source behind his genius compositions, but a fifteen minute headstand was a part of his daily routine.

8. Thomas Edison

Edison was never easy on new associates. They had to go through a series of pretty awkward and difficult tests as a part of their interview process. One of these included eating a bowl of soup under his nose.

Assuming that none of them had ever tasted the soup, if someone would add salt to it or any other form of seasoning, it meant they had begun the task with too many assumptions. It was his way of judging character. Genius!

9. Charles Dickens

Dickens is one of the most prolific writers of British history. One odd habit about him is the fact that he could not bear the sight of a single hair out of place. He always kept a comb in his pocket, running through his hair hundreds of times each day. Besides, through his creepy habits, a number of experts have blamed obsessive-compulsive disorder and even epilepsy for these oddities.

10. Lord Byron

He is one of the most celebrated poets of English language from the early nineteenth century. Byron used to have a dog which he adored greatly, but was disheartened to know that Cambridge did not allow any dog as pets. Out of desperation, he looked through the rules for a flaw, only to discover that there was no mention of bears.

Thus, he ended up adopting a bear, which stayed with him in the dorm room, and would go on walks through the university, and he even tried to get the bear a fellowship as well.