The Insanity Hoax
Second Edition
Exposing the Myth of the Mad Genius
by Judith Schlesinger, PhD
Exposing the Myth of the Mad Genius
by Judith Schlesinger, PhD
“At last, there is someone to tackle the Mad Genius legend. Judith Schlesinger’s The Insanity Hoax picks up the mantle for unfairly stereotyped artists – and does so with passion, wit, and incisive critique. Highly recommended.”
“Fascinating, insightful, and surprisingly funny.”
“Judith spent two sessions with the students of my Jazz Improvisation class, opening their minds and answering their questions… Her presentation is quite informative as well as entertaining, and after many years of teaching it is clear she has a great rapport with students… We plan to have her back to further enlighten more of our students whose lives and careers have possibly been negatively affected by the ‘mad genius’ nonsense.”
PODCASTS:
RADIO:
LECTURES:
In late 2021, Judith was interviewed for an independent filmmaker’s documentary on creativity, the movie is expected in the Summer of 2022. To date, she is still the only psychologist actively disproving the “mad genius” folktale.
In April 2016, Judith was interviewed for Psychology Today about the mad genius myth, the self-serving distortions that pass for “fact” in this area, and the current sorry state of diagnosis and medication.
Oxford University Press purchased the rights to 20 pages of The Insanity Hoax for their 2016 text, Creativity: A Reader for Writers. This is the section called “Blind Men and Elephant Parts” (pages 17-37), where Judith explains why creativity is so difficult (if not impossible) to define.
Eminent social psychologist Carol Tavris devotes her March 2015 column in Skeptic Magazine to The Insanity Hoax, which she quotes generously and calls “a short, clear, witty, and empirically-grounded takedown of the mad-genius assumption.”
“Building on Sand: The Cautionary Chapter” is Judith’s invited contribution to the definitive textbook, Creativity and Mental Illness (Cambridge University Press, 2014). Only one out of 18 dedicated to disproving the creativity/madness link. The book’s summary chapter states, “We’re thus sympathetic to Schlesinger (this volume) who denounces the mad genius stereotype” (p. 399).
CreativityPost.com asked Judith to be a regular contributor. Her column, The Mad Genius and Other Follies, addresses the infinite ways that creativity enriches, delights, and complicates our lives.
After the tragic death of Robin Williams, Judith was interviewed by USA Today. This terrible loss unleashed the usual flurry of uninformed speculation about genius and mental illness. Alas, ten paragraphs of our discussion never appeared, since this reporter was not the lead writer on the story. “You had such great things to say,” she wrote, “I wish they could have used more.” Maybe next time.
Canadian Postmedia News interview: ” The link between creativity, insanity not backed by science, the author says.” Published in the Montreal Gazette, Ottawa Citizen, and Toronto Post.
“Stardust, Smoke and Mirrors,” an invited article about The Insanity Hoax, is the cover story for the Sept/Oct 2013 Skeptical Inquirer: The magazine for science and reason.
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LINKS TO ONLINE REVIEWS:
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DOWNLOAD PDF REVIEWS:
The Insanity Hoax is gaining increasing acceptance as
a college and graduate school text in both psychology and music.
The Insanity Hoax stimulates such lively and thoughtful discussion about the mad genius that it became required reading for “Creativity and Psychopathology” classes at Temple University in Philadelphia. It has also been part of the Master’s degree in Performance Science at The Royal College of Music in London.
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FREE TEACHING TOOLS ABOUT THE “MAD” GENIUS:
Printable pdf of Judith’s groundbreaking, often-cited 2009 journal article, Creative Mythconceptions: A closer look at the evidence for the mad genius, which was the springboard for The Insanity Hoax.
Email at shrinktunes@gmail.com
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ADDITIONAL LINKS
Judith helped produce these albums:
Judith’s 175 CD reviews and 60 articles on AllAboutJazz.com, the world’s largest jazz website.
Dr. Keith Sawyer’s creativity blog – practical and innovative guide to real-life (not crazy!) creativity.
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PHOTO GALLERY
Publicity photos of Judith: smiling and serious
Cover of The Insanity Hoax: High resolution