(of course I’m ‘eccentric’. anyone who sacrifices heavily for an intellectual pursuit is odd. it’s not normal to obsess on any topic. So all of us are a bit peculiar. we aren’t models to imitate, we’re resources to learn from. equality is a cancerous idea. specialization creates value we all share – not just in the economy, but in social and intellectual life. It is this diversity of specialization that is useful, whereas normative and legal diversity is costly. The crazy alcoholic uncle unable to catch a wife earned his respect by taking the risks no one else in the family could. Same goes for intellectuals. Genes work within kin groups. Individuals vary widely within. we need crazies all over the place – at least enough to protect the center where the normies breed ever increasingly wonderful generations.)