How Americans Cultivate Elite —— Hypomania

But if this symptom does not develop, it can inspire some good qualities, such as boldness, adventure, self-confidence, rich imagination and creativity. This is the basic feature of the success of capitalist society. The more Americans get this disease, the faster the country will develop.

John in 2005? 6? 1 John D.Gartner, a psychologist at Hopkins University, has published his new book, The Advantages of Hypomania: The Connection between (Small) Madness and (Great) Success in America [WTBX] (The Edge of Hypomania: Link).

Between (a little) madness and (a lot) success in America, [WTBZ] systematically expounded this theory. His book is actually a psychological and clinical diagnosis of nine people who have a decisive influence on American history. Among them, the most famous figures are Columbus who discovered the New World, Hamilton, Carnegie and Ford, the "father of the founding of the People's Republic of China". He concluded that Americans suffer from "hypomania" at a much higher rate than other countries. And these patients are the fundamental driving force for American success.

Gartner found that many descriptions of American personality, such as energetic, energetic, almost stupid optimism, entrepreneurship, religious fanaticism, arrogance, messianic feelings and so on, all coincide with the symptoms of "hypomania". One of the most basic characteristics is extreme emotional excitement. This emotion can last at least a week, during which the patient feels that he is the master of the universe, that he is great, and that he is devoted to his work or pleasure (including the excessive pursuit of sexual life leading to the breakdown of his marriage). This is actually similar to the initial symptoms of bipolar disorder. However, unlike ordinary manic patients who fall into madness and depression and cannot extricate themselves, "hypomania" patients can often recover after this madness.

Why do Americans suffer from this disease the most? First of all, the United States is an immigrant country. Most people who dare to venture out of their hometown and come to a new continent without friends are restless, adventurous and innovative, extremely dissatisfied with their present situation and dare to resist the social system that suppresses their personality. In such a crowd, natural "mild mania" is particularly concentrated. At the same time, "hypomania" is related to genes. Relatives of manic-depressive patients are most likely to become "hypomania" patients. So it is probably not an exaggeration to say that the United States is a "manic country".

Columbus's uneasiness is world-famous. The son of a Genoese textile craftsman couldn't stay in his father's workshop at all. In order to master the knowledge of sailing, he taught himself Latin. At the same time, I taught myself Spanish and Portuguese to prepare for traveling around the world. At that time, all the trade routes leading to the East were monopolized by Genoa's rival city Venice. The books at that time also greatly exaggerated how far the East was. Columbus had a whim: since the earth is round, doesn't the farther the road from east to east mean the shorter the road from west to east? ! Based on his little knowledge of soil, he calculated that it was only 2400 nautical miles from the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean to Japan (actually, it was 10600 nautical miles, and he exaggerated the distance of the east road and underestimated the size of the earth, which led to such an absurd figure), and used it to go to the Portuguese royal family to ask for money. At that time, the Portuguese with the most sailing experience knew more than him. He knew at a glance that it was stupid and rejected his ocean-going plan. But he didn't stop there. Finally, he cheated the Spanish royal family and America was discovered. What's more, he had been looking for India before he accidentally discovered America. When he clearly knew that the place he found was not India, he almost named it West India and called it India.

Take another step to the east. Now, if someone wants to perform in front of us like him, we must say that he is crazy. However, if there is something wrong with his spirit, America today doesn't know where it is.

Hamilton, one of the "fathers of the founding of the United States", is a typical suicide "hypomania". Originally an illegitimate child of the West Indies, he worked hard all the way and became the best assistant in Washington in his twenties. But he couldn't sit still under Washington's account, wanted to die on the battlefield all day, and even turned against Washington openly (probably the only person in American history who dared to offend Washington's holy spirit). Later, in his early forties, he died in a duel with the then vice president, also because of his character. However, it is such a crazy person who almost single-handedly founded the American government and is called "the father of the American government". From the federal government, the US military, the Coast Guard, and even the modern financial system including Wall Street, it is such a person who laid the foundation stone in his thirties. Without madness, such an achievement is incredible. Later industrialists Carnegie and Ford had similar qualities. Carnegie was only a newspaper boy delivering telegrams when he was a teenager, but he mastered most of the commercial information transmitted by telegraph in Philadelphia at that time because of his encyclopedic knowledge. He works during the day, teaches himself to keep accounts at night, and even decodes information by the keyboard sound of the telegraph. He is as energetic as a little madman. On the other hand, Ford is famous for his impatience. He felt that the world couldn't keep up with his wheels, which became the secret of his success. In a word, these people are energetic, hot-tempered and extremely aggressive. Without their madness, America would not be America.

Other psychologists also support Gartner's conclusion. For example, jamison's new book Prosperity explores the influence of immigration on American character. Her conclusion is that those who dare to innovate, dare to take risks that others dare not take, and dare to resist their own repressive social system are most likely to immigrate to the United States. Peter C.Whybrow, a psychologist and neuroscientist at UCLA, published Mania in America: When More Is Not Enough, which revealed the negative side of this manic country. He found that the D4-7 allele in the American population is indeed very high, and this gene is an adventure gene. This makes Americans like innovation. However, in Peter C.Whybrow's view, this fanaticism has gone out of control, making anxiety, depression and obesity rampant in the United States.

Jon McClellan, a psychologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, is extremely worried about this theory. He believes that such a theory is tantamount to depicting Americans as genetically superior to others. This will lead to a theory of racial superiority. Throughout the history of mankind in the 20th century, the danger of such a theory is self-evident.

Gartner insists that his theory is basically in the guessing stage. His research shows that the United States, Canada and New Zealand have the highest incidence of bipolar disorder. However, he has no data on the incidence of "hypomania" among relatives of these patients. He diagnosed 10 corporate executives who voluntarily answered his survey online as "hypomania", but these cases were not enough to support his final conclusion. He said that he pointed out at least one fact: the United States is the largest immigrant country with the highest incidence of "hypomania" and the country with the most new companies. Of course, all this may be accidental. But these facts are enough to attract people's attention.

In fact, Gartner's theory was not born. America was originally a Puritan country. Puritans were strict with themselves, enterprising, and proved themselves to be "God's voters" crazily. Freud found that Puritans accounted for a high proportion of his patients, probably because his cultural behavior and values made him prone to psychological tension and madness. Weber wrote Puritan Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism, which also foreshadowed Gartner's theory. Gartner just turned past ideas into clinical diagnosis.

According to the author's observation, Gartner's theory has a realistic foundation in the United States, but he infinitely exaggerates one aspect of American society to define the whole American society. For example, The Millionaire's Mind [WTBX] [WTBZ] published by Thomas J. Stanley. Although it is a simple bestseller, the author has carefully investigated the life forms of many rich people. It turns out that these rich people live frugally, use old furniture, drive private cars, and even change telephone companies to save money. At the same time, she is a loyal spouse and a responsible parent. Her marriage is stable and there is no luxury such as "hypomania". Looking at the "founding father" of the United States, Hamilton is just an anomaly. Franklin became an arrogant generation by self-denial and diligence. The three founding presidents, Washington, Adams and Jefferson, were quite steady politicians. Washington tolerated the arrogant Hamilton and cherished his talents, which made him play a key role in the establishment of the United States. If Washington is also a "hypomania" patient, how can it be so "condescending" to the younger generation? Adams ruled out the interference of belligerent Hamilton at the critical moment, calmly avoided the war with France, cautiously defeated the adventure, and enabled the new country to survive. I'm afraid these people have made greater contributions to America.

Make the best use of everything; At the same time, it is controlled to a certain extent, which makes Hitler-style lunatics unable to gain power.