Interesting piece on Scientific America: The Unleashed Mind: Why Creative People Are Eccentric [UPDATE] They have taken the article and moved it behind a paywall. Sorry guys, didn’t realize SA did that. [/UPDATE]

Highly creative people often seem weirder than the rest of us. Now researchers know why

He is one of the world’s best known and most successful entrepreneurs, with hundreds of patents to his name—including the Segway scooter. But you will never see Dean Kamen in a suit and tie: the eccentric inventor dresses almost exclusively in denim. He spent five years in college before dropping out, does not take vacations and has never married. Kamen presides (along with his Ministers of Ice Cream, Brunch and Nepotism) over the Connecticut island kingdom of North Dumpling, which has “seceded” from the U.S. and dispenses its own currency in units of pi. Visitors are issued a visa form that includes spaces on which to note identifying marks on both their face and buttocks.

My favorite part is when they define an example of creative person as someone who “come[s] up with new uses for ordinary household items”.