Doctors were never able to pinpoint Vincent van Gogh's mental ailment. Even today, doctors disagree on the diagnosis. In addition to some of the finest art of the day, Vincent left us with a study of 'unrecognized genius,' which results in a type of suffering genius is forced to endure. I am not certain if a degree of autism is the cause or if it is the result, but I certainly recognize that a degree of autism is part of what I call Philosophical Funk.

I have had quite a bit of success and social acceptance compared to Vincent. To give it lineal relativity, I will put Howard Hughes, another genius who seemed to suffer from Philosophical Funk, onto the scale. Howard Hughes had much more success and social acceptance than I have had. Because of that, he had to go to greater lengths to seek the sanctuary others would deny him. Vincent, of course, had solitude cast upon him. If it sounds pompous to put myself on a scale with those two, I'll just have to sound pompous.

I understand things that I have no credentials to understand. Technically, I am a sophomore in community college. However, I believe I know what Einstein mistakenly thought was a graviton, how Edison intended to record the actual words of Jesus, and why a nuclear bomb is detonated by an atomic bomb. It all has to do with universal laws, but most people will only understand an explanation momentarily and then cannot describe it accurately to another. Here is how you can try it yourself: explain how to apply the Theory of Relativity to a friend, then watch him or her try to explain it to someone else. (Some of the explanations are sure to crack you up!)

Philosophical Funk has come and gone in the past; however, it is lingering longer and deeper than it has in the past, and the people closest to me are concerned that I am overly depressed, perhaps bi-polar, or simply insane. I assure them that I am fine, and will be on my deathbed. I even prove that I am fine, but they question whether or not I just thought up the proof to deceive them! All I can do is smile knowing that I am not abnormal, but rather I am uncommon. I assure them that we all have the capability, but I presume they spend more time picking a shirt to wear the next day than pondering light and invisibility.

If they did spend time visualizing, they, too, could become enlightened, but few understand the relativity of that concept to light and invisibility, even though the root words are the same. The brighter the light, the more

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