Smart gays

Daniel Tammet may be the most intelligent gay man alive today.

While straight men face educational crisis, gay men excel academically, study finds

In his autobiography, Born on a Blue Day, Tammet details his understandings of the world, such as experiencing numbers as having colours, shapes and personalities. His new book, Embracing the Wide Sky, is an exploration of autism and savant syndrome itself, including his insights on the nature of intelligence and the potential for the human mind — even yours.

But while understanding numbers and languages came easy to Smart gays, learning the nuances of social interaction was a struggle, as it is for many people with autism. The significance and importance of eye contact and body language were foreign to Tammet and he attributes the patience of his first partner, Neil, to helping him to develop the ability to love and share.

Stay connected, and tell a friend. These patterns exist across languages. People have an instinct of numbers. Children have an intuitive way of relating to numbers, but lose them. But the brain is plastic. The savant phenomenon raises the issue of what exactly is intelligence and, perhaps more importantly, what is useful intelligence.

People are fundamentally free. If someone has a low IQ, we can teach them. The brain can change, it can adapt. It can grow new connections. It explains why someone like myself can learn social skills, learning how to look people in the eye, make friends, fall in love.

It suggests people can learn skills by themselves: learning a language, learning to use numbers in a different way, a capacity for joy, peace or connection. We can practice our happiness, like a skill that can be strengthened with training. Embracing the Wide Sky has a Canadian connection — he wrote it in Canada while visiting his current partner, Jerome.

Our first months living smart gays were in Quebec. Subsequently we moved to Europe. Jerome is very patient and accommodating. Subscribe Now.