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Mad geniuses

7 October 2000

Why does schizophrenia persist in the population when it should have bred
itself out generations ago? Some believe it adds to the gene pool a capacity for
leaps of thought, giving rise to our greatest and most dangerous thinkers. In
Prophets, Cults and Madness, evolutionary psychiatrists Anthony Stevens
and John Price argue that cult leaders from Abraham to David Koresh show
schizotypal traits causing them to form splinter groups, thus driving the
evolution of society. Published by Duckworth, £18, ISBN 0715629409.

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