Thanks to everybody for all these many wonderful citations on this topic! They are very useful and interesting in all kinds of ways.

Wishing all safety and good health,

Barbara

From: MICHAEL SCROGGINS <mscroggins@ucla.edu>
Date: Saturday, October 24, 2020 at 5:34 PM
To: Barbara B Walker <bbwalker@unr.edu>
Cc: "members@lists.sigcis.org" <members@lists.sigcis.org>
Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Debunking the myth of individual genius

Hello,

Ray McDermott's work on genius may also be of interest:

McDermott, Ray. 2006. “Situating Genius.” Counterpoints 249: 285–302.
Mcdermott, Ray. 2004. “Materials for a Confrontation with Genius as a Personal Identity.” Ethos 32 (2): 278–88.

Best,
Michael Scroggins

On Thu, Oct 22, 2020 at 8:43 AM Barbara B Walker <bbwalker@unr.edu> wrote:

Hi, everybody,

Hope everyone is safe and well.

Here is an article on the importance of looking beyond the mythologies and cults of genius in the history of science and tech.

https://undark.org/2020/10/22/the-fiction-of-individual-genius/

However, I would argue that in computer history as everywhere else in the history of science and tech, debunking is not enough – we must understand the reasons, cultures and process of cult-formation and myth-making that plays such an influential role in our understanding of the past. That’s something I’m exploring in an article on John von Neumann that I recently submitted for publication review (“Creation Myths”). Am also looking at the formation of political personality cults in a seminar I am teaching this semester.

Barbara Walker

Barbara Walker

Associate Professor

Department of History/308

University of Nevada, Reno

Reno NV 89557

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