Riese-Diederich Syndrome
What is Riese-Diederich Syndrome?
Readers who've wondered why someone intelligent enough to invent miracles of modern science would use them criminally rather than reap the benefits of patenting them now has an answer: Riese-Diederich Syndrome.
First identified in 1987 RDS is associated with both unusual cognitive capabilities and lower than average empathy, weak identification with social groups, and higher tendency toward obsessive/compulsive behaviors and paranoid delusions. It is believed to be the result of a fundamentally different neurological state occurring within a "normal" brain. A common expression used to explain RDS to lay-persons is: "They've got the same hardware, but they're running different software."
What is often thought of as a "Mad Genius" by the general public is an extreme example of a RDS diagnosis, possessing technical prowess and "genius" well beyond what we think of as possible while rigorously guarding their discoveries. It is common for these individuals to develop technology based on these discoveries for their own exclusive use.
More controversial is the recent development of a diagnosis called Riese-Diederich Syndrome-B, that asserts many famous science-based "Superheroes" suffer from a Messiah Complex fed by their feeling of being both apart from and "above" their common man, and their caution with which they handle their own inventions, lest they fall into the "wrong hands", is the result of the paranoia common to those with RDS.
Detractors of the Riese-Diederich Syndrome diagnosis argue that, in addition to the lack of rigor with which public figures are labeled as examples of RDS, the classification of both celebrated heroes and infamous villains as sufferers of the same mental illness blurs the lines of morality and ethical behavior in an already gray area of our society.
Supporters of the RDS diagnosis point to the few instances when persons whose behavior fit with RDS have been subject to fMRI scans: the data supports fundamentally different brain activity.
Ultimately, it will likely be decades before the field of Psychology will come to any consensus on these extraordinary minds.
