A young William James Sidis. (Courtesy of HowStuffWorks)
Today brought a curious thought: what if someone chose to live in isolation? Though perplexing to me, this idea wasn't so bad to William James Sidis, born on April 1, 1898 in New York City. Actually, it was what he called "a perfect life." After growing up being harassed in the limelight as one of the smartest children to ever live and graduating from Harvard at just 16, he decided to run away from what society expected of him and live as a recluse. While learning about his life on the podcast Stuff You Should Know, I realized just how many ties his story had to our world today. In this audio entry (below) I ask myself how children can be affected by isolation and how different people in history deal with trauma. I also talk about my day, of course!
Link to diary entry #2: