Genius: we used to think that you're either born with it or not. But today, we learn that there's another route to become a mathematical genius - being bonked in the head.
That's what happened to Jason Padgett, 41, a college dropout who became a math genius after he suffered a brain trauma in a mugging:
Ten years ago, Padgett was only interested in two things: working out and partying. One night he was walking out of a karaoke club in Tacoma when he was brutally attacked by muggers who beat and kicked him in the head repeatedly. Padgett said they were after his $99 leather jacket.
“All I saw was a bright flash of light and the next thing I knew I was on my knees on the ground and I thought, ‘I’m gonna get killed,’” he said.
At the time, doctors said he had a concussion, but within a day or two, Padgett began to notice something remarkable. This college dropout who couldn’t draw became obsessed with drawing intricate diagrams, but didn’t know what they were.
Neal Karlinsky and Meredith Frost of ABC New's Medical Unit has the story: Link
Previously on Neatorama: 10 Most Fascinating Savants in the World
All his drawings are pencil & paper versions of the string art we all learn in elementary school Art class: Mark off equidistant points on a line, and interconnect the dots.
http://mathcraft.wonderhowto.com/blog/create-concentric-circles-ellipses-cardioids-more-using-straight-lines-and-circle-0131356/
No "genius" required, just a lot of tedious hours shifting your ruler around.