Why So Many Artists Are Highly Sensitive People

This was research? I saw a romanticizing of celebrity musicians as cute little kittens, where it went on and on about, "Aww, look how adorably sensitive they are."

For one thing, anyone who trains in music develops a heightened awareness to subtleties in sound. It is not surprising at all for a musician to report an awareness of richness in sound that others don't bother with. Just like a carpenter probably would report a deep awareness of grain in wood and how it affects the structural integrity or something similar.

Performance art is where people put their emotional extremes on showcase. Obviously the ones with the most extremeness are going to get the most attention from people who want to see that sort of thing. People who are "highly sensitive" are an extreme, and their display of emotions are going to appear more intense, and thus more exciting for performance art consumers.

How about doing research on the types of people who would be so obsessive about watching other people's pain and joy? Why do they get so wrapped up in the "charisma" of a performer, and needing to see something private put on display in an artificial way?

From the article:

> Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi identified openness and sensitivity as oppositional personality elements that not only coexist in creative performers, but form the core of their personalities.

I earned a 4 year degree in fine arts, have exhibited my work, and make a point to try to create at least one new work each week. I have never made it my career, but art is certainly one of my larger hobbies. By your definition, though, because I actively pursue it and call myself an artist, even though society has not noticed it or given me positive reviews... that means I am not a "true artist".

So I must disagree - one is an artist if you make art that is meaningful to yourself. I have known many artists over the years, and most of us just quietly do our own work for our own reasons. I will not go so far to accuse people who do it for society's reviews and recognition to not be artists - that would be dismissive of their own goals. But artists have varying reasons for doing their work, and trying to define a "true artist" is going to invalidate someone unfairly.

A more interesting line of inquiry is why so many of those blessed with the highest instincts for creativity have so little empathy towards those around them. As if they are so in thrall with their own genius they have little capacity for the smallest kindnesses. Or are so focused on manifesting the perfect visions contained in their minds, any quotidian concerns seem far beneath them and an utter waste of time. Consider Tolstoy and his wife Sofya, or Picasso and his muses. Einstein even referred to a "glass pane" separating himself from the norms of society.

They're unique in their local environment. They have a sensibility that annoys people. When their environment fails to immediately satisfy them it gets tired of feeling their negative emotions. They're expected to be happy or shut up. The more they develop this component of themselves the more they're denied empathy. They get tired of giving and not receiving. What we call empathy nowadays is actually just sympathy. These people know that but you apparently don't... We collectively suck at empathy. As you have just demonstrated.

Try giving them some real empathy sometime instead of just pandering to their "genius". You'll see a human emerge before you. We like to call them narcissists at this point. "See!", we say. They can do it if they want to. They're just self-centered. This is a defense of our own egos and an instance of fundamental attribution error. Empathy costs much more than sympathy. Imagine if empathy were all you could give. Imagine being that alone.