From Buds to Blossoms A Letter from the Editor for Issue Six

It’s almost cherry blossom season! In the meantime, our authors offer their own ideas on how to reach one’s own personal peak bloom.

The Creative Intelligence Agency A Conversation with a CIA Creativity Instructor

The Central Intelligence Agency isn’t the sort of place that draws a lot of self-described “creative spirits.” But according to the 9/11 Commission, their presence is sorely needed. How can the CIA—and other highly convergent, formal bureaucracies—best make use of those employees who feel like square pegs in round holes?

Connecting to Dabrowski’s Theory

Dear Readers, Happy New Year, and welcome to Issue Five of Third Factor! I’m very sorry for the delay, but I hope it will be worth the wait. Each of the four articles in this issue is about some other topic, but each shows how Kazimierz Dabrowski’s theory of positive disintegration can enrich our understanding of […]

How to Thrive in Our Dopaminergic Society—and Maybe How to Rescue It An Interview with the Authors of The Molecule of More

Dopamine is about making the future better than the present. That makes contentment hard for dopaminergic people—which includes those people we call gifted and creative—to find contentment. Is there anything we can do about it? Jessie sat down with the authors of The Molecule of More to get their take.

Where Intensity and Gender Dysphoria Meet Some Exploratory Conversations

Why has gender dysphoria become so common among the gifted and intense? In this article, four detransitioned women and two transgender men share their experiences of overexcitability and the roles their intensities played in their individual experiences of gender non-conformity and dysphoria.

Facing the Question of Non/Conformity A Letter from the Editor—and Eleanor Roosevelt—for Issue Four

Many pay lip service to nonconformity, but if you’re really unusual, you’ve probably struggled with the implications of deviating from the norm. How should we balance the costs and benefits of our divergence? In this issue’s introductory letter, Third Factor editor in chief Jessie Mannisto links our authors’ takes on this challenge to Eleanor Roosevelt’s writings on how to be an individual.

Political Iridescence: Courage and Complexity in a Tribal World

We’ve divided the political world into a red team and a blue team. Where does a person belong when she sees not only shimmers of red in the blue and the blue in the red, but oranges, yellows, greens, and purples besides? One thing’s for sure: it will take courage for such a person to find—or keep—a political home.

Excitable Reads: This Star Shall Abide by Sylvia Engdahl

For our issue on non/conformity, we have the perfect book to feature: the story of a heretic.

Therapy for the Highly Gifted and Highly Excitable An Interview with P. Susan Jackson

You’ve got noteworthy abilities. Complex emotions. Acute perception. A tremendous capacity for nuance. And yet, you’re pulling yourself apart at the seams.

Sound like someone you know? Then you’ll want to read this interview with P. Susan Jackson of the Daimon Institute.

“Gifted” in Humble Language: A Japanese Lesson

No one really likes the word “gifted.” Maybe it’s because we understand that we’re using honorific language to describe ourselves, and even in English, that’s gauche. Could there be neutral, or even humble, words for this thing we call giftedness?