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Comment by ikeyany | Hacker News Reader

Doesn't the word 'savant' imply wisdom? Prince Myshkin is as naive as they come. I would think someone in his shoes wouldn't mind being walked all over like he is in the book.

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces."

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The oxymoron "idiot savant" was used for the first time by John Down during his studies. The etymology is in the scientific literature.

Today we would use a less controversial term like "savant syndrome"... It seems appropriate given the title of the book (and the plot).

I always took it as an eulogy to the plasticity of the human intellect: we always have something to learn from anybody.

I think the title is playing on the phrase "idiot savant" to indicate Dostoevsky himself, as the savant who wrote "The Idiot".

I think the main character is a Savant, who others view as an idiot. The title and its characterization are ironic. He is the smartest character in the book, but viewed as an idiot, due to a consistently ignorant society.

Not unlike, for example, Sufi poets who claim to be gods and then are humiliated and executed for heresy. His label of “idiot” is his execution. A crowd crying to crucify Christ.

He is naive, but seems to be self aware. He does realize he is not street smart, but being naive implies he is unaware of this. Prince Myshkin doesn't want to change and well realizes the cunning nature of some people around him.

He still isn't a savant, but calling him naive wouldn't be accurate either considering he did have diminished mental and physical faculties.

His words and actions show he is incapable of viewing things from others' perspectives, as demonstrated by trying to marry Nastasya. He may be aware of his own motives but he is very unaware of how the motives of others contrast.

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