“If psychotic experiences have a hereditary component (as they have been amply shown to have), they must bring some selective advantage, something that balances or protects against their negative implications for fitness and survival. Otherwise, the genes that make someone prone to paranoia, hallucinations or mood swings would have been eradicated from the gene pool long ago. Perhaps those unusual patterns of thought confer benefits in making the individual more creative: more able to make unusual connections, or to think outside established strictures.”