And every time I have a new computer or profile, I use Google for a few weeks to see what I’m missing. Go back to Bing/DuckDuckGo every time. Google search is completely worthless.

I've linked the mini-doc in my OP.

Well, let's say he didn't found cosmic horror, but he wrote in the days before little green men and flying saucers were staples of sci-fi.

I added a link to the video essay in my original post, so you can judge for yourself how good (or bad) it is. The essay focuses on the merits and demerits of purple prose -- such as Lovecraft's -- and compares/contrasts it with sparse prose -- such as Hemingway's.

Wondering whether Lovecraft draws from stories of sea monsters in an absence of what we would know now as well-worn sci-fi tropes (flying saucers and little green men) was a thought I had while watching it, so you can judge me for that.

To intentionally dumb oneself down to fit in better with humanity seems pretty dark to me. Maybe a better ending for the character, but a damning indictment of humanity.

Wasn’t feeling a lot of warm fuzzies at the end of the movie Pi.

Star Trek: TNG had an episode where Barkley gained super intelligence and started “helping” even when it wasn’t welcome, to the point where he became so powerful that he appeared to be a threat. Too bad the episode didn’t really play the scenario out and deus ex machina’d back to status quo by the end.

So a different take on the premise could be Charlie’s isolation after the IQ boost, then subsequently learning to connect with people of various intellects by finding a shared humanity.

Being smart does not make one popular. I think that's covered well in the original text where Charlie's "friends" at the bakery petition to fire him now that he has equal (or superior) intellect.

It’s roughly 1.5 Margaret Hamiltons. Not sure how many bananas that is, but it might help.

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