But when it's some famous "difficult" person like Jobs or Gates, or in fiction like Doctor House, the version of them that we see is idealized.
Actually this is the exact counterpoint of TFA: using the inexistent genius as an excuse for the trade-off. Imitating the genius is more difficult than just being a jerk.
House is an interesting example. He wasn't an asshole because of his genius. He was like that because of chronic pain. And I actually have experienced that myself due to degenerative disc disorder. It is definitely not something you want to emulate. It is actually pretty terrible feeling like your emotions happen only in extremes due to reasons you can't do anything about, being able to step outside of yourself after the fact and see that you are needlessly hurting people you care about, but even knowing that, you can't stop it from happening in the moment.
Except when it is, which was the actual point here (or maybe stating it more directly). Or maybe it's the other way around (see, e.g. uncle Rick); either way, there seems to be some correlation there.
I imagine that every asshole genius will have plenty of sharp edges in their behavior that they could round off very easily, making it a near-free win for their relationships (and overall success in life). Beyond that, however, it feels likely to me that making them focus - intellectually, emotionally, or both - on being more socially acceptable, eats directly into the focus they have for the things they're genius at, and disproportionally so.
Genius and asshole tend to go together because to be noticed as a genius you can’t just be doing what everyone around you is doing. People with a high IQ who just go with the flow do not stand out as genius. The noteworthy part of genius is the things they do that are different. Being different means rejecting what everyone around you is doing. Having a personality where you reject what everyone around you is doing usually earns you the label of… asshole.
