I don't know if this answers your question, but I'd say a great deal of intellectual strength can be derived from acknowledging the depth of our ignorance in th

I don't know if this answers your question, but I'd say a great deal of intellectual strength can be derived from acknowledging the depth of our ignorance in the first place. Shannon seems to be getting at this in his descriptions of dissatisfaction and drive. On somewhat of a tangent, in many ways science and creativity are fundamentally opposed. Science requires constant, humble resignation to reality. And, though creativity may work within the confines of reality, I'd say it tends to have a more rebellious attitude. Shannon doesn't explicitly say it, but he's definitely getting at the fact that the greatest intellectuals manage to excel at both somehow and I think his suggestions at problems solving are an attempt to give a potential equation for doing so. All that aside I think your question has more to do with Shannon's personality than his intellectual achievements and I'm sure his personality type can be found evenly distributed across the population's IQ range.