I can speak to this a little. Having recently worked in some serious science, I would agree that to have success--even moderate success, not something at this guy's level--you have to be extremely, extremely focused, particularly in academic science. That often, yes, means focusing to the exclusion of social skills. A lot of the brilliant guys I worked with were, well, socially inept nerds. Great guys, and often a lot of fun to be around, but never had time to focus on social skills, particularly not with women.
However, it's also true that at the very high levels, people with that kind of focus and passion often apply it to other areas as well--music, art, stage (I went that route), social endeavors. This can work to advantage a couple different ways. Some of the scientists I worked with were notorious for getting a lot of female attention, not just because they were socially skilled but because that sort of passion and focus is very attractive to a lot of women. My soon-to-be-ex often said that me getting focused on a project or idea and diving in was one of the most attractive things about me (evidently not attractive enough, mind you).
But yeah, I've occasionally had women ask me to explain some physics thing or another. They couldn't give a rat's ass about what I was actually saying--they just wanted to see me talk intensely about something that mattered to me, a statement that's been echoed elsewhere (after a pleasant interaction often people don't remember what is said so much as how it was said).
As for "genius" being attractive to women--yes. But probably in the same way as money or style; it's a great accessory to personality and social skills, something they want to know about rather than something you display. No woman really wants you to derive Green's functions or perform group theory analyses of subatomic particles in front of them. They just think it's cool that you could.
However, it's also true that at the very high levels, people with that kind of focus and passion often apply it to other areas as well--music, art, stage (I went that route), social endeavors. This can work to advantage a couple different ways. Some of the scientists I worked with were notorious for getting a lot of female attention, not just because they were socially skilled but because that sort of passion and focus is very attractive to a lot of women. My soon-to-be-ex often said that me getting focused on a project or idea and diving in was one of the most attractive things about me (evidently not attractive enough, mind you).
But yeah, I've occasionally had women ask me to explain some physics thing or another. They couldn't give a rat's ass about what I was actually saying--they just wanted to see me talk intensely about something that mattered to me, a statement that's been echoed elsewhere (after a pleasant interaction often people don't remember what is said so much as how it was said).
As for "genius" being attractive to women--yes. But probably in the same way as money or style; it's a great accessory to personality and social skills, something they want to know about rather than something you display. No woman really wants you to derive Green's functions or perform group theory analyses of subatomic particles in front of them. They just think it's cool that you could.