It was simply a variation of the "mad professor" qualities of some people's persona. A minority of the worlds population have an obscure outlook on things, and within these characteristics lies those occasional aspects which we gaze and admire with awe - hope this isn't too gushing!
I have always believed that everyone is a genius at something, but that being in the right place at the right time in the right circumstances is so few and far between that only a tiny minority ever get to develop it freely, with an associated freedom to lapse into the completely peculiar.
These are "freaks of nature" occurrences and the laws of probability (as rare as lightning striking a predetermined spot and even rarer than me ever winning the blooming lottery!). Thus, in the case of Jackson, there "but for the grace of god, go I".