Musings Regarding Improv

 I know at least four people   (the ones that leapt to mind are all men) who perform improvisation (in different formats -- one improvises with music) who are also  scientists  of differing types.    They're all very good at it.    

One other performer friend who seldom improvises, described the process by which he methodically vetted every single piece of advice more experienced performers gave him  (with some disastrous performance results, but that didn't seem to bother him at the time).    His exact words were  "I kept a notebook".

So, what 's the deal?

Does the bent for science confer some kind of emotional distance which translates to a kind of fearlessness even if there's no script and there's an expectant audience out there?    

Does it all boil down to this?   
  http://sciencefun.wordpress.com/2007/03/30/the-difference-between-a-scientist-and-a-normal-person/