michael has been clinically diagnosed with low latent inhibition, a condition in which his brain is more open to incoming stimuli in the surrounding environment. as a result of this condition, he is unable to block out periphery information and instead processes every aspect and detail of any given stimulus. this, combined with a high iq (as a psychiatrist explains) theoretically makes him a creative genius. his intelligence is well noticed even by his enemies e.g. with mahone in season 2 making various comments about michael's intelligence, even holding a certain admiration to him after successfully breaking out of two prisons (fox river and sona). he is even offered a place in the company.