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The Curse of Genius

1843magazine.com

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Re: The Curse of Genius

#11

Post by newman8r »

Makes me think about the intro to Huxley's Doors of Perception[0] - genius is probably a pretty lonely place. Fortunately that's one problem I don't have to deal with.

> From family to nation, every human group is a society of island universes. Most island universes are sufficiently like one another to permit of inferential understanding or even of mutual empathy or "feeling into" ... But in certain cases communication between universes is incomplete or even nonexistent. The mind is its own place, and the places inhabited by the insane and the exceptionally gifted are so different from the places where ordinary men and women live, that there is little or no common ground of memory to serve as a basis for understanding or fellow feeling.

[0] https://maps.org/images/pdf/books/HuxleyA1954TheDoorsOfPerce...

Re: The Curse of Genius

#12

Post by King-Aaron »

cheesymuffin wrote: post #4
sixQuarks wrote: post #2

I remember understanding people talking but not knowing how to speak when I was very little. I guess I’m a genius

What's your IQ? Mine is 163. It would be tough to argue that I'm not a genius.

Mines 6,409 but one could still easily argue.

Re: The Curse of Genius

#13

Post by cm2012 »

cheesymuffin wrote: post #4
sixQuarks wrote: post #2

I remember understanding people talking but not knowing how to speak when I was very little. I guess I’m a genius

What's your IQ? Mine is 163. It would be tough to argue that I'm not a genius.

Considering your apparent lack of social awareness...

Re: The Curse of Genius

#14

Post by Mikeb85 »

The 'curse' of genius is more the fact that society is designed to function for average people. The average person goes to school, gets training in something, works their job at an average pace, etc...

'Genius' goes one of two ways. Either they have a good support system around them (usually meaning money) and advance, then later have chance for entrepreneurship and a career they can advance at their own pace (meaning quicker than average). Or they are stuck in a system designed for average people and they get bored then act out, become depressed, etc...

I can relate somewhat. I could speak very young. Could read at 2. Could speak, read and write two languages and use computers (we're talking old IBM PCs pre-Windows, when hardly any normal people used computers) at 4. Was always in advanced classes through school. Built (somewhat crude) robots and did computer programming in elementary school.

Of course, none of this provided me with particularly great social skills, so eventually I gave up on intellectual pursuits and plied myself with drugs and alcohol. In adulthood wound up working several careers, playing poker professionally and travelling for awhile, did some day-trading, did a bunch of university, but I mostly enjoy eating, drinking, travelling, and hanging out with my girlfriend.

Anyhow, the gist of it is that being on an 'advanced' path in my youth wasn't particularly great. Not sure if I'm was 'cursed' genius or a somewhat intelligent person with a mental disorder (ADHD, bipolar?). Building a business now so wouldn't say I'm unsuccessful, but certainly not what I imagined when I was younger. Then again, I'm also far happier today.

Re: The Curse of Genius

#16

Post by Fellshard »

One thing that helps is the lightbulb moment: The most interesting thing you can know is other people. Not as objects, curiosities, but real, truly unfathomable beings. You'll never truly understand what's in someone else's head, but you can still spend your life striving to get to know them better, and to perhaps know them well enough to try and make their lives better.

There is the age-old cliche of intelligent people finding 'normal people' dull. That idea starts to fade when you really, truly embed yourself in another person's life, or they manage to embed themselves in yours before you realize that's what's happening.

Regardless, it's not all hopeless. It's a harder path, for sure, but it can be traveled.

Re: The Curse of Genius

#17

Post by donecarejustsav »

Haga wrote: post #6

The curse of the genius is that when you are hyper recombinativeinventive every problem looks like a need for a new hammer and that your first success silences all opposition permanently. The other extrem is that cooperations beloved mediocrity, produced by systemic processes, risk avoidance and intrigant politics today prevent game changers from even reaching entry level.

I think that's a statement about identifiable early genius but not necessarily mature genius, unknown or otherwise.

Anyone can see the same patterns being applied to different problems in repetition with enough time.

That gets boring to those who find no value in tangential rewards. Escaping that with idealism for understanding solely demands more, and I think that's the biggest identifier for lasting genius versus that which is emphemeral / trendy.

It doesn't imply genius but it is indicative of genius recognized beyond youth. Wisdom, common sense - those are either attributed imprecisely or incorrectly.

Re: The Curse of Genius

#18

Post by donecarejustsav »

cryptonector wrote: post #7
happy-go-lucky wrote: post #5

> Even Albert Einstein, one of the most emblematic examples of genius, wrote in 1952: “It is strange to be known so universally and yet be so lonely.” Really so strange. I'm just trying to see how lonely he must have felt having to keep to himself.

Feynman didn't have that problem, so it's not universal, but it does seem like most geniuses are afflicted with loneliness.

I don't agree with that given his lifestyle. He wanted to connect but rarely could, hence an abundance of mostly shallow affection beyond his first wife.

Re: The Curse of Genius

#19

Post by ungifted »

I went through a gifted program starting in 3rd grade but I don’t think I’m gifted.

Most of what I think seems obvious. For example, the ability to ask simple questions in the moment is a skill anyone can learn. For the highest level poker player, analytical thoughts are rather systemic but require emotional and intellectual control.

Had I focused on any one thing, I think I could had been a brilliant programmer, physicist, poker player etc. But I haven’t. I’ve been cursed by entrepreneurship, activism, esoteric ideas and other things that have had low utility.

While I’m ambivalent about most people’s intellect, for truly gifted people I’m somewhat intimidated by them. (Like many yc founders.) Like, oh I could never execute that life plan and business in the way they did because it’s perfect.

My point is I think it’s all about process. Asking questions, reasoning from first principles, obsessive focus, curiosity and resiliency will make any person gifted.

Re: The Curse of Genius

#20

Post by throwawaymath »

jcora wrote: post #10
Moxdi wrote: post #8

>We don’t yet know why this is, or whether it’s down to nature, nurture or both. One study shows that among members of Mensa in America, the rate of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is almost twice that diagnosed in the general population. >Among these individuals, the incidence of depression, anxiety and ADHD is higher than in the average population. how is adhd linked to gifted children?, i find this…

That's such obvious selection bias. People who join Mensa have something to prove.

Is your alternative hypothesis that ADHD is twice as prevalent in people who feel they have "something to prove"?
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