What makes a genius?
nationalgeographic.com
What makes a genius?
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Re: What makes a genius?
#2I really don't like the popular concept of "genius". It's divisive and trivialises the accomplishments and struggles of people who aren't "geniuses".
Re: What makes a genius?
#3I think that there is a lot of revisionism in the concept of "genius".
Just look at the movie "Amadeus". It looks like Mozart genius is the envy of the mediocre Salieri. In fact, Salieri was an incredible composer himself.
Then you have people like John Carmack. He is a figure in the game industry. But one of the best Doom ever has been developed without him.
The solitary genius creates an interesting narrative, but it is just a simplification of the reality. Too much get attributed to individuals once they achieve fame. This is similar to the "survivor bias", where we also attribute more to the individual and his ideas and abilities than it really is worth.
> Hailed for his “otherworldly ingenuity,” Tao won the prestigious Fields Medal in 2006 at the age of 31. Yet he rejects lofty notions of genius. What really matters, he writes, is “hard work, directed by intuition, literature, and a bit of luck.”
This is for me, a more down to earth, realistic explanation.
Re: What makes a genius?
#4Thanks! I really enjoyed this article. Seemed well balanced on a complicated subject.
Re: What makes a genius?
#5I really don't like the popular concept of "genius". It's divisive and trivialises the accomplishments and struggles of people who aren't "geniuses".
> It's divisive and trivialises the accomplishments and struggles of people who aren't "geniuses".
I agree. But I will add that it also devalues the hard work of "geniuses". The concept of "geniuses" don't bring any value to anyone, except to novel writers. :)
Re: What makes a genius?
#6I think that there is a lot of revisionism in the concept of "genius". Just look at the movie "Amadeus". It looks like Mozart genius is the envy of the mediocre Salieri. In fact, Salieri was an incredible composer himself. Then you have people like John Carmack. He is a figure in the game industry. But one of the best Doom ever has been developed without him. The solitary genius creates an interesting narrative, but…
I would say Tao had everything this article talks about. Innate intelligence, a great environment where his parents made sure of his opportunities, and the hard work and persistence required to succeed.
Re: What makes a genius?
#7I like to think that a genius is a person who looks at life from a different angle than the rest of us, who isn't limited by what people tell them to be or do, who want to know why something is the way it is and not just accept it, and who is not afraid to ask or answer difficult questions.
Re: What makes a genius?
#8I've introspected, thought, and read about this for several decades, and here is roughly what I think at present. What's perceived as genius is really a path. One either stumbles upon or is led to a certain useful mental tool, probably in very early childhood. That tool unlocks new paths, as in a video game skill tree, with new tools to be discovered and leveraged. Schoolwork looks completely different to the person armed with these tools. Nature itself looks different.
People have commented my whole life on "how easy things come" to me. I understand why they think that. The only visible product is the grades and professional accomplishments. Internally though, it felt like an arduous, epic struggle, and a continuous obsessive search for more powerful ways in which to think.
These things surely interact with whatever heritable intelligence exists, but they are also separate from it.
Re: What makes a genius?
#9I think that there is a lot of revisionism in the concept of "genius". Just look at the movie "Amadeus". It looks like Mozart genius is the envy of the mediocre Salieri. In fact, Salieri was an incredible composer himself. Then you have people like John Carmack. He is a figure in the game industry. But one of the best Doom ever has been developed without him. The solitary genius creates an interesting narrative, but…
I would say Tao had everything this article talks about. Innate intelligence, a great environment where his parents made sure of his opportunities, and the hard work and persistence required to succeed.
The trouble is it's hard to know how many other people had exactly the same characteristics but not the luck. Without knowing that, we don't know how useful this definition of "genius" is.
Re: What makes a genius?
#10I like to think that a genius is a person who looks at life from a different angle than the rest of us, who isn't limited by what people tell them to be or do, who want to know why something is the way it is and not just accept it, and who is not afraid to ask or answer difficult questions.
The problem is that definition just as easily applies to an unapologetic convicted rapist.