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1) Do you know of any information like this? Link?
2) Otherwise: do you think in a way that's different (better) than the average person?
Example: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/08/02/...
"Lewis Terman, the inventor of the Stanford-Binet IQ test, came to a similar conclusion. He spent decades following a large sample of “gifted” students, searching for evidence that his measurement of intelligence was linked to real world success. While the most accomplished men did have slightly higher scores, Terman also found that other traits, such as “perseverance,” were much more pertinent. Terman concluded that one of the most fundamental tasks of modern psychology was to figure out why intelligence is not a more important part of achievement: “Why this is so, and what circumstances affect the fruition of human talent, are questions of such transcendent importance that they should be investigated by every method that promises the slightest reduction of our present ignorance."
Kurt Vonnegut Quote:
"Novelists . . . have, on the average, about the same IQ as the cosmetic consultants at Bloomingdale's department store. Our power is patience. We have discovered that writing allows even a stupid person to seem halfway intelligent, if only that person will write the same thought over and over again, improving it just a little bit each time. It is a lot like inflating a blimp with a bicycle pump. Anybody can do it. All it takes is time."
What I want to know is: how many people on HN would publicly describe themselves as a "genius"?
Obsession is more valuable than genius. If you accept IQ testing at all they call people over 130 on the WAIS very superior because genius implies a social or intellectual impact many very superior individuals never achieve. Very superior scores correlate highly with success in a career. But other variables matter much more. I have met few accomplished people who work less than 60 hours a week. Example: http://www.bo…
- They are the most knowledgeable person in the room in their topic of interest. That takes obsession.
- They surround themselves by other smart people constantly
- In large groups of smart people they are perfectly happy to ask questions even if they are wrong. E.g in a maths seminar will debate, and often get beaten by the subject expert.
I often wonder if the latter - asking "stupid" questions to experts in a field - is something that was there before they were at the top. Anyone else noticed this?
What I want to know is: how many people on HN would publicly describe themselves as a "genius"?
It would be to close to hubris? An early indication of loosing touch with reality? Perhaps indicating the onset of psychosis?
Maybe ironically, especially after a less-then-perfect performance ;)
Better to let others do the praising?
Q: How many people where (by others, not family/friends) publicly described as a "genius"?
What I want to know is: how many people on HN would publicly describe themselves as a "genius"?
Never seriously… It would be to close to hubris? An early indication of loosing touch with reality? Perhaps indicating the onset of psychosis? Maybe ironically, especially after a less-then-perfect performance ;) Better to let others do the praising? Q: How many people where (by others, not family/friends) publicly described as a "genius"?
I can't claim to be any kind of genius myself but creative "breakthroughs" in my experience has mostly followed the same pattern: Immersion -> Gestation -> Creative Leap.
You start by immersing yourself into a problem, reading everything there's to read about the subject, getting all aspects of the problem down on paper, pondering it wherever you go etc. As you start this you will also start a subconcious gestation process where you're brain will start arranging itself to the problem space. This is why I think you see "obvious" solutions to problems after a certain period of time.
The "creative leap" or "aha!" moment can take different forms. I find they often pop into my head while doing something else like taking a walk or a bath and letting my mind drift. Exercise is also great to stimulate the brain. It can also come in the form on coming in contact with something in a different area and seeing how it relates to your problem.
I've found the more I know about a wide array of topics the easier it is to find creative solutions to stuff. Learning stuff like languages and playing instruments also creates new cross-connections in the brain. What you eat will also to some degree have an impact on your thought process so eat some nuts and fish :)
Some other good habit is to constantly re-examine and question "basic facts" and "certainties". Keep a text dump of your thoughts so you easier can arrange and go back to them. Play "pretend it's magic", "if it/you could anything, what would it do?". Assume there's a solution and speculate around it's properties instead of questioning whether one exists.
So immerse yourself, eat well, learn about lots of stuff, take long walks, exercise and don't be afraid to daydream :)
Do I think I am a genius? No. But I have been repeatedly told that I "stand out" from the crowd even when the crowd is pretty bright (which usually feels to me like I stick out like a sore thumb :-/ ). Do I think in a way that is different from the average person? Absolutely -- I think this is clear by the rampant degree to which I am routinely misunderstood and the fact that I and my son are getting well when doctors and most of the world say it cannot be done.
Is this 'miracle cure' due to genius? I don't happen to think so. It is mostly due to a unique set of circumstances and my ability to recognize the opportunity it represented, combined with a fairly high degree of social insight which allowed me to side step group-think and other social traps. I have a relatively mild form of a condition that is quite deadly, and so does my oldest son. I was diagnosed late in life, not long before the age at which most people die from the more traditionally recognized form of the condition. The late diagnosis meant that I had been thinking about my health issues and coping with them for a very long time before being given a label for it. So when that label came, I was reluctant to accept the definitions, assumptions, preconceived notions, psychological baggage and raft of general mental and emotional crapola that such labels typically come with.
I am also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. The journey of recovery for that issue prepared me for asking the hard, socially unacceptable questions that were needed for me to get well, first psychologically and later physically. (After spending years telling a couple of different therapists, who also happened to be ministers, every dirty thing ever done to me and every nasty thing I ever felt, the negative reactions that swirl around my shocking views of health issues are hardly worth raising an eyebrow over.) At the age of 45, I am at a place where I feel that this earlier psychological journey of healing was a gift to me -- a unique and highly valuable opportunity for thinking through problems which are "unthinkable" and "unspeakable" but which I had no choice but to think on and speak on in order to survive (I attempted suicide at age 17 and would likely have self-destructed in some manner if I had not dealt with these issues).
I was also a homemaker for a long time in an era and culture where that is very strange and I homeschooled my twice exceptional (gifted and learning disabled) sons. I think every single thing I have done has reinforced my ability to walk my own path and resist following the crowd in spite of often enormous pressure from one crowd or another. Not getting sucked into group-think is the most valuable skill I have and probably the most offensive thing I do, socially. Einstein said something like "You cannot solve a problem from the same level of consciousness that created it." It is clear to me that the definitions and view of the health problem I have are part of the problem. In some ways, I find it baffling that my attempts to share a different view are so shocking and offensive to other people -- people who clearly know that the status quo is not working yet cling to the thinking of the status quo like a security blanket. I don't know how to help such people and attempting to do so puts me in a position of being a target of ugliness. I don't believe martyring myself is any way to put more good into the world. I believe it only teaches people that "good" people must martyr themselves and anyone who doesn't is "bad", or something along those lines. The general tendency for people to force individuals into roles of "good" or "bad" is the root of many problems. I would rather walk away entirely than contribute to reinforcement of this paradigm. I often wonder if I should, in a sense, go into "hiding" -- stop posting under any names I am known by online and start some new website that no one would expect and go live the "normal life" I desperately wanted for so long and am now getting well enough to try to pursue.
I don't have an answer to that last conundrum, perhaps more proof positive that I am not a genius. Sometimes, knowing the right questions to ask is more important than having an answer. That approach has taken me pretty far, so I see no reason to abandon it at this late stage in the game.
"Be careful what you wish for". Had you asked this question on some other day, I likely would not have replied. :-P But there is a tiny piece of my own inner monologue, FWIW.