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What makes a genius?

nationalgeographic.com

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Re: What makes a genius?

#11

Post by gosheroo »

Look at ordinary people and societies and notice that they calcify and grow shells which make it harder and harder for change to occur. Only a profound influence such as brain trauma or war can make them to see things differently. Whereas an outsider can develop in his own way, guided by intuition rather than by the social forces which stultify.

The genius is an outsider.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4226320/

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/4480-you-know-what-the-fello...

Re: What makes a genius?

#13

Post by socmag »

I don't downvote, even if I could.

However, this comment is exceptionally rude, disrespectful and out of place here on HN.

[EDIT] Specifically I don't appreciate the way you changed the narrative.

Re: What makes a genius?

#14

Post by Isamu »

psyc wrote: post #8

I'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…

Neural plasticity at a young age is probably key. Not that you can't learn effectively when you are older, but your obsessions when you are younger really take hold. I think this accounts for the majority of genius.

Re: What makes a genius?

#15

Post by Isamu »

kartan wrote: post #5
badpenny wrote: post #2

I 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. :)

Exactly, it trivializes both the "geniuses" hard work and the hard work of anyone trying to do something non-trivial.

Re: What makes a genius?

#16

Post by nnfy »

socmag wrote: post #13

I don't downvote, even if I could. However, this comment is exceptionally rude, disrespectful and out of place here on HN. [EDIT] Specifically I don't appreciate the way you changed the narrative.

The fact that you're offended does not make a comment rude. It makes a valid, interesting point, that disdain for rules can be common to genius and criminality.

In fact, I think your comment is exceptionally rude and disrespectful. If you're not prepared for viewpoints to be challenged, stay out of discussions.

Re: What makes a genius?

#18

Post by socmag »

nnfy wrote: post #16
socmag wrote: post #13

I don't downvote, even if I could. However, this comment is exceptionally rude, disrespectful and out of place here on HN. [EDIT] Specifically I don't appreciate the way you changed the narrative.

The fact that you're offended does not make a comment rude. It makes a valid, interesting point, that disdain for rules can be common to genius and criminality. In fact, I think your comment is exceptionally rude and disrespectful. If you're not prepared for viewpoints to be challenged, stay out of discussions.

I'm not offended, I'm stating a fact that we were talking about what makes a genius and you decided to make it about rape and there was an implicit derision aimed at the person you replied to in addition.

I'm here discussing... Carry on.

Re: What makes a genius?

#19

Post by nopinsight »

xapata wrote: post #9
HiroshiSan wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

In the case of mathematical accomplishments, there is an objective way to predict people's future possibilities: How young and how well does the person do in International Math Olympiads?

These Fields medalists all fit the pattern: Maryam Mirzakhani, Grigori Perelman, Terence Tao. Check out others at IMO Hall of Fame--all top listers I checked are doing very well, although many of them are still young and studying. [1]

So it does seem most top math prodigies who stay in the field or adjacent ones continue to produce exemplary works, and luck does not seem to play a huge factor there.

I mean, luck may contribute to a given single accomplishment, but it also happens because the person works on the problem from many different angles, using creative approaches based on sufficiently deep understanding. If someone tackles several problems with such ingenuity, at least one of them is bound to get solved.

In other fields, we have fewer objective measures, but from my years of experience teaching and mentoring gifted and highly gifted kids, you can tell how well they will do academically at the university level by the time they are in grade 3.

[1] https://www.imo-official.org/hall.aspx

Re: What makes a genius?

#20

Post by Godel_unicode »

badpenny wrote: post #2

I really don't like the popular concept of "genius". It's divisive and trivialises the accomplishments and struggles of people who aren't "geniuses".

I disagree. Calling someone a genius and someone else not is akin to calling someone a terrific athlete or not.

Your excellence in no way diminishes the value of my attempts. It does put my success (or lack there of) into perspective and gives me a meter for what excellence looks like. That's a good thing, though. Having something higher to strive for, and knowing that it's possible to do better, is a significant factor in personal growth.

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