Genius

A genius is a person with great intelligence. The term also applies to one who is a polymath, or someone skilled in many mental areas. The term specifically applies to mental skills rather than anything else, although it is also colloquially used to denote the possession of a superior talent in any field; e.g., Diego Maradona may be said to have a genius for soccer, or Winston Churchill for statesmanship.

Albert Einstein, pop icon and archetype of genius.

Appearance

Artistic genius may show itself in early childhood or later in life; either way, geniuses eventually differentiate themselves from the others through great originality. It is thought intellectual geniuses have crisp, clear-eyed visions of given situations, in which interpretation is unnecessary, and they build or act on the basis of those facts, usually with tremendous energy. Here too, accomplished geniuses in intellectual fields start out in many cases as child prodigies, gifted with superior memory or understanding.

The classic skill of the musical genius is the capability of holding many different melodies in one's head at once and knowing how they interact together. It is said that the great classical composers (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, etc.) could hold five, six or even seven different melodies in their minds at once. They could write complicated music with many different parts all at once without having to hear it played. In comparison, the average person can only hold one melody in memory.

An hypothesis put forth by Harvard professor Howard Gardner in his 1983 book Frames of Mind states there are many kinds of intelligences (at least seven, he argues), each with its own type of genius. This theory, however, is rejected by most psychologists. See theory of multiple intelligences for more on this view.

Intelligence is exceptionally difficult to determine. The standard measurement in the United States is via the I.Q. test. This is criticized by many as it only measures some aspects (some argue an ethnocentric and academic aspect) of intelligence. Although it is thought that some criticisms fail to recognize particular legitimate aspects of the I.Q., it is suggested that genius cannot be determined by I.Q. alone, where it falls into various domains. It is generally recognized that those who are transcendent in one or more fields (though again, this term is difficult to measure) can be considered geniuses.

Etymology

In Ancient Rome, the genius was the guiding or "tutelary" spirit of a person, or even of an entire gens. A related term is genius loci, the spirit of a specific locale. In contrast, the internal driving force within all living things is the animus. A specific spirit, or dæmon, may inhabit an image or icon, giving it supernatural powers.

A comparable term from Arabic lore is a djinn, often Anglicized as "genie". Note, however, that this term is considered a false friend, not a cognate by most Anglo-American anthropologists. Recent work by Russian, Romanian, Italian and a few American linguists may return the word to cognate status.

For more information on these etymological roots, see Genius (mythology).

Limitations

Geniuses are often accused of lacking common sense, or emotional sensitivity. Stories of a genius in a given field being unable to grasp "everyday" concepts are abundant and of ancient vintage: Plato in the Theaetetus offers a picturesque anecdote of the absentmindness of Thales. Some individuals in this "Absent Minded Professor" or lacking social skills arena fall in the Autism Spectrum (such as Asperger Syndrome). Einstein reportedly sawed the rudder off his sailboat while at sea. A genius's intense focus on a given subject might appear obsessive-compulsive in nature, but it might also simply be a choice made by the individual. If one is performing groundbreaking work in one's field, maintaining other elements of life might logically be relegated to insignificance. While the absent-minded professor notion is not without merit, a genius is just as likely to encounter emotional problems as anyone else. Note the peculiarities of figures like Glenn Gould and Bobby Fischer. Such examples, however, are likely products of mental or emotional instability rather than genius per se, though there is a researched correlation between I.Q. and maladjustment [1].

Socio-emotional problems are more prevalent in geniuses with an IQ above 145 (on the Wechsler Scale). Asynchronous development is the primary cause of this. As most children do not share gifted children's interests, vocabulary, or desire to organize activities, the genius child may withdraw from society.

Some research shows that reasons other than maladjustment make companionship difficult to find for geniuses. As intelligence of a person increases, the number of those who he considers his peers tends to decrease. For example, at an IQ of 135 (on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) only every hundredth person would be of equal or greater IQ. This number shrinks significantly as IQ goes up.

Leta Hollingworth introduced the idea of an essential "communication limit" based on IQ. According to her theory, to be a good leader of one's contemporaries, he/she must be more intelligent but not too much more intelligent than the people who are being led. This implies that geniuses may not make good leaders of those substantially less gifted and that they could have disdain for authority. The theory also states that children and adults become intellectually ostracized from their contemporaries when an IQ difference of 30 points or more exists. [2]

Philosophies

Variegated examples from philosophers are indicative of attempts either to propose a definition of what genius is and what that implies in a limited context or to establish certain qualifications that could deem "genius" as explicable and of fundamental value in a broader human context. E.g.:

In the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer genius is a person in whom intellect predominates over "will" much more than within the average person. In Schopenhauer's aesthetics, this predominance of the intellect over the will allows the genius to create artistic or academic works that are objects of pure, disinterested contemplation, the chief criterion of the aesthetic experience for Schopenhauer. Their remoteness from mundane concerns means that Schopenhauer's geniuses often display maladaptive traits in more mundane concerns; in Schopenhauer's words, they fall into the mire while gazing at the stars.

In the philosophy of Immanuel Kant genius is the ability to independently arrive at and understand concepts that would normally have to be taught by another person. In the Kant Dictionary (ISBN 0-631-17535-0), Howard Caygill talks of the essential character of "genius" for Kant being originality. This genius is a talent for producing ideas which can be described as non-imitative. Kant's discussion of the characteristics of genius is largely contained within the Critique of Judgement and was well received by the romantics of the early 19th century.

Pluralization

In this context, the plural of "genius" is "geniuses." The form "genii," the plural of the word in Latin, is the plural of a different kind of genius: the aforementioned guardian spirit of Roman and Greek mythology.

See also

• List of Nobel laureates
• Nobel Prize
• MacArthur Fellows Program (the "genius grants")
• Mensa (international society for "geniuses")
• Child prodigy
• Flynn Effect
• Intelligence quotient (IQ)
• Psychometrics
  • IQ test
  • Personality test
  • Psychological Testing
• Polymath
• Savant

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Harold Bloom (November 2002). Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds. Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-52717-3. 
• Clifford A. Pickover (May 1, 1998). Strange Brains and Genius: The Secret Lives of Eccentric Scientists and Madmen. Plenum Publishing Corporation. ISBN 0-306-45784-9. 
• James Gleick (September 29, 1992). Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman. Pantheon. ISBN 0-679-40836-3. 
• Stephen Jay Gould (1991). The Mismeasure of Man, revised and expanded. W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-03972-2. 
• David W. Galenson (December 27, 2005). Old Masters and Young Geniuses : The Two Life Cycles of Artistic Creativity. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-12109-5. 

External links

• Estimated IQs of the greatest geniuses
• Quotations on Genius
• The Outsiders (A look at the genius condition)
• Genius Hall
• DigitAll: What is genius?
• Genius Definition
• Study: Gifted children especially vulnerable to effects of bullying
• Artistic Genius and Temperament
• Brainteaser: Scientists Dissect Mystery of Genius
• Book review of George Leonard's Education and Ecstasy

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