Genius

A genius is a person of great intelligence, who shows an exceptional natural capacity of intellect, especially as shown in creative and original work. The term may also be applied to someone who is a polymath or a prodigy. Although the term is sometimes used to denote the possession of a superior talent in any field (e.g., Roger Federer may be said to have a genius for tennis or Winston Churchill for statesmanship), in many instances the term is used specifically to denote an exceptional natural capacity of intellect in areas of art, literature, music, science and mathematics.

Types of Genius

Albert Einstein, archetype of genius.

The multiple intelligences hypothesis put forth by Harvard University professor Howard Gardner in his 1983 book Frames of Mind states there are at least seven types of intelligences, each with its own type of genius. Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences has not been readily accepted within academic psychology. However, it has met with a strongly positive response from many educators. A growing number of schools in North America have looked to structure curricula according to these intelligences, and to design classrooms and sometimes whole schools to reflect the understandings that Howard Gardner developed. (follow the links below to visit a couple of examples). The theory has also been used within pre-school, higher, vocational and adult education initiatives.

Artistic genius may show itself in early childhood as a prodigy 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. 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. Mozart, who apparently completed his musical compositions in his head and simply wrote them down when he was done, is supposed to have often said while drinking and conversing with friends, "I write music as a sow pisses."

Identification

Intelligence is exceptionally difficult to determine. The standard measurement in the United States is via the I.Q. test. 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. However, even with this caveat on its use, the concept of I.Q. is still criticized as being too narrow a mode of measuring something as ambiguous and diverse as the intellectual qualities of humanity. There are several examples of people with IQ levels in the genius range while having a disability or very low level in one of the subcategories. The IQ test has also been criticized as being racist in its application and conclusions despite that these tests are designed to eliminate race/sex for example by predicting numerical sequences.

In the 1950’s, researchers and psychologists mainly identified giftedness and genius in terms of a high score on an IQ test. This is now one of the measures still used and the general cutoff for many programs is often placed near the sigma 2 level on a standardized intelligence test, children above this level being labeled 'gifted', and above 160 as "exceptionally gifted" or "genius".

Some IQ testers use these classifications to describe differing levels of giftedness. The following bands apply with a standard deviation of σ = 15 on a standardized IQ test. Each band represents a difference of one standard deviation from the mean.

• Bright: 115+, or one in six (84th percentile)
• Moderately gifted: 130+, or 1 in 50 (97.9th percentile)
• Highly gifted: 145+, or 1 in 1000 (99.9th percentile)
• Exceptionally gifted/genius: 160+, or 1 in 30,000 (99.997th percentile)
• Profoundly gifted/genius: 175+, or 1 in 3 million (99.99997th percentile)

Unfortunately, most IQ tests do not have the capacity to discriminate accurately at higher IQ levels, and are perhaps only effective at determining whether a student is gifted rather than distinguishing among levels of giftedness. Although the Wechsler tests have a ceiling of about 160, their creator has admitted that they are intended to be used within the average range (between 70 and 130), and are not intended for use at the extreme ends of the population. The Stanford-Binet form L-M, currently outdated, was the only test that had a sufficient ceiling to identify the exceptionally and profoundly gifted. However, because the instrument is outdated, current results derived from the instrument generate inflated and inaccurate scores. The Stanford-Binet form V and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Fourth Revision, both recently released, are currently being evaluated for this population. Mensa offers IQ testing but these are only suitable for persons over the age of ten and a half years. Younger children need to be assessed by an educational psychologist to find out their IQ score. Also, those who are more gifted in areas such as the arts and literature tend to do poorly on IQ tests, which are generally verbal- and mathematical-skills related.

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: in his dialog Theætetus, Plato offers a picturesque anecdote of the absentmindedness of Thales. Some individuals in this arena of "absent-minded professors" and persons lacking normal social skills fall in the Autistic spectrum (such as Asperger Syndrome). 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. Such examples, however, are likely products of mental or emotional instability rather than genius per se, and it has been shown that approximately two-thirds of gifted children fall prey to bullying. Some geniuses' works were also unappreciated in their lifetime (e.g. Évariste Galois' mathematical contributions were finally fully published and declared sound in 1843, 11 years after his death).

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.^{[citation needed]} As intelligence of a person increases, the number of those whom he or she considers 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.^{[citation needed]} Critics reject the one-dimensional categorization of intelligence and note that history's most consequential leaders had to be exceptionally gifted in at least certain areas in order to attain the power and consequence they produced.

Philosophies

Variegated examples from philosophers are indicative of attempts to either 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.

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.

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. 
• 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. 
• Francis Galton. Hereditary Genius. 
• Gardner, Howard E. (May 1999). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0465025091.
• 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. 
• 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. 

External links

• Estimated IQs of the greatest geniuses
• Quotations on Genius
• Genius Hall
• DigitAll: What is genius?
• Genius Definition
• Artistic Genius and Temperament
• Brainteaser: Scientists Dissect Mystery of Genius

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