Characteristics of Genius?

Discussion in 'Human Science' started by SomethingClever, Nov 24, 2010.

  1. SomethingClever Registered Senior Member

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    144
    I recently did some Googling on the nature of "genius" (a subjective term, to be sure)

    what I found was "extreme sensitivity" and considered "weird" or "aloof" in the minds of others.

    Have you folks met anyone you suspect is a genius? and while you're at it, what is genius?
     
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  3. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Someone with mental abilities that most everyone doesn't have giving them superior knowledge about things that most of us don't understand.

    The ability to see things that others can't and can interpert what they mean so others can understand them.

    I've met a few people like that in my life, Salvidor Dali being one of them.
     
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  5. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    People called me both "genius" and "weird and aloof" when I was a kid. Nobody ever accused me of extreme sensitivity, but the word was used in a different sense, to mean sensitive to the needs and feelings of others. In contrast to "aloof."

    My IQ was 140, but a civil service job takes off two points per year, so it's now in the 80s.
     
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  7. *~PriNcesS~* Registered Member

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    A genius is one deeply introspective, and usually an introvert. A genius develops autistic behavior overtime(super sensitivity to touch) because of impaired social interaction and communication.When they go deep into that vast stellar complex, they tend to become unaware of their surroundings.they're extremely creative , they live by creation, they have to create things inorder to get by,therefore they find daily life routines boring.they usually have difficulty communicating. they don't take time to get to know anybody because they're in their own world of creation most of the time.
     
  8. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

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    We actually studied this a bit in psych at u...our conclusion then was that "genius" is a word we use to describe someone that we currently admire for some reason or another.

    J.S. Bach was just a guy who played the organ and had a big family, then he died. Now, a few hundred years later, he is a "genius". Ditto for Beethoven and Mozart.

    Some folks say Tesla was a "genius" others that he was a crackpot.....it is in the (fickle) eye of the beholder, more a social valuation than a real world phenomenon.

    I won't even get into art and artists.....
     
  9. DNA100 Registered Senior Member

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    259
    I recommend reading the book "Genius Explained" by Michael J.A Howe.

    And a genius has very little or nothing to with high IQ.
     
  10. DNA100 Registered Senior Member

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    here is a video that many of you may find interesting :
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1U4nBKxORg

    Einstein said "The secret to being a genius is knowing how to hide your sources".What it means is that there is no such thing as perfect originality.Every creative idea,like the video mentioned,is actually a connection of ideas that we are already aware of (due to natural experiences or by leaning from others) .The geniuses are better at hiding their original sources of ideas because they are able to create a richer mix.

    Oh,by the way ,the book that I mentioned defines genius in terms of achievement,arguing that anyone who has never achieved anything significant is unlikely to be called a genius,even if extremely able.And the most important characteristics of a genius is at least 10000 hours intense and systematic practice and training of relevant skills.
     
  11. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    I have always maintained that the secret to being funny is not necessarily the ability to create jokes, but simply to remember the ones you've heard and repeat them accurately.
     
  12. Emil Valued Senior Member

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    I think one characteristic of genius is the power to waive any
    to do what he wants and what he likes.
     
  13. WillNever Valued Senior Member

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    No, that's definitely not one.
     
  14. francois Schwat? Registered Senior Member

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    Nahhh, an IQ is someone who has an IQ of 140, or thereabouts.
     
  15. Dr Mabuse Percipient Thaumaturgist Registered Senior Member

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    Unhappy.
     
  16. Absane Rocket Surgeon Valued Senior Member

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    8,989
    A lot of people make the mistake of equating a high IQ with genius. We don't have a definitive definition of genius... but whatever it is, it's a combination of an above-average IQ with extreme creativity. The two are inner-related to some significant degree, but not too much. For example... Marilyn vos Savant supposedly has the highest IQ in the world, but she makes far less of a contribution to society (if any) than did Einstein or Newton, who had estimated IQs of 150, must less than her. Marilyn is extremely intelligent, but by no means a genius. She can easily comprehend anything Einstein or any other genius produced, but she can't produce anything much on that level. Or look at Richard Feynman. His estimated IQ was only 125... but he was a genius because of his extreme level of creative ability matched with a sufficient amount of intelligence.

    Basically, genius requires a mix of extreme creativity and the intelligence to know how to make sense of their creativity. And with that comes the reason why people just don't understand anyone on the genius level, and why they tend to go unnoticed until either late in their life to centuries after their death. The extremely intelligence alone are misunderstood and appear threatening to "normal" people. They can do things most people can't and there isn't a way to easily compete with them. And then there are the extremely creative people... anyone less creative than them just can't figure out why they see the world so strangely and some might even figure that they have a sort of mental illness. And many do have a mental illness because they have less latent inhibition.

    A low level of LI can be the major contribution factor to mental illness because it's the job of the brain to take in stimuli and "make sense" out of it... if the brain cannot do this, psychosis or the like set it. This is what happens when you sleep... you're brain stops trying to make sense out of everything and the result is a series of non-sensible dreams. Have you ever had one of those days where you got very little sleep and as the day progresses, you see non-sense things like dinosaurs or believe that you see trees dancing or hear on the radio that aliens have made contact with us? That's what low LI is like. You're brain takes in stimuli, confuses it all, and treats it like it's not worth tuning out. So, for those of you that don't know why some people (such as myself) are overly-sensitive to a lot of things (compared to the vast majority of the population), this is why.

    So, that explains the typical genius. Nobody understands them because they're too smart and people think they're odd because they're extremely creativity. Of course, being a genius doesn't mean that they'll ever produce anything useful, just as being extremely intelligent means that you'll make a lot of money or that being 7 feet tall will mean that you're great at basketball.

    Taken from the book "The Creative Brain:"

    "Personality traits that define the creative individual include openness to experience, adventuresomeness, rebelliousness, individualism, sensitivity, playfulness, persistence, curiosity, and simplicity."
     
    Last edited: Feb 24, 2011
  17. Lilalena Registered Senior Member

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    I agree with you. It's the only way to reconcile the following contradiction:
    -genius is considered rare
    -most people consider themselves one
     
  18. jmpet Valued Senior Member

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    I will not fall into the vanity gap and postulate how much smarter I am than you because a test told me so.

    Genius is the capacity to be singleminded- to explore a concept to its end and posit based on those results.
     
  19. Me-Ki-Gal Banned Banned

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    4,634
    I agree. We are a reflection of past learning. Humans copy humans . We build on what has already been built. We take the foundation of past learned knowledge and reorganize . Look at it up side down backwards and forwards and then build on it. We connect dots that have not been connected , We match up thoughts that were not matched. We rediscover things like they are new and on big occasions the hero ( I like to call them hero's) casts away into uncharted territory in search of something new . If we can use it to our own benefit we love the hero and exalted them to supernatural status. Ca bam the genius is born
     
  20. Me-Ki-Gal Banned Banned

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    4,634
    Well my little single minded narrow point of views . The idiotic fool must be a ?
    What ! What ! What! did you say that? What ? What ? What ? did you say
     
  21. Me-Ki-Gal Banned Banned

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    I don't know about that . You better laugh at my jokes our I will mentally hurt you. I will ? I will? do something . Box your ears . Yeah I will mentally box your ears . With a feather duster. Can you feel it? That little tickle on your ear. Don't scratch it . Get your hand away from your ear Now . You are not listening . Stop scratching your ear.
    Thats what you get if you don't laugh at my jokes
     
  22. Ronaldo01 Registered Member

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    In my dictionary genius is that who has complete knowledge on every issue and who performs rather than speaking. And performer is the best genius not the speaker or thinker. One who performs deserved to be the tittle of genius.
     
  23. Jim S Registered Senior Member

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    I'm starting to think a genius is anyone who can write an understandable sentence and spell words correctly.
     

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