The concept of genius: what it means, definition, main signs, how to recognize

An ancient wisdom says: “Genius is one percent patience and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” A man of genius, possessing talent and amazing mental abilities, is rare. Insight, as the highest degree of genius, allowing one to make unique discoveries, is not the result of learning.

Recognized genius - Albert Einstein

Genius and a brilliant person

A genius is a person who has a number of distinctive qualities. These individual traits include:

intuition - the ability to comprehend the truth without any inferential processes;
fantasy – the power of imagination;
creativity is an activity aimed at creating something completely new.

Important! A genius, possessing all the knowledge of the cultural heritage of his ancestors, is not afraid to step over old norms and open unknown horizons in his field of creation.

Genius is the greatest degree of personal talent that a person realizes in his work activity.

Virginity and masturbation

Agree, at the end of the first part of American Pie it was immediately clear to everyone who was smarter!

There is an opinion that an intelligent person spends less time on sex. The reasons for this indicator may go much deeper than the simple explanation that no one wants to hug assholes.

But scientists recently conducted a study in which they determined that the number of sexual partners among more intelligent students is significantly lower than among their colleagues with average intelligence. Also, the virginity rate of smarter people is 45% higher than that of the general student population.

But there are a number of scientific explanations for all this:

1 Science has proven that the hormone testosterone can suppress intelligence, which means that smarter people have significantly less of it, which makes them less aggressive and relegates girls to the background.

2 An intelligent person thinks more often about the risk of pregnancy or illness and is aware of its consequences.

3 If a person is able to teach himself, most often he will lead a reclusive lifestyle and looks at parties and parties as an unnecessary risk. We should also not forget that introverts are also uncomfortable being in large crowds of people, and masturbation or abstinence does not pose a risk at all.

Concept in psychology

If society defines genius as a spark of God, then psychoanalysts consider it the fruit of a defense mechanism of the psyche - sublimation. When such protection, which is responsible for relieving internal stress, is triggered, the overvoltage energy is directed toward achieving social goals. According to psychologists, a genius person is capable of insight.

Choleric - what kind of person is this?
By the way. Insight is a breakthrough on an intuitive level when solving a given intellectual problem.

From a psychological point of view, the state of genius is nothing more than a deviation from the norm. It has a genetic predisposition and sometimes borders on madness. Such people may have low emotional intelligence, which contributes to the development of bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia. In this case, it is the disease that helps create brilliant masterpieces.

Noticed. Geniuses are “people not of this world” and are often not adapted to ordinary life. They are so passionate about what they do that they live in the gestalt moment (“here and now”). Such individuals are helpless in everyday situations and sometimes cannot find a common language with other people.

Genius and madness

Geniuses of modern Russia

Russia, too, has not yet run out of talent. Since the times of the Soviet Union, great importance has been attached to the development of education and science. In the 20th century, many different scientific schools were organized on the basis of universities and research institutes, from which a whole galaxy of world-class scientists emerged. The modern Russian Federation has seriously lost most of its previous positions in science, engineering and technology. Nevertheless, the country continues to be glorified by the names of outstanding scientists of our time who have achieved unsurpassed results in their fields of activity. For example, these:

Zhores Alferov. Source: RG.ru

ZHORES ALFEROV. Nobel Prize winner in physics. A scientist who, with his discovery, turned the entire habitual life of mankind upside down. Alferov created a laser prototype, on the basis of which many related technologies were developed: DVD devices, mobile phones, solar panels, laser scalpels, optical fiber, elements for space applications. All this formed the basis of the gadgets we are familiar with, without which people can no longer imagine themselves.

Grigory Perelman. Source: naukatehnika.com

GRIGORY PERELMAN. The brilliant mathematician of our time became famous for his proof of the super complex Poincaré conjecture. Its essence lies in the assumption that the shape of the universe is a three-dimensional sphere. Perelman published his proof in 2002, but the scientific world spent another decade trying to figure out his train of thought, since he gave only the general principles of his work, leaving out details that he believed were “self-evident.”

Mikhail Lukin. Source: ria.ru

MIKHAIL LUKIN. MIPT graduate, professor of physics at Harvard University. He was able to do the impossible - stop the light. This discovery makes it possible to create a photonic computer that is millions of times more productive than conventional ones. In addition, Lukin managed to obtain photon matter - a physical substance consisting not of atoms, but of photons. This discovery is also planned to be used in computing technology.

Of course, there are many more people worthy of this list in the Russian intellectual environment. The difficulties of recent decades have scattered and continue to scatter Russian scientists across a variety of countries and continents in search of an optimal environment for their research and scientific creativity. Unfortunately, the modern Russian state does not value the invaluable brain content of its people. The people pay him in the same coin - they refuse to trust him and look for the embodiment of their talent outside. It is likely that such phenomena will make Russian science bankrupt after some time. And the state too.

Where does the word "genius" come from?

Pessimist - what kind of person is this?

In Latin this word will be written as genius, translated as “spirit”. Even in the mythology of ancient Rome, there were spirits - geniuses (personal to humans). It was believed that especially outstanding people had a strong personal spirit. Therefore, since the time of Gaius Julius Caesar (Octavian Augustus), this word has become synonymous with the words “inspiration” and “talent.”

Interpretation of the word

Pale shadows of genius in each of us

To begin with: how can you use one word to find out whether a person has the makings of genius or not? Very simple! Tell the person that he is a fool. He will either put you on the list of his sworn enemies, or simply won’t believe you, because he knows for sure that this is not so. In the first version, he is apparently really not far off, but in the second... He believes in himself, he is convinced that he deserves a lot, he approaches himself creatively, and creativity is already one of the signs of possible genius.

Here are a few more criteria by which you can try to find markers of primary genius in yourself. Without undue modesty, you will agree that almost all of the following are present to one degree or another in each of us.

TALK TO YOURSELF. To the question: “Who are you, my friend, talking to?”, a person immersed in himself can reflexively answer: “With himself, with an intelligent person.” Talking to yourself is a trait inherent in geniuses. In this case, the brain tends to more strongly articulate the thoughts swarming in it in order to better separate one from the other and choose the brightest among them. Poets often do this, honing their language as they construct the phrases of their works. Thinking out loud means the brain is trying to find the most elegant solution to a problem out of many possible ones.
“BENIGN” SOCIOPATHY. In today's hectic life, it is difficult to find an island of silence and solitude among the chaos of everyday life. A person has a whole host of functions and social obligations; he doesn’t have enough time for anything to be alone with himself and his thoughts. People with prerequisites for genius are characterized by a periodic desire for isolation in order to focus on themselves and their creativity.
CHRONIC ANXIETY. The achievements of geniuses do not always come to them on their own. The entire process of their creativity is associated with a feeling of anxiety about not taking something into account, about making a mistake. They tend to constantly doubt themselves. As a rule, this happens when comparing the scale of the task with the available potential capabilities. Brilliant people often lack attention because they constantly switch it from one problem to another, which causes cognitive confusion.
GENIUS ARE OWLS AND SLEEP VERY LITTLE. If the body cannot relax at night, if it is too excited and a stream of thoughts is seething in the head, then this is also one of the signs of genius. Genius manifests itself in all its glory at night, accompanied by its eternal friend insomnia. A person in the arms of these fairies can neither switch off nor fall asleep. The restless trio is capable of constructing the most unexpected idea out of nowhere. Nevertheless, the next morning such people are cheerful, and again find the strength to create and give birth to new thoughts. This is their mystery.
THERE IS A DREAM IN YOUR SOUL, AND YOUR MIND IS ALSO FULL OF IT. Such a person constantly dreams about something, looks into himself, into his feelings and experiences, tries to decipher the oddities and curiosities of his own dreams. No, this is not an eccentric, but quite possibly an unrecognized genius. Geniuses love to dream and delve into themselves. Often this activity leads them to amazing results. Daydreaming develops intuition, which leads to paradoxes. Of course, daydreaming is a trait of genius.

Types of genius

Idealist - what kind of person is this?

Who is a genius? Is it clear what are the types of this unique condition? The following forms of its manifestation are distinguished:

emotional;
creative;
scientific;
sports;
practical;
household;
entrepreneurial.

Attention! Separately, two divisions can be distinguished according to the method of implementation. The first is when a person, while remaining ready for something new, can easily switch from one vector of searching for discoveries to another. The second is when a genius works and makes inventions in a narrow way until the end of his life.

How to recognize a genius?

There are no clear criteria showing genius, but we can still talk about certain patterns inherent in such people. Geniuses with a unique perception of the world, a unique attitude towards familiar things. They may not even notice something that, at the everyday level, will unbalance another person. But something unusual will cause them to become truly depressed.

For example, brilliant children will not be upset at all if they are not bought some kind of toy, but they will lose the meaning of life for a long time after learning that Einstein’s theory has been refuted.

The main signs of genius:

Comprehensive consideration of any issue and depth of thought;
Visualization of thinking;
Tendency to constant experimentation;
Combination of incompatible things;
Ability to see analogies and metaphors;
Developed intuition;
Specific sense of humor;
They don’t stop in a dead end situation, they always look for a way out.

But let’s immediately make a reservation that this applies only to the selected activity. In ordinary life, such people may not notice the obvious. Therefore, it is correct to distinguish several types of genius.

The main signs of a genius

If a person is called a genius, what does this mean is already clear, but how can he be identified among other people?

For your information. According to statistics, there is one recognized genius for every 50 million people. For example, geneticists say that only one potential genius can be born per hundred thousand newborns.

Despite the small percentage of geniuses in society, such a person can be identified by the following parameters:

a special state of mind combined with innate abilities;
using intuition;
perseverance and self-confidence;
innovative thinking;
understanding of vocation and its productive implementation in a certain area.

It has been noticed that some of these amazing people focus on one thing in childhood. They may fall behind in other subjects at school or even fail the school curriculum.

Interesting. Albert Einstein was considered a retarded child and did not do well in elementary school. Maxim Gorky did not write school essays at all and completed only two classes.

Innate signs of genius are not enough; they must be identified and developed.

Russian geniuses of the past

At the current historical stage, it so happens that for the last 500 years the world has been under the influence of a Western-centric model of civilization. Others were unable to compete with her. One gets the impression that everything most significant created by humanity in its history arose exclusively in the West. Hence, geniuses and the very concept of genius are a priori associated exclusively with the Western world. Global institutions of public recognition, such as the Nobel Committee, support and serve the central idea of Western superiority. It is quite possible that this is precisely the reason why among the Nobel laureates there are so few scientists from Russia, which is perceived by the West as a deep periphery of the modern world.

However, Russia has always been full of talent. The names of Russian geniuses of the past such as A.S. are widely known in the world. Pushkin, F.M. Dostoevsky, P.I. Tchaikovsky, L.N. Tolstoy, D.I. Mendeleev, V.I. Lenin, K.E. Tsiolkovsky and many, many others. Unfortunately, outside of Russia, most of them are simply considered famous personalities to one degree or another.

Is it possible to develop genius?

If genius is the highest degree of talent and inspiration, then you need to know what all the steps of this ladder are called. It consists of the following items:

inclinations – features of the human nervous system, on the basis of which various personality abilities are formed;
abilities - psychological qualities that allow an individual to easily acquire skills, knowledge and abilities in various fields;
giftedness is a combination of different developed abilities;
talent - outstanding abilities that are manifested and polished with the acquisition of experience and subsequently form certain skills;
genius is the highest form of personality functioning intellectually or creatively.

Only endless hard work put into completing all these levels leads to the final result.

Ability Levels

How to raise a genius from a child

Knowing what genius means, you can, with patience, carefully observe the child in order to initially identify the makings of genius.

Important! A genius, the definition of which is already clear, can grow out of a child. He will not be the one his parents want him to be, but the one inherent in nature.

In simple terms, adults are required to follow a certain methodology, namely:

initially determine what type of thinking the baby belongs to and identify his abilities;
do not interfere with the little person’s desire for independent development and refrain from imposing your opinions and ideas;
support and assist in every possible way the development of charisma and leadership abilities; they indicate high self-esteem and awareness of one’s strengths;
helping the child, developing self-confidence is a fundamental feeling for the manifestation of talent;
to form creative thinking and perseverance in achieving goals;
give the child freedom of choice, be objective and instill the ability not to dwell on the successes achieved.

Carefully. You cannot direct the child’s activities where the parents want. It is important to allow him to choose his own path and profession.

Future genius

Unfulfilled professional dreams of parents, fear of deviating from generally accepted norms of behavior and the task of social adaptation are just a few of the obstacles to the development of a brilliant personality. To become a genius, a person must think and live outside the box. Abnormality, as the public interprets it, is one of the basic signs of genius.

Being a genius and having exceptional intellectual abilities are not the same thing. Smart people are a dime a dozen, yet not many of them can boast of significant achievements. What is important here is creativity, the ability to force your own imagination to work in almost any situation.

What makes a genius a genius?

Take Benjamin Franklin, for example. He lacked Hamilton's outstanding analytical skills and Madison's philosophical depth. However, his lack of classical education did not prevent the self-educated Franklin from becoming the best inventor, diplomat, scientist, writer and business strategist of the American Enlightenment. By flying a kite, he proved the electrical nature of lightning and invented a special rod to tame it. He built efficient stoves, mapped the Gulf Stream, created bifocals, magnificent musical instruments, and a unique style of crude American humor.

Albert Einstein followed a similar path. As a child, it took him a long time to learn to speak, so his parents had to seek advice from a doctor. House servants called Albert “stupid,” and one relative considered him “mentally retarded.” In addition, Einstein openly did not want to obey any kind of authority, as a result of which one teacher kicked him out of school, and another declared that the boy would never be any good - the verdict he rendered still amuses his descendants. These traits made Einstein the patron saint of absent-minded schoolchildren throughout the world.

But Einstein's contempt for authority also led him to question established concepts in ways that the academy's well-trained staff had never even considered. And his slow speech development allowed him to maintain freshness of perception when observing those everyday phenomena that other people took for granted. “The normal adult does not think at all about the problem of space and time,” Einstein once explained. “I developed intellectually so slowly that space and time were occupied by my thoughts when I became an adult.”

This was the case in 1905, when he was a third-class examiner at the Swiss Patent Office, having graduated from the Zurich Polytechnic, where he finished fourth in his group of five graduates. Einstein revolutionized our understanding of the universe by proposing two cornerstones of modern physics: the theory of relativity and quantum theory. And he did this by abandoning one of the basic assumptions made by Isaac Newton at the beginning of his Principia, that time runs parallel, second by second, no matter how we observe it. Today, the name and image of Einstein - a halo of tousled hair, a piercing gaze - are inseparable from our ideas about a typical genius.

Then there's Steve Jobs. Much like Einstein, who, while agonizing over his theories, picked up the violin and played Mozart (he said it helped him reconnect with cosmic harmony), Jobs believed in the high purpose of beauty, believed that art, precision and the humanities must be connected. After dropping out of college, Jobs took calligraphy and dance classes, and then went to seek spiritual enlightenment in India - as a result, every product he created, from the Macintosh to the iPhone, unlike the products of his competitors, had an almost spiritual quality. nature's beauty.

Studying the biographies of such people led me to Leonardo da Vinci, who, in my opinion, is the greatest creative genius in history. Again, this does not mean that he was exceptionally intelligent. Da Vinci could not boast of the superhuman intellect of such theorists as Newton or Einstein, nor the mathematical abilities of his friend Luca Pacioli.

But he could think like an artist and a scientist, and this gave him something more valuable: the ability to visualize theoretical concepts. Pacioli may have developed Euclid's theories by conducting influential studies in the fields of mathematical perspective and geometric proportions. However, it was da Vinci's illustrations that brought them to life - images of rhombicuboctahedra and dozens of other polyhedral geometric shapes - which ultimately turned out to be more important. Over the years, he produced this kind of illustration for such sciences as geography (the three-dimensional maps he drew for the military leader Cesare Borgia), anatomy (his famous drawings of the “Vitruvian Man” and the fetus in the womb), and many others - and all this is simultaneously with work on a number of works that have become masterpieces of world art.

Like Franklin, da Vinci was largely self-taught. He was born out of wedlock, which meant he could not follow in the footsteps of his notary father and was not entitled to attend one of the “Latin schools” where the classics and humanities were taught to the sleek young men of the early Renaissance. Moreover, like Einstein, da Vinci showed exceptional independence.

It seemed that he was often hurt by his own illiteracy; it was not for nothing that he called himself “uneducated”, not without irony, but at the same time da Vinci could not stand “stupid people” who dared to treat him without due respect. “They walk around, putting on an important air, filled with conceit, dressed up and decorated with the results not of their own, but of other people’s labors,” he wrote in one of his notebooks.

Thus, da Vinci learned to challenge conventional wisdom, ignoring the dusty scholasticism and medieval dogmas accumulated over the millennia since the decline of classical science. He was, in his own words, a student of experience and experiment. “Leonardo da Vinci, disscepolo della sperientia,” he once signed. This approach to problem solving was revolutionary to say the least, foreshadowing the scientific method developed more than a century later by Francis Bacon and Galileo Galilei. And he elevated da Vinci above even the greatest minds of the time. “Talent reaches a goal that no one can achieve,” wrote the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. “Genius is the one that no one can see.”

Die Welt 02/24/2017 Estadão 08/29/2017 Lidovky 06/30/2016 As with Einstein, da Vinci's most inspiring trait was curiosity. Thousands of pages in his surviving notebooks are replete with observations that interested the scientist. He wanted to know what causes people to yawn, how people walk on ice in Flanders, what the methods are for squaring a circle, what causes the aortic valve to close, how the eye perceives light, and what this means for artistic perspective. He set himself the task of understanding such issues as the structure of the calf placenta, crocodile jaws, facial muscles, and understanding the nature of moonlight and the edges of shadows. “Describe how a woodpecker’s tongue works,” he noted in one of my favorite entries. Da Vinci's great and noble ambition was to know everything unknown about everything that could be known, including the cosmos and our place in it.

Often his curiosity was aroused by things that most of us, due to our age, do not even think about. Take, for example, the blue sky. We see it almost every day, but it’s unlikely that many of us, as adults, continue to wonder why it is that particular color. But da Vinci’s interest in this subject did not wane. He wrote many pages in his notebook, exploring how various hazy or bright shades of blue appear as a result of the scattering of light by water vapor. Einstein also puzzled over this question: based on the work of Lord Rayleigh, he developed a mathematical formula for the scattering of light.

Da Vinci never stopped his observations of the world around him. Walking along the fortress moats of the castle of Milan, he paid attention to the alternate movement of pairs of wings of four-winged dragonflies. Walking through the streets of the city, he watched how the facial expressions of people talking to each other correlated with their emotions. When he saw birds, he noted which ones moved their wings faster on the ascent and which ones moved faster on the descent. As he poured water into a bowl, he watched the formation of whirlpools.

Like Franklin—who ran away on a ship to England as a teenager and later measured the temperature of ocean currents, becoming the first person to accurately map the Gulf Stream—da Vinci tirelessly tracked and studied the swirling movements of the air during his travels.

Thanks to these observations, his paintings were filled with a number of vivid artistic details, from the water ripples around the ankles of Jesus standing in the Jordan River in the painting “The Baptism of Christ” and ending with incredible drawings of the Flood. He was also the first person to explain how blood flow from the heart causes the aortic valve to close. And his drawing of the "Vitruvian Man" - a work that combines anatomical precision with stunning artistic beauty - has become a celebrated symbol of the connection between art and science.

There are geniuses in a certain field, such as Leonhard Euler in mathematics or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in music. But, in my opinion, the most interesting geniuses are those who are able to discern a system in the infinite beauty of nature. Da Vinci's genius spanned many disciplines at once. He cleaned the flesh from the faces of dead people, outlined the muscles responsible for the movement of the lips, and then from under his brush the most unforgettable smile in the world was born. He studied human skulls, made multi-layered drawings of bones and teeth, and then, with incredible physiology, he embodied in painting the agony of St. Jerome in the desert. He explored the mathematical laws of optics, showed how light rays hit the cornea, and then in The Last Supper he created the magical illusion of a visual change in perspective.

Of course, there were many other knowledge-hungry encyclopedists, and other Renaissance men emerged during the Renaissance. But none of them painted a portrait of the Mona Lisa, much less did so at the same time as creating unsurpassed anatomical drawings from multiple dissections, as well as diagrams for the diversion of rivers, an explanation of how light reflects from the Earth to the Moon, a dissection of the still beating the heart of a slaughtered pig to understand the workings of the ventricles, the design of musical instruments, the production of theatrical performances, the use of fossils to challenge the biblical account of the flood, and then the creation of drawings of the flood. Da Vinci was a genius, but not simply because he was a man of great intelligence. He was, more importantly, the embodiment of the universal mind, a man who took more interest in more things than anyone in history.

Walter Isaacson is the former editor-in-chief of Time and the author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; Einstein: His Life and Universe; Steve Jobs and Leonardo Da Vinci, on the basis of which this article was written.

InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.

Myth No. 4. Genius is a gloomy loner

There are many similar characters in popular culture. And although geniuses, especially writers and artists, are more prone to mental disorders, particularly depression, they are rarely loners. They want to be around like-minded people who can calm them down and reassure them that they are not crazy. That’s why geniuses always have a “support group.”

Freud had the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, which met at his place on Wednesdays, and Einstein had the “Olympic Academy”. Impressionist artists met weekly and painted together in nature to keep their spirits up in response to the rejection of critics and the public.

Of course, geniuses need to be alone sometimes, but they often switch from solitary work to communicating with others. For example, the Scottish philosopher David Hume sat in his office for weeks and worked, but then he always left and went to the local pub to live and communicate like other people.

In the dictionary D.N. Ushakova

GENIUS, genius, husband. (·lat. genius) (·book). 1. Highest creative ability in scientific or artistic activity. Scientific genius of Lenin. 2. A person who has a similar ability. Darwin was a genius. 3. In Roman mythology - a lower deity, the patron spirit of a person, clan, or locality. | In fantasy literature - a supernatural creature, the personification of good, evil, etc. | trans. (with adj. good, evil). About a person who has something beneficial or a bad influence on someone, bringing *****

Myth No. 1. Genius is due to genetics

This idea appeared a long time ago. Back in 1869, the British scientist Francis Galton published the book “The Heredity of Talent,” in which he argued that genius directly depends on our heredity. But genius is not transmitted genetically like eye color. Brilliant parents don't give birth to brilliant children. Heredity is just one factor.

Another factor is hard work. In addition, your attitude towards your work also influences. This is confirmed by a study conducted among children involved in music Identity and practice: The motivational benefits of a long-term musical identity. . It showed that a student's success is determined not by the number of hours spent rehearsing, but by their attitude towards music in the long term.

In other words, to be a genius, you need a certain way of thinking and perseverance.

Myth No. 3. Geniuses can appear anytime, anywhere

We usually think of geniuses as something like shooting stars - an amazing and extremely rare phenomenon.

But if you map the emergence of geniuses around the world throughout human history, you will notice an interesting pattern. Geniuses do not appear randomly, but in groups. Certain places at certain times produce great minds and new ideas. Think ancient Athens, Renaissance Florence, 1920s Paris, and even today's Silicon Valley.

The places where geniuses appear, although different from each other, have common characteristics. For example, almost all of these are cities.

The high population density and sense of intimacy that comes with urban environments encourages creativity.

All these places are characterized by an atmosphere of tolerance and openness, and this, according to psychologists, is especially important for creativity. The relationship between intelligence and creativity: New support for the threshold hypothesis by means of empirical breakpoint detection. . So geniuses are less like shooting stars and more like flowers that naturally appear in the right environment.