Is there such a thing as "Genius"? If so what do all geniuses have in common with each other? How do you quantify genius? Is there something which is recognisable in a musical genius that would be found in the work and thought processes of lets say a genius physicist or a genius jewelery designer? Does every human endeavour have its geniuses for example, a genius plumber or a genius shelf builder - maybe a genius lawnmower manufacturer? what is the concept of genius about?
that's one description......i feel that it is one's ability to focus on present reality, and utilize that focus in a controlled manner.
A genuis will always disagree with his fellow genuises. This way you play "devils advocate" and make your friend rise above his/her own thought patterns in order to prove or disprove his/her own theory. Then we can get into the whole idea of Global consciousness....which in theory makes all those that are consciously connected, equal intellectuals.
I think you need to examine the original meaning of the concept of genius to get to the heart of this question. Genius was used at one time in the same sense as daemon - it was believed in the pagan world that each thing had it's daemon, it's spirit or genius. Each human being had a genius in this sense. What makes a genius in the sense we now use the word is hard to say. It is always a combination of factors which seem to align. Take the music of Beethoven - he was in the right place at the right time - it was possible for someone to come along and totally revise the musicl landscape at that exact point in the development of western music. So a genius is one who finds a kind of unique niche. But they must also have the right abilities and so on. Beethoven was obviously one with an innate gift for music. It's a question of innate potentiality in people. Perhaps if people were free to do what they really wanted to do, rather than being constrained to make narrow choices in life based on economic neccessity etc, we'd see more genius and less mediocrity. I think a genius plumber or anything else could exist - though they'd make less impact in the world than a Shakespeare or Einstien.
Genius is unprecedented, singular creativity. A would-be Genius submits absolute attention and humility to . . . and receives, simultaneously, inspiration, vision, wisdom, the idea no one has ever thought, the music no one has ever heard, the existence no one has ever realized. Then, and only then, Genius crafts something tangible from whatever it is, ultimately, that the gift presents itself to be. Some of my favorite Geniuses (Genii?) are (in no implied order of importance) - Joseph Campbell, Jimi Hendrix, M.K. Gandhi, J.S. Bach, J.R.R. Tolkien, Albert Einstein, The Beatles, Robert Pirsig, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Lao Tsu, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Bob Dylan, J. Krishnamurti, W.A. Bouguereau, Maimonides, Andy Partridge, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Rebbe M.M. Schneerson, William Shakespeare, Rembrandt, Lisa Gerrard, Tzvi Freeman, St. Francis of Assissi, Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin, Bob Marley, and the list goes on and on and on . . . Peace and Love
I am sure all creative human activities have at least one genius. In some fields, like classical music, world exploration or consititutional authorship, maybe the best of them have already come and gone. Who knows? In the present, an argument could certainly be made that we are experiencing more than one golden age. There is substantial creativity at work in such diverse creative pursuits as animation (The Simpsons, CGI, Pixar etc.), communications (Radio, T.V., The Internet, e-mail, cell phones, etc) spiritual experimentation (Gandhi and MLK's nonviolence, popular mysticism, psychedelic drugs, environmentalism, etc.) and others. And in the future? Who knows? Maybe one day some genius will come along and make everyone rethink the creative potential of plumbing, kazoo playing, gardening, cultural/scriptural exegesis and public displays of compassion. More likely, the genius of the future will have a truly creative idea for something you and I have never imagined. We'll just have to wait and see. Peace and Love
"genius", at least in the only sense in which i have ever been able to understood the term, or find it meaningful, is simply a far above average rate of capacity to accumulate and intigrate usable understanding. there is no other unique 'cache'' to it, nor does, that i can see, there need to be. =^^= .../\...
