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Finally, Are You a Genius?
(From the notes attached to “In Two Minds,” a novel about the different lives of a sea going radio officer.)
The short answer is yes, potentially. Apart from a relatively few freaks whose reflexes, perception of sensory data and processing is marginally faster than is true for the vast majority of the rest of us, and those who unfortunately are not quite so sharp, we are all cast in much the same mould. We are a product of our genetic inheritance and of our environment. So what marks out the so-called geniuses?
Following the death of Albert Einstein fifty years or so ago his brain was examined to see if it was physically any bigger than the norm. Of course, it wasn’t. Those who thought it might have been simply demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of the nature of brains. A thousand years ago such ignorance might be understandable, but in the 1950’s? At that time, too, it was commonly held that we only use about 10% of our brains, the rest being dubbed the silent areas. Even I was uncomfortable with this assumption. Why, Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection and evolution based on the survival of the fittest in a given but changing environment had been around for a century and what that theory demonstrates is that nothing in nature happens without a reason, especially in living organisms if there is a significant cost involved. Big brains make huge demands upon the body’s resources so if we have big brains it is because we need them. If the silent areas were really unused and doing nothing they would not be there.
The trouble is, lacking a reasonable and demonstrable explanation it is all too easy to assume away the inexplicable, the unknown brain, or to invent mystical qualities to account for the extra-ordinary achievements of some individuals. Ah, but you see, they were born like that. Mozart was writing music before he was five years old. Yes, but it was mundane and unoriginal. The evidence is that he had been studying several hours a day for more than ten years before he began to produce truly original and high quality work.
In Genius Explained (See Genius Explained by Prof. M. J. A. Howe, Cambridge University Press, 1999.) Michael Howe provides a very readable and convincing explanation of the nature of genius. It is not mystical and it is not innate. Instead he identifies some key characteristics in a series of case studies of eminent people, including Darwin, Einstein and George Stevenson.
The word genius is a frequently applied label reflecting an outstanding achievement. The achievement, though, depends upon the possession of very high skill levels and large amounts of daily practice over long periods of time, typically in excess of ten years. There are no exceptions. The individuals concerned exhibit intense curiosity in their field of endeavour, they are dedicated to learning more, they persevere through sheer hard work despite difficulties arising or obstacles placed in their way. Far from being reclusive they usually possess other skills involving the ability to get on with and communicate with others and they sometimes benefit from special opportunities, even sheer chance, although these opportunities usually arise as a result of all they have done before. Great inventors never produce sudden and dramatic advances but build on the work of others and of their contemporaries so that their innovation, when it is produced, is more akin to their problem solving skills (abilities we all share) rather than some mystical insight or ‘Eureka’ moment. Important too is timing; how conducive to progress is the nature of the current social climate and the technology being actively pursued? A large investment of time is spent planning and developing ideas. It is crucially important particularly when it comes to the onerous task of writing it all down.
None of this is to deny the existence of special moments of insight (as described under the general heading “The Nature of Thought” in the notes to “In Two Minds”). In fact Howe’s thesis positively supports those ideas. He concludes by observing that the lives of such famous people illustrates just what we, as humans, are truly capable of and that provides the answer to the question, are you a genius? Oh yes, if you really, really, really want to be one.
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