Genius

Discussion in 'General Philosophy' started by goofyfish, Feb 22, 2002.

  1. goofyfish Analog By Birth, Digital By Design Valued Senior Member

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    What is your definition of true genius?

    It's always very impressive to hear people quote the likes of Sun Tsu, Thoreau or Nietzsche, but what impresses me the most are those who have learned from their own experiences and utilize the moment to be the teacher and educate any and all who are looking for new areas of thought and reason.

    My definition: Original thought which is profound enough to move the greatest intellects, but practical enough to be applied to the common man's daily life.

    Peace.
     
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  3. Chagur .Seeker. Registered Senior Member

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    goofyfish ...

    True genius: Richard Feynman - Physist, educator, and bongo player!

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  5. ImaHamster2 Registered Senior Member

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    And Feynman the prankster.
     
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  7. Chagur .Seeker. Registered Senior Member

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    Or ...

    As Stephen Hawking referred to him in "A Brief History of Time":

    "The physicist's physicist."

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  8. Pollux V Ra Bless America Registered Senior Member

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    Genius is someone or something that absorbs every morsel of data and intelligence around it as it grows and matures. It then draws it's own conclusions on the world around it based on many sources of truthful information.
     
  9. Congrats Bartok Fiend Registered Senior Member

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    Genious is the ability to fit the most unconventional idea into a small, incredibly simple package that goes with the previous intellectual world right away. It doesn't have anything to do with the amount of knowlege amassed, or even the type of knowlegde amassed. It has to do with how the person who created the idea can understand it well enough to put it into the frame of reference that exists without the idea.
     
  10. Bohemian Nightmare I am better than you Registered Senior Member

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    this is a tricky subject.
    i think, traditional nothions of 'genius' have always been conscerned with those who process quickly. but the thing is, many people dont have the ability to asimilate like lightning, but can still come with brilliant conclusions on their own time. asimilation has always been the means to determin intelligence but i think this is a fatal mistake for reasons i just said. i believe there are many different types of intelligense and they often dont relate to each other. so someone can be a brilliant musician but not add up 7 + 8. i would say that a genius is simply someone who can excel in a given field. but remember there are many fields. yeah.
     
  11. Tyler Registered Senior Member

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    I would like to add something to this older thread. I think genius is someone who can formulate ideas through experiences like goofy said rather than having read Thus Spoke Zarathustra 8 times and memorized the lines. I think the few people I've met who could take the most complex ideas and make them seem perfectly logical and explain them in simple English always impressed me as genius.
     
  12. Xev Registered Senior Member

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    The ability to make information into theory.

    The ability to take facts and understand how they fit together, how they relate to the whole. Thats why genius requires hard work, but hard work alone is not enough. You have to have the ability to relate it all. I don't think speed has much to do with it.

    My favorite Feynman story is about a time when he was chatting with several physicists, and Murray Gell-Man (a very brilliant scientist) was describing his trip to Montreal.

    Gell-Man was very anal-retentive about proper pronounciation, and confused the group by pronouncing it correctly; "Mon-TRAY-AlGH". Or some such, in any case, impeccable pronounciation but incomprehensible.

    Feynman turns to him very coolly, and says;

    "Don't you think that the purpose of language is communication?"
     
  13. ismu ::phenomenon::. Registered Senior Member

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    There are several factors to make a person have a great thought

    - Thinking fast --> IQ. They said that have high IQ is genius.

    - Thinking accurate --> This will results less mistakes. Also related with IQ test.

    - Wise --> Have right feeling or references in judgement of what is right and wrong. EQ test.

    - Thinking deep --> Able to consider many factors and probabilities related to current subject. Works well on chess-master.

    - Well organized thinking --> Requires good method of thinking. The mothods can be learnt via education, such as scientific method to solve problems.

    - Have a good memories --> Can rememember lots of things.

    - Experience and knowledge --> Knew lots of things to be used as references. This mostly depends on one's environment.

    - Intuitive --> This guy have lots of ideas pops up wich nobody else can think about it.

    - Creative --> Similar with intuitive but in combine several ideas to solve problems applicatively.

    So... it seems that genius is thinking fast and accurate, according to defiinition in IQ test. Perhaps we should looking for right title for people such as Sun Tsu, Thoreau or Nietzsche.
     
  14. Adam §Þ@ç€ MØnk€¥ Registered Senior Member

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    A genius = someone who does not eat at McDonalds.
     
  15. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    In that case adam its ME

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  16. Magic~Carpet~Ride Registered Senior Member

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    It's all about communication. Many of us have bright ideas, earth shaking realisations, and the like, (particularly after a night using some very fine artificial intelligence enhancers) but how many of us communicate these ideas to others? At the time, yes... then tomorrow its all gone. An idea had by only one person and never communicated is lost.

    A physicist who can understand and create the theory, form a hypothesis, and make his colleagues understand and apply it is the one who will be seen as genuius.

    An artists who communicates feeling through painting, music... and makes the audience see what he sees.. genius.
     
  17. kmguru Staff Member

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    Does that mean, the world's richest man is not a Genius (or is he?) - who used his super brain to get there, but not a Mensa member?

    Was Buddha a Genius - who attained the highest in Maslov's heirarchy - a state of bliss?

    Was Christ a Genius, who offered humanity love, hope and fellowship?

    Was the inventor/discoverer of antibiotic a Genius?

    Is Genius just a word like "the"... that is really hard to define?
     
  18. BustedCrutch Registered Member

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    Etymology: Latin, tutelary spirit, natural inclinations, from gignere to beget
    Date: 1513
    1 a plural genii : an attendant spirit of a person or place b plural usually genii : a person who influences another for good or bad
    2 : a strong leaning or inclination : PENCHANT
    3 a : a peculiar, distinctive, or identifying character or spirit b : the associations and traditions of a place c : a personification or embodiment especially of a quality or condition
    4 plural usually genii : SPIRIT, JINNI
    5 plural usually geniuses a : a single strongly marked capacity or aptitude <had a genius for getting along with boys -- Mary Ross>

    I first thought, "Cmon guys, its the IQ thing." But after reading the replies, I found the abstract ideas associated with genius has really hit the head on what the good ol red book says.
     
  19. jjhlk Guest

    If you define the word genius like I do, then the worlds richest man wasn't a genius. (Bill Gates or a Prince?) Being a prince is just luck, being Bill Gates was lots of intelligence, but not a genius.

    A genius is just someone with an intelligence substantially higher than most people. As measured by the IQ test. They can usually calculate things very quickly and have exellent memories. But becoming a genius just happened to be luck. BTW, wasn't the word 'genius' pretty much made up FOR the IQ test, in which case it no longer would be so hard to define for people?

    Siddhartha was enlightened, he wasn't a genius.

    Chirst probably didn't exist, but if he did, I highly doubt he was a genius. Because, I don't think his niceness has too much to do with his intelligence.

    The guy who invented antibiotics (penicillin?) did so by accident. He wasn't a genius, he was lucky. He was also pretty smart, but not at that high a level.
     
  20. kmguru Staff Member

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    What does "IQ test" test when you are 75 years old? And who are the lucky geniuses? If someone did not take the IQ test or we do not know the results, can he ever be a genius (like Bill Gates who seem to have higher IQ than most people....and a single strongly marked capacity or aptitude )
     
  21. jjhlk Guest

    The IQ test tests your intelligence. It's just one scale of intelligence. There are other IQ tests as well. And some are based on many factors, age included.

    Lucky geniuses are people who were born with genius intelligence. Your intelligence is partially genetic. And how much of it that you acheive is probably based on how you were raised.

    The IQ test doesn't have to determine that you are a genius, but it is one way to do it.
     
  22. kmguru Staff Member

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    How? Is it like a pH test or voltage test or amp test or pregnency test? If we can not agree on the definition of Intelligence, how does the test help? can a person who is blind or deaf take the test? What does that measure?.....
     
  23. Tyler Registered Senior Member

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    Intelligence is ability to retain and analyze information.
     

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