Genius Requires Just the Right Mix

An anonymous reader writes "LiveScience has an interesting piece taking a look at how genius is rarely developed in a vacuum. From the article: 'The reality is that behind many scientific geniuses, there is at least one other genius, and often a number of them.' It takes much more than a genius pal or predecessor, however, to do great science, according to Simmons. Scientific advances emerge from social, economic and political conditions."

Comments

Re:Surrounding yourself with talent

[DavidHOzAu]

They enjoy being challenged by peers.
No, I enjoy squashing them. As if a genius can have a "peer". True genius has no equal, and quite simply cannot have peers. In other words, true geniuses don't need to be around other people to convince themselves that they are "smart": they KNOW that they are smart.

I'm beginning to believe that "genius" is just a frame of mind.
No it isn't; If it were true then intellectually challenged people could be called geniuses. To a large degree it depends on how quickly and easily our minds can wrap around seemingly-complex problems... like the fact that the universe revolves around ME! (I bet you'll find that one hard to swallow. ;-)

Something's not right here.

[Ethan Allison]

When I was 7 or 8, I got an IQ test. I had an IQ of around 140. As far as I know, I still do - I sure don't feel smarter 7 or so years later, and I get the same standardized-test percentiles every year. I haven't gotten smarter - I've just learned more.

So maybe genius is applying your natural intelligence to your experiential knowledge?