Genius has always intrigued researchers, who have written hundreds of pages on this subject. In the nineteenth century, at the height of romanticism, the figure of genius acquired an almost supernatural connotation. They were said to be gifted and predestined beings; who secretly spoke to goddesses or who had divine inspiration in their discoveries and creations.
With advances in neurology, genetics and psychology, among other disciplines, some of these concepts have been reassessed, genetics was understood to be important, but early stimulation and proper education trained people with remarkable intelligence. perseverance.
- In 1998.
- Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote the book “Creativity”.
- To develop the text.
- He selected 91 people who were considered “geniuses” in his environment.
- The exhibition included 14 Nobel laureates.
- On this basis we could define five characteristics that were present in each of them and that had more to do with personality traits than with specific intellectual skills.
- Below we tell you what those traits are.
All those interviewed by Csikszentmihalyi showed a deep passion for the work they did, a characteristic perceived by the curiosity that constantly invaded them, they always wanted to know more about the subject they were working on, they were able to sacrifice many things to continue their work Everything indicates that a deep desire to achieve their intellectual goals was the main engine of their efforts.
From a study by Professor Dean Keith Simonton of the University of California, it was concluded that the level of education is not decisive in the lives of so-called geniuses, in fact, a sample of 300 cases was established that, as a general rule, the smartest had no headlines or extended formal education; most only had average titles.
What was really revealing was that all these men and women spend much of their time studying their subject of interest, simply because they love it.
For the psychologist Haword Gardner, the great geniuses of history have a similar work model: they are experimental: they test everything and question their own results for more effort than it costs; they follow a pattern of trial and error and push it to the extreme Think a lot about what they are doing and always want to go further.
Most geniuses go through stages when they are marginalized within themselves, especially in adolescence; because they are so focused on what their approach is, they generally do not develop great social skills and do not participate much in group activities, sometimes they become obsessive. Many of them are insoluble, selfish and full of mania.
Geniuses do not act motivated by the rewards or punishments they receive around them, they are fascinated by a subject and their greatest satisfaction is being able to advance in their understanding or treatment, many of them have had to go through periods of misery because they resist working for money. They do it only out of conviction, out of love.
Image courtesy of Nere Lorco