In your own words, what is considered a genius? What makes a person a genius or just very intelligent?
Whether it is academic wise or way of life or something else, what makes a human being a genius, IN YOUR OWN OPINION?!
2 Likes
I think itās a combination of both.
Someone can be really book smart (academically) and yet lack being street smart or being smart about life, and vice versa. Like, learning to be financially stable, having the knowledge to know how to buy a house or a car, how to be/sound professional, and more. Life/street smarts comes from experience or observing othersā experience, and that allows you to be wise and become āsmart.ā
I think that itās most common for people to be smart in one and not the other, though depending on the person, they can be a genius in bothā¦ but perhaps rarely. Though this doesnāt mean you canāt improve. You can always learn and adapt to help you gain various successes, whatever those might be.
Personally, Iād say that Iām academically smart but not entirely street smart. Like, if I had to create a chart for you, the bar will be pretty high for academics, but be below average on street/life. Sure, I may know some things, but itās not like Iām a genius like others who know more than I do. And even though Iām slow with learning, I have a knack, a craving even, for more knowledge. I was one of the weirdos who enjoyed school when it came to learning. Justā¦ donāt give me any math. Math and I have and will never work out. But history, science, reading, writing, etc.? Iām all for it.
1 Like
Common sense smart, innovative. A good problem solver who uses logic. Not some hack who takes an IQ test and boasts about it.
2 Likes
Personally, I believe a genius is not someone that has a lot of knowledge, but someone who knows intuitively how to properly apply the knowledge they have. A genius rocket scientist may not know how to play the piano, but if she can get a shuttle into space, then she is still a genius. A genius pianist may not know how to build a rocket, but if he can play a masterpiece with his fingers on the keys, then he is still a genius. Itās not how much knowledge you have, itās how you use it.
1 Like
I am the standard for genius.
Thatās IQ-wise the border between what is genius or not. Someoneās got to be at or above my level or theyāre not a genius.
What this does is complicate things.
-
I could be arrogant and not give anyone beneath me the time of day.
-
I can marvel at the ingenius things ādumb peopleā get right.
-
I can go so far as to say that its jsut a measuremrnt of the brainās ability to process information and accept that this is seperate from the soul of the person.
In raality Iām all 3 things because Iām an irrational human being like anyone else out there.
I mean, its hard to interact with someone who is clearly dumber than you and is sure that youāre the idiot. I mean, there are times I donāt need to waste my life on conversing with idiots. People can geniunely waste your time.
But that doesnāt have to be a genius issue. There are geniunely brilliant people out there who are clearly mad: no one should follow them. And people already do this over ideology, forget that quite literally the trend (minor as it is) is that the most educated and least educated favor the same political affiliation while those who arenāt either the best or worst favor the other direction.
And there is such a thing as IQ bias. Those tests were geared toward finding out how well you regurgitate learning. Theyāve fixed that, but thereās no way to wholly remove that from testing. And we do it in daily life: someone we agree with is given the favorability of being smarter thsn they are, while soneone who heatedly disagrees with you must be dumb be ause they cant agree with your assessment.
So looking at marveling at things the not-so-bright create.
Writing: vocabulary is the big test of intelligence, not writjng stories. You can write a perfectly decent story on a 6th grade reading level: a lot of writers do, for children. And there are some childrenās tales that I fondly recall because they were a marvel of their time.
Nkw, as a writer, it does help to be smart. That means that you have more processing ability on keeping track of what your story should be able to do, but its not absolutely required.
Besides if we were being logcal, the odds of making it in this industry reuqres a suspension of intelligence and luck.
But the last one is the kicker. I can score higher on tests because Iām faster than someone who is equally as intelligent but takes longer to process. This is the story of me and the hubby. Heās not an idiot, but some days he feels like one because Iāve already figured it out and want it done with 5 minutes ago. It does show up more in āemotional IQā but still is annoying.
And then there is my roomate. She has brain damage from a stroke. Shes the same person in there. My mom had a brain cancer. She was still the same person in there.
But watching the processor atrophy leaves you feeling like you lose the person before they die.
1 Like
Ah! Thatās the name (common sense). I couldnāt think of it at the time and just came up with street smart lol 
2 Likes
Yes, but I think both are similar lol.
2 Likes
Someone who is a genius, to me, is someone who does something exceptionally well and has made great strides (societally) in their particular field(s) of study.
There are creative geniusā, medical geniusā, scientific geniusā, philosophical geniusā, etc.
1 Like
Thank you guys so much for the comments.
Iām giving you all big squishy cuddly hugs.
Gives everyone a big olā huggie @lowarlo, @J.L.O, @Xelyn_Craft, @AMMeyers, and @JohnnyTuturro
4 Likes
I swear Iām not a weirdoā¦
1 Like
Says the weirdo who replied to herself to tell everyone that 
1 Like
LMAO!
Yeahā¦
1 Like
Honestly, I donāt think anyone is a genius overall. Everyone (well, most people) are intelligent in their own areas, interests, fields, etc but can be pretty stupid in other things. Thereās academic smarts, street smarts, emotional smarts. Thereās just too many different types of smart and thereās no way to master every single one of them because human brains arenāt wired that way. Sure, you can get pretty good at a lot of them and be seen as smart, but I couldnāt go as far as to call anyone a genius (unless itās sarcastic because theyāve done something stupid)
1 Like
Doesnāt have to be super-intelligent (but it helps) and absolutely not an academic, a lot of historical figures that are considered geniuses never did very well in school. Emotional intelligence is also very underrated when we talk about geniuses.
I think itās mostly about being able to look at the world and itās problems in a way that most people donāt? No matter what it is youāre doing, and most geniuses will never get any recognition for it 
1 Like
The thing about common sense is that itās not very common, but common people always think they have common sense 
1 Like
A genius is what you get when you combine natural gifts, appropriate life environment and exceptional work ethic, in a particular craft, pursuit or skill.
1 Like
Informed (educated) adaptive thinking and innovative problem solving is a key aspect of genius-hood.
For example, (based on what I can remember from the book) the Talpiotās entrance exam includes a timed spoken test were cadets are given a random problem to solve, or random technical term to explain. The cadets are assessed on their abilities to justify their answers / rationalise their train of thought, not on if their answers were correct.
Also, in the field of Information Management, and the Information Markets in general, adaptive thinking and creative (client-focused) communicative abilities are considered the primary components for success / market survival.
Oh, and Iāve heard that in the Israeli Air Force, combat pilots are only considered for promotion if they can defeat their commanding officers in a 1v1 āmockā dogfight. Textbook knowledge is only good for learning the basics of combat, real world skills and quick adaptive reactions are more important.
A few somewhat relevant quotesā¦
Problems cannot be solved by the same mindset that created them ~ Einstein
Never become a creature of habit ~ British SAS
The success of the Israeli Special Forces is 10% training, 90% chutzpah ~ unknown quote.
Improvise, adapt, overcome ~ US Military.
1 Like
From my personal, absolute personal perspective,
if you like math, you know, the really, really complicated stuff,
and you can do it easily like breathing,
and you are too young to be able to do it (like an elementary school kid doing high school math)
you are a genius.
Because I suck at math XD
I could get all deep about āgeniusā being different depending on who is looking at the person, āgeniusā not always relating to numbers and science and computers, and āare all inventors in history a genius?ā stuffā¦
but thatās too much for my brain right now 
1 Like