What Makes A Genius ?

[Betty Blue]

How is it creative to draw copies of cities? Just saying.
Not saying that he isn't incredibly good at it... It's just nothing unheard of.

It's not unheard of for someone to be able to draw a picture of the skyline of an entire (almost) city from a 15 minute helicopter ride purely based on the memory of it? I think you'll find it is, or rather was, until Stephen did it. Or would you care to name another few who have?
I certainly had never heard of it befor.

Also...this...
He was awarded an MBE for services to the art world in 2006. He studied Fine Art at City & Guilds Art College. His work is popular all over the world, and is held in a number of important collections.

Also what about Ron Davies? -Autistic savant, business man, sculptor, writer, millionaire, he didn't talk until he was a teenager. hmmm

 

[Betty Blue]

It's not unheard of for someone to be able to draw a picture of the skyline of an entire (almost) city from a 15 minute helicopter ride purely based on the memory of it? I think you'll find it is, or rather was, until Stephen did it. Or would you care to name another few who have?
I certainly had never heard of it befor.

Also...this...
He was awarded an MBE for services to the art world in 2006. He studied Fine Art at City & Guilds Art College. His work is popular all over the world, and is held in a number of important collections.

Also what about Ron Davies? -Autistic savant, business man, sculptor, writer, millionaire, he didn't talk until he was a teenager. hmmm

Was going to edit this, then thought better of it. I think i was being a little ignorant. I know there are people who can draw vivid detailed pictures/images/painting from memory. The question is more about weather Stephen Wiltshire is a genius, i would say yes.

 

[Windigo]

When I was a child in the 70s, I wanted to be in the gifted program like all my friends. My 6th grade teacher told my mom that I was not "gifted" enough from what she saw in the classroom. That the typical signs of genius in the classroom were either a voracious appetite for knowledge or the sort of bored behavior that causes kids to put snakes on teacher's chairs.

The school system told my mom that I would not qualify for the gifted program if I did not get a recommendation from the teacher. She decided to push them and learned she could get me into a program if I scored above 130 on an IQ test, however they didn't know where we could get one done.

After calling around she finally got a hold of the head of the Psychology Department at a local University who told her there were no IQ tests for children as young as me, but they would give me an adult one and see how I fared.

I remember being tested in these areas:
Analogies
Current events
Spacial reasoning
Logic
Mathematics
Language

What I was told is that the higher the IQ the better able a person can interconnect information and learn from past experiences. Therefore I believe that a genius is someone with an above average memory who can break a large problem into smaller parts and use remembered strategies from similar problems to come up with a creative solution using the parts of the brain responsible for the above categories.

I have also read an article about a group of children who were given IQ tests in the 40s in Edinburgh, Scotland who were retested in the 90s and they found that the children who went to school and pursued academically challenging careers that involved problem solving (such as doctors and engineers) sometimes bumped up their IQs between 10 and 20 points indicating (to me at least) that IQ is fluid.

I believe the IQ is really a measurement of a person's ability to solve complex problems through utilizing language/logic/mathematics/spacial reasoning and memory. I believe it is affected by various factors including diet, hormones, stress, exercise and ultimately the amount it is utilized.

A genius must not only have a better than average memory, but also have a wide base of knowledge gained either through book study or practical experience that allows them to quickly find the best way to solve a unique problem.

Whether or not a genius chooses to use their ability to help others falls more under character than genius which I believe ultimately is the more important of the two.

PS and of course I forgot to mention a natural curiosity and desire to understand how the world works and solve challenging problems. : ) It doesn't matter how smart you are if you don't want to use it.

 

[FemMecha]

I think the definition can vary a great deal based on the assumptions and values of the group that defines it.

I would say there should be a unique identifier given to people who have the ability to synthesize current knowledge into new knowledge. There are also people who can reiterate knowledge in phenomenal ways, but the contribution of one who can take what is known and extrapolate what is unknown is an important distinction. I tend to attach the label of genius to that, but it wouldn't particularly matter what they label was. That is an especially important contribution based on cognitive skill.

I tend to venture to include non-traditional areas of knowledge into that category like Monty Roberts who revolutionized humans understanding of horses by observing and understanding Equestrian, the language of wild horses. He came out of a tradition of breaking horses through brute force, but was enlightened to understand the process in a deeper, more elegant way even though no one taught him how to do that.

 

[Windigo]

I think the definition can vary a great deal based on the assumptions and values of the group that defines it.

I would say there should be a unique identifier given to people who have the ability to synthesize current knowledge into new knowledge. There are also people who can reiterate knowledge in phenomenal ways, but the contribution of one who can take what is known and extrapolate what is unknown is an important distinction. I tend to attach the label of genius to that, but it wouldn't particularly matter what they label was. That is an especially important contribution based on cognitive skill.

I tend to venture to include non-traditional areas of knowledge into that category like Monty Roberts who revolutionized humans understanding of horses by observing and understanding Equestrian, the language of wild horses. He came out of a tradition of breaking horses through brute force, but was enlightened to understand the process in a deeper, more elegant way even though no one taught him how to do that.

Monty Roberts is indeed a genius in his field and a very nice person as well. Have you had a chance to visit his ranch in California?

 

[Stanton Moore]

Divergent thinking. that's the bottom line. It comes from high intelligence coupled with diverse experiences. Nature + nurture.

 

[Betty Blue]

When I was a child in the 70s, I wanted to be in the gifted program like all my friends. My 6th grade teacher told my mom that I was not "gifted" enough from what she saw in the classroom. That the typical signs of genius in the classroom were either a voracious appetite for knowledge or the sort of bored behavior that causes kids to put snakes on teacher's chairs.

The school system told my mom that I would not qualify for the gifted program if I did not get a recommendation from the teacher. She decided to push them and learned she could get me into a program if I scored above 130 on an IQ test, however they didn't know where we could get one done.

After calling around she finally got a hold of the head of the Psychology Department at a local University who told her there were no IQ tests for children as young as me, but they would give me an adult one and see how I fared.

I remember being tested in these areas:
Analogies
Current events
Spacial reasoning
Logic
Mathematics
Language

What I was told is that the higher the IQ the better able a person can interconnect information and learn from past experiences. Therefore I believe that a genius is someone with an above average memory who can break a large problem into smaller parts and use remembered strategies from similar problems to come up with a creative solution using the parts of the brain responsible for the above categories.

I have also read an article about a group of children who were given IQ tests in the 40s in Edinburgh, Scotland who were retested in the 90s and they found that the children who went to school and pursued academically challenging careers that involved problem solving (such as doctors and engineers) sometimes bumped up their IQs between 10 and 20 points indicating (to me at least) that IQ is fluid.

I believe the IQ is really a measurement of a person's ability to solve complex problems through utilizing language/logic/mathematics/spacial reasoning and memory. I believe it is affected by various factors including diet, hormones, stress, exercise and ultimately the amount it is utilized.

A genius must not only have a better than average memory, but also have a wide base of knowledge gained either through book study or practical experience that allows them to quickly find the best way to solve a unique problem.

Whether or not a genius chooses to use their ability to help others falls more under character than genius which I believe ultimately is the more important of the two.

PS and of course I forgot to mention a natural curiosity and desire to understand how the world works and solve challenging problems. : ) It doesn't matter how smart you are if you don't want to use it.

Going by IQ testing, 140+ scores are considered genius (or near genius). In which case i have known many personally, my mother usually scores around 145. Infact i myself scored 141 on one iq test but it was a test in which i'm pretty sure i got lucky as sadly i am not a genius, certainly not by iq testing standards.
There is a young lad in New Zealand who recently has surpased any quantatable testing. Funnily enough he is an Autistic Teenage boy.

Totally agree with natural curiosity, never stop questioning

 

[Poki]

Does any of the IQ tests actually restructure the bell curve based on test results over time to give an accurate assessment based on percent as opposed to IQ number.

I generally see how fast I can run through an IQ test. It shows how fast I can think.

 

[Prototype]

A genius has the ability of getting to the main point faster, and more creatively then most others do. Genius is a state of mind.

 

[ThatGirl]

I could have sworn there was a thread like this, in which I answered "My parents."

 

[foolish heart]

What I was told is that the higher the IQ the better able a person can interconnect information and learn from past experiences. Therefore I believe that a genius is someone with an above average memory who can break a large problem into smaller parts and use remembered strategies from similar problems to come up with a creative solution using the parts of the brain responsible for the above categories.

I have also read an article about a group of children who were given IQ tests in the 40s in Edinburgh, Scotland who were retested in the 90s and they found that the children who went to school and pursued academically challenging careers that involved problem solving (such as doctors and engineers) sometimes bumped up their IQs between 10 and 20 points indicating (to me at least) that IQ is fluid.

What IQ tests aim to measure is quantitatively unchangeable, but the reason the IQ results themselves can change is because having the capability to grasp and apply cognitive patterns does not necessarily mean you've been exposed to them.

This is also the real reason why IQ tests are not an effective measurement of intelligence, because the results depend on a certain amount of explicit rote knowledge or implicit learned thought patterns. Although it can be used as a very general indicator, it can't really capture someone's true mental "horsepower", and as of now the only way is for the person to determine through day to day empirical cause and effect where they fit into a cognitive hierarchy.

 

[nightning]

Therefore I believe that a genius is someone with an above average memory who can break a large problem into smaller parts and use remembered strategies from similar problems to come up with a creative solution using the parts of the brain responsible for the above categories.

A genius must not only have a better than average memory, but also have a wide base of knowledge gained either through book study or practical experience that allows them to quickly find the best way to solve a unique problem.

Whether or not a genius chooses to use their ability to help others falls more under character than genius which I believe ultimately is the more important of the two.

PS and of course I forgot to mention a natural curiosity and desire to understand how the world works and solve challenging problems. : ) It doesn't matter how smart you are if you don't want to use it.

You've captured my views on this subject perfectly.

A genius has the abilities... and is not just limited to what's measurable by IQ, but rather well-rounded abilities in critical thinking, open-mindedness, verbal or visual skills, plus the desire to learn and try new things.

 

[theadoor]

What makes a genius?

The opinions of other people.

bingo!

 

[Alpha Prime]

What Makes A Genius ?

What makes an idiot?

 

[erm]

Well, my initial thoughts are that if we really knew what genius was, we would be able to replicate it. We can't, so are just left guessing.

As far as I can tell intelligence, thus genius, is subjective, relative and ambiguous.

Subjectivity can be removed by choosing just one subject's view.
Relativity can be removed by choosing just one scenario.
Ambiguity can be removed by using a more precise definition.

Then intelligence looses all its usefulness as a term, and just becomes "John solved this problem at this time".

 

[Salomé]

There's a Horizon documentary on this question in an hour on bbc1. How would you guys define genius and how do you think they nurture such unique thought processes ?

As usual, they failed to answer the question they set, although I liked Mark Lythgoe's model: there are these excitatory and inhibitory neural processes and it is 'breaking' the inhibitory process that "unleashes" creativity. Which fits with what we know about the relationship between genius and "madness".

 

[Jaguar]

What makes an idiot?

Touché.

 

[Quinlan]

etc.

 

[JoSunshine]

I could have sworn there was a thread like this, in which I answered "My parents."

Damn woman! You took my post!

 

[entropie]

well placed arrows

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