What makes any human being a genius?

Sapius · Post by **Sapius** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 9:23 pm

What makes one a Genius?

In my opinion, all that one defines it to be. Nothing more, nothing less.

La Verdad · Post by **La Verdad** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 6:19 pm

Well I'm not a genius, but here's my educated guess at it's primary characteristic:

I think the essential quality of a genius is having a well defined reality. Weiniger once said "Core trait of all that is human: seeking for reality."

As the genius is the completed idea of man he has a more strongly defined reality than the average person, and doesn't care what anyone thinks of him. This is why Beethoven would often put on a expensive set of clothes and then wear them for a month without bathing - he would just sit in them and play.

It's also why a genius like Jesus would get crucified rather than recant or even pipe down.

It's also why the Tribune - the Caesers, the Napoleons are on the opposite end of Weininger's Genius - Criminal spectrum. They will bend their opinions and even lie to gain approval.

I'm not sure if it's possible to be a genius and 'succeed' in politics. Then again Marcus Aurelius, Goethe, and especially Cato may just be exceptions to my suspicion.

[...]Cato did not participate in the battle and, unwilling to live in a world led by Caesar and refusing even implicitly to grant Caesar the power to pardon him, he committed suicide. According to Plutarch, Cato attempted to commit suicide by stabbing himself with his own sword, but failed to do so due to an injured hand. One of Cato's slaves found him on the ground and called for a physician to stitch up and bandage Cato's wounds. Cato waited until they left him and then tore off the bandages and the stitches with his fingers and pulled out his own intestines, thereby completing his suicide attempt.
[edit]

After Cato

Cato is remembered as a Stoic philosopher and one of the most active paladins of the Republic. His high moral standards and incorruptible virtue gained him praise even from his political enemies, such as Sallust (our source for the anecdote about Caesar and Cato's sister).

La Verdad · Post by **La Verdad** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 6:28 pm

And the other primary demand of genius (possibly the more important of the two) is universality - the ability to empathize and be in relation to every human (although still be oneself). This is what keeps some people with rigidly, very well defined realities (e.g. a cult member, or Osama bin Laden) from any claim to genius. They cannot empathize with the majority of their fellow man, and might even view doing so as impurity/sickness.

"There are no degrees of truth, no degrees of morality."
-Otto Weininger

The genius is both a 'universalist' and an 'absolutist'.

yinsey · Post by **yinsey** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:08 pm

well, I think ... http://www.yinsey.net.
what is genius?[/img]

reedsch · Post by **reedsch** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:25 pm

What makes one a Genius?

Why, thank you for asking! I'll ponder this inquiry a moment and get back to you...

ExpectantlyIronic · Post by **ExpectantlyIronic** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:47 pm

A genius is either someone who's ideas you can't understand, or someone who's ideas are similar to your own. Then again, I give a new answer to this question every time I see it. So, what say you Nietzsche, Wilde, Emerson?

"A man who possesses genius is insufferable unless he also possesses at least two other things: gratitude and cleanliness." -Friedrich Nietzsche

"I have nothing to declare except my genius." -Oscar Wilde

â€œCommon sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.â€ -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:50 pm

You don't have to be a genius to be a genius.

Kitoak · Post by **Kitoak** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 1:38 am

If the simple act of discussion is that what is genius, there would be several levels. You can be a one time genius, to do something exceptional. It is also true that men who are genius may not be recongized and some men considered genius may have just been at the right place at the right time. One could also be a genius in one area and not another, this is beyond everyday book learning, but one which can use books to apply that which they can learn to the world around them. And just because you know how to apply things, a genius may look rather stupid to some because they seldom worry about mundane events or basic rules.

Men's terms of genius are numbers from tests they give to determine the potential, and if that potential is above a certain number they get label a genius, but never attain the fully complexity of the score given them.

So most say education isn't required for a genius, but for full potential to be attain, education is required. If you talk in pure philosophical terms, you will never find a genius, for no one person can ever reach full enlightenment of all disiclpents (excuse the spelling).

So in the end, wouldn't everyone be a genius to some extent, we simply only acknowledge those that change our own point of view, or teach us that which we couldn't understand before.

Steven Coyle · Post by **Steven Coyle** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 8:12 am

Alchemy.

David Quinn · Post by **David Quinn** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:19 am

Genius follows certainty.

-

Elizabeth Isabelle · Post by **Elizabeth Isabelle** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 10:07 am

David Quinn wrote:Genius follows certainty.

Genius sees certainty in the nebula perceived by the masses.

reedsch · Post by **reedsch** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 2:21 pm

I must concede the uncomfortable fact that I am not a genius until a sufficient number of my fellow human beings agree that I am indeed. It's all in the execution.