My definition of a genius is someone who can creatively make connections among disparate things in a way that others can’t, piecing together a new reality, a new “language,” in art or physics or anything. They see it.
In a Nautilus blog post, Claire Cameron asked for a description of such a person from five members of Mensa, an organization that measures IQ, which is a different thing. The responses:
“Question:
Can you define ‘genius’ for me, or describe what a genius is?
Richard Hunter (retired finance director): An exceptional ability perhaps? That would satisfy if you were a member of Mensa—you know you have an exceptional ability in IQ if you get in to it. It is one type of genius, but genius takes many forms. An example would be Dave Johnson. He was a famous decathlete in the 80s and 90s. He was clearly a genius athlete: He ran, he could throw javelin, he could do all these things, and he won the Olympic gold decathlon. That must be genius in the sporting field. I am nothing like Dave Johnson—it is far more complicated than one thing or another.
Bikram Rana (director at a business consulting firm): It’s something that you see and you know it when you see it. I think a modern-day genius would be someone like Steve Jobs. It’s someone who has captured the imagination, done something groundbreaking.
Jack Williams (journalist): Oh god. I have no idea. I actually couldn’t. It comes in different forms. I don’t think being a Mensan makes you a genius, as I prove on a weekly basis on a Saturday night. I think there is a creative, innovative element there as well. Genius pushes the boundaries.
John Sheehan (clinical hypnotist): I don’t think you can say there is a ‘typical’ genius. There isn’t a typicalness to it, bar that one exception: Great intellectual ability. Genius has gone from ‘having a [kind of] genius’ to ‘being’ one. I think the word genius now comes from the popular press, it’s easy to say, it’s got a cachet to it. It’s easy, but among the people whose careers are invested in giftedness, high intelligence, then the word ‘genius’ is not often used. It is something I was born with, and that I have had all my life. I don’t think about it until someone asks me, because it is all I know. I think about this a lot though.
LaRae Bakerink (business consultant): It is what you do with your life that defines whether you are a genius. A genius is someone who can create something new.”