Is anyone really a 'genius'?

Is there any such thing as a genius? Those people with an innate ability which means they have operate mentally on a higher playing field than us mere mortals? This is part of what we considered this week in our lecture. I think we all know people to which an understanding of certain things just seem to come easier to them than to other people. Not to mention the inventors and creators worldwide who seem to have pushed the boundaries in their field and been truly innovative. Think Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison etc. But did they really do this because they are somehow more gifted than the rest of us? Or is this an excuse we give ourselves to explain our inferior performances?!

We heard a great quote from Thomas Edison: "genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration." This implies that those we consider to be geniuses actually just put in the hard yards in terms of submerging themselves in a topic and persevering with problem solving until they come up with something new. I think that this ties in with some of my previous thoughts. In this post I talked about creativity vs. innovation. Perhaps the spark of an idea, the creativity, is something that a genius may be able to grab hold of more easily. However, the translation of the idea into an executed, tangible solution requires them to put in the same hard work as anyone else. Perhaps those that we consider to be geniuses just have a greater work ethic, greater confidence and are more persistent than others?

Does this mean I have the potential to be a genius?!!!!!

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