Some people think that genius is born, just as "The Analects of Confucius Ji" said that "knowledge is born". Genius is called a person with extraordinary intelligence in psychology, which is higher than talent.
1. Lewis M. Terman believes that genius refers to those who have made outstanding achievements in standardized intelligence tests. Therefore, genius only means a high level of intelligence, just a potential, not an achievement. Terman believes that people with IQ above 140 can be described as "potential geniuses"; Some people have higher standards. In this sense, genius refers to those children who have no chance to gain social prestige because of their achievements.
Gao Erdun's opinion is more popular than the first one. He believes that genius should have a high degree of creativity reflected in outstanding practical achievements, and its achievements should have long-term value and should not be born (such as hereditary monarchs). "Genius" and "talent" are different in quantity and quality. "Talent" only refers to having special potential for a certain job and being able to learn a certain skill quickly and easily. On the other hand, a genius should be original and creative, be able to think and work in a completely unfamiliar environment, and make unprecedented contributions to the world independently.
Although talented people often make outstanding contributions only in a special field, their early general intelligence level is also very high. Probably, the two meanings in the concept of genius actually reflect two aspects of the same quality. There are different opinions about the nature and source of genius. Some people think that talented people belong to another psychological biological species, and their differences with ordinary people in the process of intellectual and emotional activities can be compared with those between humans and apes. However, some people think that genius is closely related to neurosis and psychosis, and the most frequently cited representative may be Italian criminologist lombroso. Although modern psychoanalytic theory also thinks that genius is the result of fierce conflict between itself and the environment, which is similar to neurosis and psychosis in this respect, genius solves the above conflicts in different ways, and its symptoms and consequences are beneficial to and respected by society. Research shows that talented people are less likely to suffer from mental illness, physical weakness and deformity than ordinary people.
Generally speaking, children who can be called "gifted children" and "potential gifted children" are not only high in intelligence, but also superior to ordinary children in physical fitness, emotional adjustment and social adaptation. Gao Erdun believes that talented people have outstanding intelligence, enthusiasm and working ability. He also used clear statistical results to show that all talents with outstanding contributions often come from the same family (genetic genius, 1869). Since Gao Erdun, scientists have often debated how much difference between individual achievements is caused by heredity, rather than the result of education and opportunity. However, it is generally believed that genius is related to both heredity and environment. Whether the talent potential can blossom and bear fruit depends at least to some extent on opportunities and training. 1. Sensitive and enthusiastic. This is the innate element of genius becoming a genius;
2. Grow naturally and acquire a lot of knowledge in your own way. This is the acquired factor of genius. Genius is not educated, but naturally grows up in a free environment.
/kloc-an interesting and strange theory called "genius" prevailed in Europe in the 0/8th century. According to this theory, a person called a genius must have the following six items:
First, there are outstanding talents in several unspecified fields.
Second, it has the merit of being able to establish a monument because of these talents.
Third, it has magical control over the nostalgia of others.
Fourth, show miraculous thinking and creativity in the eyes of others.
He is usually precocious, and there has never been such an outstanding figure in his family in the past.
6. Most of their close relatives have mental or social defects. In addition, most of these people have an aversion to their close relatives.
Genius is not an intellectual, but an intellectual with innovative ability.
Geniuses are cultivated by themselves.
It is controversial whether the inventor of an accidental major discovery is a genius. Especially the occasional major discoverer of the slow fever in daily life.
A genius should be born with a higher IQ than others, or equal to the IQ of 18-year-old normal person, but if he doesn't explore, his IQ will stay at one year old (equal to 18-year-old normal person). He may have been smart when he was young, but he has never been promoted and remains in his original place. If he reaches 18 years old, but everyone else is making progress. In fact, he didn't return at all, but stayed. 18 years old is easy to go to primary school, but 18 years old is not normal? The smarter a person is, the harder it is to improve, because a piece of paper is full of things and it is difficult to draw any more. But a normal person is like a blank sheet of paper. It is better to draw whatever you want than a genius. Therefore, so many so-called prodigies have not changed and become normal people. That's why.
A variety of abilities are highly developed and fully integrated. Performance is the ability to complete an activity independently, creatively and efficiently. A single ability, even if it reaches a high level of development, cannot be called a genius. For example, it is impossible to complete an activity independently and creatively without a high degree of understanding and generalization, so only a highly developed memory ability cannot be called a genius. The same is true of the single development of other capabilities. If a certain ability is lacking, it can be made up by other highly developed abilities that are combined into genius.
Because various activities have different requirements for various abilities and their combinations, the structure of genius in different activities is also different. Composition and aircraft design have different requirements for various abilities and their combinations, so the composition genius and aircraft design genius have different structures. However, no matter what kind of genius, it must contain highly developed general abilities (such as precision, keenness and systematic observation; Fast, firm and accurate memory; Agile, profound and unique thinking ability, etc. ), at the same time, it must also include some special abilities that are particularly needed for certain activities (such as the highly developed ability to quickly summarize mathematical materials, the ability to quickly "simplify" thinking activities during operation, and the ability to flexibly transition from forward operation to reverse operation. ). So genius is composed of highly developed general abilities and highly developed special abilities.
Genius is not a natural talent, a person's talent is only some physiological and anatomical characteristics, which is called quality. Good quality is the natural prerequisite for the development of genius. But only with good quality and without certain social living conditions (including education, labor, family and social environment), genius will not appear, and social living conditions play a more important role. So genius and talented people are restricted by social and historical conditions. Genius and talented people can only appear when society needs and conditions are available. The needs of different times will stimulate the development of different geniuses. For example, in wartime, the genius of military strategists will be developed; A genius of a scientist, artist, designer, etc. Will be developed in the period of peace building.
Theories about genius mainly include genetic determinism and acquired theory. Genetic determinism holds that genius depends entirely on heredity. /kloc-F. Gao Erdun, an English scholar in the 0/9th century, proposed in his book Genetic Genius: Its Laws and Consequences that genius is inherited from paternal line or maternal line. He used genealogy to investigate the blood relationship of hundreds of celebrities and found that many relatives of celebrities are also celebrities. This theory completely ignores the importance of social living conditions. In fact, his research materials cannot deny the beneficial effects of family environment and celebrity education on the growth of future generations. Acquired theory holds that ability depends entirely on environment and education, and genius is acquired completely. Helvetius in the th century said that genius can be formed through education. People who hold this theory, through the study of identical twins, find that although the twins raised separately are genetically the same, their intellectual development is significantly different due to the different parenting environment. This theory completely denies the role of quality. In fact, it is difficult for a person with serious genetic defects to be trained as a genius.
The above two theories are extremely one-sided. After the 1920s and 1930s, more and more people realized that innate genetic quality and acquired environmental education were very important for the formation of genius. Therefore, the theory of interaction between heredity and environment is advocated. In recent years, many researchers have a tendency to emphasize the importance of environment and education, thinking that good genetic quality only provides the possibility for the occurrence of genius, and this possibility depends on the influence of environment and the role of education. It should also be pointed out that some researchers also believe that the role of environment and education occurs through the subjective efforts of human beings in social practice. Genius figures in all fields, ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, have made outstanding contributions to human society through long-term indomitable hard work. Reflective psychology originated from the study of genius and genius education, and a large number of research results revealed the essential causes and psychological characteristics of genius. The essence and characteristics of genius are discussed in detail in Chapter 7 of Mind Control, a classic work of reflective psychology.
Psychological research shows that the essence and inherent characteristics of genius are "intermediate tide" and "extremely shallow information structure" (uranium block of knowledge). The external characteristics of genius are mainly manifested in the following aspects.
High thinking endurance
The creative thinking of genius can last forever and has a strong continuity. This is the inevitable expression of general intelligence and the "intermediate tidal inertia". The emotion of genius has a good inertia and can wander around the inspiration point for a long time. When emotions wander around the inspiration point, people's general intelligence is the highest, so genius's thinking is very endurance.
It is said that Archimedes, an ancient Greek scientist, once stood by the sea and thought for a whole day. In the evening, the servant behind him said to him, "master, you have been standing here thinking all day, and we haven't eaten yet?" Archimedes said, "Really?" Only then did I feel really a little hungry. It is said that Newton, a British scientist, has a habit of sitting in bed after waking up every morning and thinking about problems in scientific research. This kind of thinking usually lasts for several hours until lunch. Therefore, Newton has a famous saying: "My achievements are attributed to my energetic thinking." Leonardo da vinci's unique sleeping habits also show how persistent his thinking is: he takes a nap every four hours for 15 minutes, so he only sleeps for 90 minutes every day, and he is thinking and studying efficiently at other times.
Ordinary people's thinking endurance is much weaker than genius, which is manifested in the fact that ordinary people are most afraid of reading theoretical and abstract books and engaging in difficult creative thinking, because such intellectual activities are very difficult for them. Even if they have enough courage to engage in such intellectual activities, they will not last long, because they will soon become sleepy, which is related to their emotional inertia, because their emotions are used to high and low extremes.
The function of the subconscious mind is to store and supply information, and its information supply is directly proportional to the level of heart tide (tidal level). If the emotion is too high and the information supply is too large, people will show a strong manic state. In this case, people's IQ is not high. Why? Because the information in consciousness changes quickly at this time, an idea will be interrupted by the next irrelevant influx of information at the beginning, and the second idea has just begun. It will be interrupted by the third message. Therefore, at this time, there is a lack of continuity in thinking, and countless thoughts will appear in an instant. The human brain is like a mess, and any intellectual task is difficult to complete. This is the moment when people are highly nervous when they are frightened, or just a few minutes after entering the examination room. In this state, the simplest intellectual tasks are difficult to complete. On the contrary, if the emotional level is too low and the information supply is too small, because in this case, just like "a clever woman can't cook without rice", she will feel very tired when engaging in difficult intellectual activities, and she will feel at a loss and have no way to start. Only when the surge of emotion lingers near the inspiration point, people's general IQ is the highest, and the surge of emotion of genius can linger around the inspiration point for a long time, so their thinking is very endurance and IQ is very high. Of course, this surge of inertia is not innate, but, like human behavior and habits, it is formed the day after tomorrow and can be artificially cultivated.
Strong concentration and anti-interference ability
This is the expression of special intelligence and the inevitable expression of extremely shallow information structure.
Because the shallow layer of genius is uranium block knowledge that occupies most of the space in the shallow layer, most of the knowledge he needs when thinking is located in the shallow layer, and the speed of shallow information turning into consciousness is faster than that in the deep layer, so the genius thinks quickly and can complete an inspirational thinking or intuitive thinking in an instant. Man's consciousness is a very narrow space, and when a genius is thinking, the frequency of his internal suction and internal rushing into consciousness is very high, and the flow of information is also very large, which makes it almost impossible for external information to enter consciousness. Therefore, when a genius is thinking, he often turns a blind eye to the outside world, that is, he shows strong concentration and anti-interference ability to the outside world, which is caused by his unique shallow information structure-knowledge uranium block. Ordinary people, however, have poor continuity of thinking because their shallow layer is an intermediate information structure, which is full of various information blocks, and will inevitably show poor attention and anti-interference ability. Through the following examples, we can see how strong the concentration and anti-interference ability of geniuses are. Once, Edison thought about a question for a long time in the laboratory, but he couldn't find the answer. He felt tired and went home for dinner. But when he picked up a bite of food and sent it to his mouth, he suddenly lost in thought, so a strange scene appeared. Edison thought with his eyes wide open, and his hand with a fork stopped in the air. His wife knows him very well and deliberately waved her hand in front of him. Edison didn't respond and didn't notice his wife's movements at all. Pythagoras, the discoverer of Pythagorean theorem, once attended a friend's birthday party, which was very lively. Suddenly, he looked down and found the unique floor tile under his feet. The shape of the tile attracted him deeply, so he forgot that he was attending the party, bent down involuntarily, began to do mathematical research on the tile, and finally discovered the Pythagorean theorem.
The above two characteristics, strong endurance and strong anti-interference ability, are the most fundamental and main psychological characteristics of genius. In addition, genius has the following psychological characteristics: loneliness, introversion, paranoia, autism, and being bad at (not liking) dealing with people. These are all caused by its unique shallow information structure, because the shallow structure affects people's intelligence such as perception, observation, concentration, self-control, memory, understanding, creation, expression and practice, among which the special intelligence that conforms to their own interests is stronger; On the other hand, special intelligence that doesn't meet their interests is weak (except geniuses in the fields of politics, diplomacy, public relations, etc.), and dealing with people is not their interest (it doesn't meet the shallow information block), so they will show the above psychological characteristics such as loneliness and introversion. The spiritual realm of genius is very different from that of ordinary people, and the endurance and concentration of thinking are also different.
Beautiful realm
The state of mind of a genius in research or creation is a very beautiful state of mind, which includes relaxation, calmness, relaxation, inaction, happiness, sweetness and so on. This is somewhat similar to the "carefree travel" mentioned in Zhuangzi, and its happiness is no less than that of lovers in love, generals who have just won a great battle, or businessmen who have just earned a billion dollars. This beautiful state of mind is enough to make people forget all their troubles and heal all their psychological wounds; This is a super happy state, doing nothing, but being omnipotent.
Newton once described his scientific discovery as "a child playing by the sea accidentally found a beautiful shell". It was in this inaction that Newton discovered "gravity", which led to the later "space age" and "satellite age". It was in this "inaction" that Einstein discovered the theory of relativity, which led to the later "Atomic Energy Age" and "Laser Age". Happiness and greatness are the best ways to describe this state. While enjoying "spiritual happiness", I made amazing great discoveries in the state of inaction. Inspiration and discovery come out naturally like spring water, unexpectedly and effortlessly, which really corresponds to the wonderful realm of "uninvited", "Zen is good at seeking" and "doing nothing without doing anything" mentioned by Laozi. Genius is so happy and sweet in research and creation. No wonder many of them, such as Newton, Cavendish, Kant and Descartes, never got married. No wonder they always avoid crowds and look for a lonely and quiet environment. It turns out that they can enjoy paradise-like happiness in loneliness. I believe that if a criminal can taste this happiness, he will never commit a crime again; If a gambler can taste this kind of happiness, he will quit gambling; If a corrupt official can taste this happiness, he will no longer be corrupt; If lovers in love can taste this kind of happiness, they will stop falling in love ... all these people will become geniuses and fall in love with science and art, because that is the most substantial and lasting happiness in the world!
Different views
Genius will enter a trance-like spiritual realm when he concentrates on thinking. The scenery outside is "flowers in the mirror" and "the moon in the water" to them. The scenery in the daytime is as hazy as that in the moonlight at night, which is rarely experienced by ordinary people. Ordinary people occasionally have this experience when they are fascinated by a martial arts novel, but geniuses often have this experience because their thinking is very focused and profound, and their internal suction and internal rushing are very frequent and powerful (the flow is very large). Therefore, external information has no chance to enter the center of consciousness, so the feeling of the outside world is trance. There is a saying in Laozi that "Tao is a thing, but only indifferent", which probably refers to the feeling of "Tao" when a genius is absorbed in thinking. Therefore, geniuses get lost when they concentrate on thinking, even in their most familiar cities and streets. It is said that Einstein couldn't go home because he got lost while walking and thinking in Princeton, an American town where he lived for many years.
A strange dream
Ordinary people's dreams are mostly images, while genius's dreams often contain words, symbols and logical reasoning. For example, Russell, a modern British philosopher, said, "When I write, I often read my articles aloud in my dreams"; As for mathematical symbols appearing in mathematicians' dreams, chemical symbols appearing in chemists' dreams are more common. In short, the dreams of ordinary people are mostly in the image content; Genius dreams are abstract and rich in words.
Extraordinary creation
Genius has extraordinary creativity and is easy to get inspiration. Their brains are like a pile of dry wood. When they encounter a little spark from the outside world, they will ignite the fire of inspiration at any time. Therefore, many geniuses have a habit of taking paper and pen with them every time they go out, so as to record the inspiration that suddenly appears in their minds at any time. This is because there is a knowledge uranium block in the shallow layer of genius, that is, a certain dominant information block, which occupies most of the space in the shallow layer, and the vertical and horizontal connections between the information in the block are very close. People's inspiration thinking and intuition thinking are a kind of vertical and horizontal association, so once a shallow uranium block of knowledge is cultivated, it will have strong inspiration and intuition thinking ability. In fact, the development of human brain potential is very similar to the development of atomic energy. As we all know, there are two preconditions for atomic bomb explosion. One is to have a large enough uranium block to reach the critical point; Second, uranium blocks that have been bombarded by slow neutrons and reached the critical point will detonate nuclear energy once they are bombarded by slow neutrons. The shallow uranium block of genius is equivalent to the uranium block that reaches the critical point, and the new information input into the brain by the outside world is equivalent to the slow neutron. Therefore, once the uranium block is cultivated, the potential of the human brain can be greatly developed like the development of atomic energy.
Happy life
The life of a genius seems monotonous to outsiders, but in fact their feelings are very sweet and happy. Geniuses spend most of their time in their own study or laboratory, and occasionally go out for a walk in the streets or parks of the city. They spend most of their time in solitude. On the surface, this kind of life is monotonous, repetitive, mechanical and rigid. In fact, geniuses are very happy, because it is because they are monotonous, repetitive, mechanical and rigid that they can avoid information pollution and cultivate knowledge uranium blocks in the shallow layer. Their spiritual gains are great, their learning efficiency is many times higher than that of ordinary people, and their ability to capture inspiration and intuition is many times higher than that of ordinary people. Therefore, they often make outstanding discoveries and can easily solve problems that ordinary people think are difficult, so they have a sense of accomplishment and superiority. Whenever their intellectual activities have important achievements, discoveries or gains, that kind of happiness, sweetness and joy is indescribable and incomprehensible to ordinary people. It can be said that that kind of happiness is no less than the happiness of ordinary people when they are in love. It is said that after finishing a work, Pushkin will clap his desk and shout, "Look, that's what Pushkin wrote for you"; Italian scientist Fermi, the "father of the atomic bomb", after his team discovered the "slow neutron effect", all the team members were intoxicated with infinite happiness as if they were drunk. So many geniuses, such as Newton, Cavendish, Kant and Schopenhauer, never get married. For them, the research object is their "wife" and the research result is their "child". Another advantage of this loneliness and monotony of genius is that it can avoid interpersonal friction when getting along with others, produce bad emotions, and seriously affect the thinking and research of genius, which may be an important reason why some geniuses are unwilling to get married.
Get inspiration
Genius stays in his ivory tower for a long time, sometimes he feels irritable and wants to see the outside world of ordinary people. Once they leave the office or home, they are often inspired, which is also an important reason why they must bring paper and pens with them every time they go out. It is said that Beethoven once felt a little annoyed because he stayed at home for a long time, so he went out to a restaurant on the street for fun. As soon as he sat down, inspiration came. He immediately took out a piece of paper and wrote a beautiful tune. When the waiter served the food, he had written the whole song and was so happy that he paid for it without eating. Many geniuses have the habit of going out for a walk to catch inspiration, which is very effective. For example, Watt caught his inspiration while walking in Glasgow University, thus solving a key problem in the invention of steam engine. There are psychological reasons why geniuses are more likely to catch inspiration when they go out. Because when going out, physical activity helps to improve the heart tide, and at the same time, the stimulation of fresh information from the external environment also helps to improve the heart tide, and the improvement of heart tide means that the supply of information increases unconsciously, which leads to the emergence of inspirational thinking. "A clever woman can't cook without rice", and the lack of unconscious information supply is an important reason why we have difficulty thinking and can't get inspiration. Similarly, adequate information supply is also a necessary prerequisite for us to get inspiration and solve problems.
Special memories
Genius has extraordinary memory and understanding in the field he is interested in, and has the ability to "be clear at a glance and never forget anything". It is said that Mendelssohn, a genius of German modern music, once listened to the first performance of Beethoven's music and immediately played it on the piano when he got home. Genius does have the ability to "be clear at a glance and never forget anything" in the field that suits his interests, that is, in the field that conforms to his shallow knowledge axis. But this skill is limited to what you are interested in, and there is no such superhuman skill in other aspects. It is wrong to think that genius can be "clear at a glance and unforgettable" This is because people's intelligence such as memory, comprehension, observation and creation is relative, and its level depends on the situation of shallow information structure, and they have high intelligence such as understanding and memory when they encounter shallow information blocks. On the contrary, there is only a low understanding and memory in terms of information blocks that do not meet the shallow advantages. Therefore, it is impossible to have the ability of "reading at a glance and never forgetting anything" in unfamiliar aspects.
Surprisingly quiet
Most geniuses (except those dealing with people such as politics, diplomacy and public relations) prefer loneliness and tranquility to dealing with people. This is because, first, only in a lonely and quiet state can we better avoid information pollution and maintain a pure shallow information structure, which is the premise for them to engage in research, thinking and creation efficiently, so geniuses always try to avoid contact and communication with unrelated people to avoid distraction; Second, their simple and shallow information structure also determines that they are not good at dealing with people (because the shallow information structure determines a person's special intelligence such as perception, observation and understanding). Their IQ in this respect is too low, and they will feel embarrassed and difficult in interacting with others, which is equivalent to comparing their own shortcomings with the advantages of others, and the result is of course unpleasant; Third, genius can taste happiness and happiness in loneliness and tranquility. In this state, their thinking efficiency and creativity are the highest and strongest, and they can easily make extraordinary achievements, so they have a sense of accomplishment and pride. Ordinary people are afraid of loneliness and tranquility because in this state, they will only experience boredom, loneliness and pain.