IQ Articles > What Goes Into the Making of a Genius?

What Goes Into the Making of a Genius?

Have you associated geniuses with ETs or exotic varieties or is he just a next door neighbour, whom you envy with blue and purple eyes? We shall soon find out.

Going by definition, a genius is a person who possesses great intelligence and remarkable abilities in a specific subject or displays an exceptional natural capacity of intellect and/or ability, especially in the production of creative and original work, something unparalleled and obscure previously. This entity, successfully applies a previously unknown technique in the production of a work of art, science, or calculation, or who masters and personalizes a known technique. Traits often associated with genius include strong individuality, imagination, uniqueness, and innovative drive.

There are a riot of qualities and characteristics that go into the making of a genius. But IQ scores presents one of the most feasible and reliable barometer for grading the intellectual horsepower of people. A normal intelligence quotient (IQ) ranges from 85 to 115 (According to the Stanford-Binet scale). Only approximately 1% of the people in the world have an IQ of 135 or over. Genius or near-genius IQ is considered to start around 140 to 145. Less than 1/4 of 1 percent falls into this category. Here are some common designations on the IQ scale:

  • 115-124 - Above average
  • 125-134 - Gifted
  • 135-144 - Very gifted
  • 145-164 - Genius
  • 165-179 - High genius
  • 180-200 - Highest genius

Around a century ago, it was a common practice to tag high IQ people with the "genius" label. Using scores from the highly respected WAIS-III IQ test, an IQ of 135 would be seen in 1 of every 100 people; an IQ of 145 in 1 of 1000 people; while an IQ of 155 (the WAIS test ceiling) would be seen in only 1 in every 10,000 people. Following the above benchmarks, if we set an IQ of 145 to be our "genius" cutoff, it would imply that in every big-city high school of 3,000 students, there would be an average of 3 geniuses. Does this sound, sound?

Today, most cognition and neurology scholars would contend considering a person a genius merely because of his high IQ. Genius appears to have at least as much to do with creativity, referred to by professionals as "divergent thinking", as it does with the suite of reasoning, computational, and symbolic manipulation abilities called "intelligence", or "convergent thinking". Arguably, though, a person who has exceptional convergent and divergent thinking abilities is likely to be a genius. From this it could be said that genius is as genius does.

The above claim can be substantiated with Einstein's example

It is believed that Einstein actually had an IQ of about 160-much higher than the average (between 85-115, according to the Stanford-Binet scale), but pretty less than, say, Thomas Aquinas, Darwin, Rene Descartes, Goethe and John Stuart Mill (all between 165 and 200). So what made Einstein distinct? "Genius," explains A.C. Bharadwaj, a former professor of philosophy at Allahabad University in India, "is a combination of three 'I's: intellect, imagination and intuition. Every genius is partially a mystic at heart. With a high IQ, you might be a computer whiz.

"The important thing is not to stop questioning," said Einstein. "Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality."

Albeit the modern IQ tests claim to calculate agility of 13 main abilities - visual apprehension, spatial apprehension, arithmetic, logic, general knowledge, spelling, rote utilization, intuition, short term memory, geometry, algebra, vocabulary and computational speed - there is a strong bias towards mathematical comprehension. In fact, many standard IQ tests take into account only three factors: mathematics, logic and general knowledge. Not surprisingly, even the scores vary, depending on the test you have taken.

Interesting facts

  • The first Experimental Psychology tests were performed at the University of Pennsylvania around the year 1890.
  • The Binet-Simon test was developed in 1905 to help the French government identify retarded students in need of alternative education.
  • Half of the population have IQ's of between 90 and 110, while 25% have higher IQ's and 25% have lower IQ.
  • Do not get daunted by a non-genius IQ score.

    There's a pestilent condition to avoid, which is called "surfeit of brains". The natural born geniuses with a certified genius IQ level can often suffer from an excess of intelligence or a superiority complex. When one has an over-abundance of natural intelligence the ordinary things of life can seem so far beneath you, so as to seem disgusting. Alternatively, this glut of intelligence can lead to mental indolence and coasting on one's natural abilities.

    Few geniuses can indeed conquer the heights of success and achievement that one would palpably expect from them. So instead of resting on the laurels of your IQ score, take comfort in your IQ score results, it is far better to be actively striving to become a genius and think like a genius than to just have it automatically, just like one pound earned is precious than five found! When you are struggling and pushing for advancement you become a stronger person and you will succeed far more than the person for whom everything comes so easiliy.

    "The brain can be developed just the same as the muscles can be developed, if one will only take the pains to train the mind to think." Thomas Alva Edison

    Genius IQ Spikes, or Strokes of Genius.

    The whole concept of genius IQ presumes a steady state of intelligence. Clearly however this is not the case. We have strokes or spasms of genius, moments when our brains or minds function at exceptional levels of insight, creativity and invention. Most of the time the brain is just focussed on the incidentals of daily life. It is only when we become purposefully rivetted on a specific end or aim that our minds begin to spark. When the mind becomes aware of your main overriding obsessions it becomes capitalizes on developing ideas and solutions related to that obsession.

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