Giftedness, talent, genius.
Giftedness, talent, genius
Giftedness is a combination of a number of abilities that determines a person’s particularly successful activity in a certain area. This definition allows us to establish the relationship between the concepts of “giftedness” and “ability”
Abilities are individual psychological characteristics of a person, which are a condition for the successful performance of productive activities. Ability is revealed in the process of mastering an activity, to what extent an individual quickly and thoroughly, easily and firmly masters the methods of its organization and implementation.
An indispensable distinguishing feature of a gifted child is originality of thinking, expressed in dissimilarity and non-standard solutions. Success in mastering educational material and the ability to be creative are the most well-known signs of giftedness. In intellectual and moral terms, such children are superior to their peers, but the same cannot be said about the level of physical and emotional development - it is within the age norm. Mental activity, which so clearly characterizes any gifted child, is directly related to the development of abilities. Abilities develop and grow from inclinations, provided that the activity that the child engages in must be associated with positive emotions, bring joy and pleasure.
Based on the form of manifestation of giftedness, we can talk about:
Obvious giftedness reveals itself in the child’s activities quite clearly and clearly (as if “on its own”). The child’s achievements are so obvious that his talent is beyond doubt.
Hidden talent manifests itself in an atypical, disguised form; it is not noticed by others. As a result, the danger of erroneous conclusions about the lack of giftedness of such a child increases.
You can differentiate:
The decisive indicators here are the rate of mental development of the child, as well as those age stages at which giftedness manifests itself explicitly. It is necessary to take into account that accelerated mental development and, accordingly, early detection of talents are not always associated with high achievements at an older age. In turn, the absence of clear manifestations of giftedness in childhood does not mean a negative conclusion regarding the prospects for further mental development of the individual. There is a certain relationship between the age at which giftedness manifests itself and the area of activity.
Giftedness usually manifests itself in versatile abilities and borders on talent.
Talent is a high level of a person’s ability to perform a specific activity. This is a combination of abilities that give a person the opportunity to successfully, independently and originally perform certain complex work activities; these are abilities for certain activities, manifested as creativity.
Talent is a high level of development, especially special abilities. This is a set of such abilities that make it possible to obtain a product of activity that is distinguished by novelty, a high level of perfection and social significance.
The presence of talent should be inferred from the results of a person’s activities, which should be distinguished by their fundamental novelty and originality of approach.
Genius is the highest level of individual talent, embodied in creativity, which has historical significance for the life of society. A genius, figuratively speaking, creates a new era in his field of knowledge. A genius is characterized by creative productivity, mastery of the cultural heritage of the past and, at the same time, a decisive overcoming of old norms and traditions.
You should not confuse the concepts of “giftedness,” “talent,” and “genius.” Giftedness is understood as a complex of inclinations, abilities, interest, motivation for a specific (specific giftedness) or diverse (general giftedness) activity. Talent is understood as creative giftedness, and genius is the highest level of development of giftedness. A person of genius creates unique creations that are recognized by civilization; therefore, the appearance of a genius among humanity is a very rare occurrence.
About the nature of the phenomenon. Whether geniuses are born or made, is it possible to develop this quality?
The concept of genius is so hackneyed that the average person has long not understood what such a phenomenon is. The term is used as a synonym for giftedness and talent, which is not true. There are a lot of myths regarding this phenomenon. Including the origin of extreme giftedness from birth. What can be said about this, what is the nature of genius? There is a group of theories.
- Biological or genetic
It is considered one of the leading ones today. What is its essence? According to the views of a large group of neurophysiologists, the extreme degree of giftedness is determined by the combination of a certain group of genes that are responsible for thought processes and productivity, and the general tone of the body. The theory has the right to life, but it faces a difficult question that indirectly denies it. If genius is determined genetically, why is genius not passed on from parents to children and even after several generations? Perhaps we are talking about random, spontaneous combinations or mutations. There is no evidence or refutation yet. Further scientific research in this area is underway.
- Social
According to it, the basis is the peculiarity of the child’s environment from the moment of his birth. And then the sphere in which there is a potential “darling of nature.” In this case, extreme giftedness is made dependent on the influence of the environment on the individual. How valid is this theory? It's hard to say yet. Most likely, genius is not a trait that can be developed. It is rather innate. But without a doubt, with improper upbringing, suppression of initiative, and lack of adequate workload, there is every chance of destroying a person’s potential and ruining his talents. If we consider the issue in this context, the influence of the social environment on genius is likely.
- Historical
A controversial and rather old theory. According to it, the scale and number of super-gifted people cannot be calculated at the current moment in time. Because many ideas may turn out to be advanced and not understood by others. The environment and historical situation create a gifted individual, and recognition comes later. The theory is not supported by most scientists. Because, as already mentioned, the social environment does not play a primary role. On the other hand, if in former times such a phenomenon really existed, now discoveries for the most part undergo objective verification and can be soberly assessed. The percentage of exceptions is extremely small.
- Psychological
Has an indirect meaning. In fact, supporters of psychological theory equate genius with originality. That is, they talk about the randomness of the development of this phenomenon. Nature goes through various options for qualities, millions of them, and as a result constructs certain psychotypes, personalities and characters endowed with certain properties. With a successful random combination, the result is an extremely beneficial “set” in intellectual or creative terms. There is some truth in this, since, oddly enough, the extreme degree of giftedness was manifested in people born from parents without special intellectual qualities or creative potential, realization. The same applied to the children of thought giants who did not show any special skills, knowledge, or abilities.
- Psychopathological
It is considered the most common today. Although the genetics of genius are not yet clear, scientists generally accept that extreme levels of talent are associated with the development of certain mental disorders in the patient. Genius and schizophrenia are often linked.
Do the schizophrenia gene and genius really go hand in hand?
No, this is nothing more than a myth. Schizophrenia is a disease that destroys the psyche. As a result of a long or aggressive course of the pathological process, the ability to productively use thinking and think from a logical position becomes unrealistic. Therefore, such a seriously ill patient cannot be taken into account. The connection between genius and mental disorders occurs in milder clinical cases. For example, with sluggish forms of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorders. Much more often, exceptional qualities are observed in persons suffering from all kinds of phobias, unusual sexual disorders (disorders of sexual preference), patients with depression, and bipolar affective psychoses. That is, those disorders that do not disrupt the functioning of the individual.
Special qualities are observed not only in mental illnesses, but also in organic pathologies. For example, hydrocephalus, epilepsy, in some cases after intrauterine hypoxia and others. There are many options.
With all that said, is it true that genius is a disease?
No it is not true. This is a group of personal qualities, mental characteristics and other factors. But not a disease. Although such a complex of beneficial properties can be “bundled” with mental disorders. Not crazy, but easier options.
Finally, is it possible to develop genius?
Scientists say no. This is an innate complex of personality qualities. There is probably a group of genes (not just one gene of genius) that determine such a disposition. However, as can be judged from history, such a gift of nature is not at all necessary to achieve outstanding results in the field of interest.
How to recognize a genius?
There are no clear criteria showing genius, but we can still talk about certain patterns inherent in such people. Geniuses with a unique perception of the world, a unique attitude towards familiar things. They may not even notice something that, at the everyday level, will unbalance another person. But something unusual will cause them to become truly depressed.
For example, brilliant children will not be upset at all if they are not bought some kind of toy, but they will lose the meaning of life for a long time after learning that Einstein’s theory has been refuted.
The main signs of genius:
- Comprehensive consideration of any issue and depth of thought;
- Visualization of thinking;
- Tendency to constant experimentation;
- Combination of incompatible things;
- Ability to see analogies and metaphors;
- Developed intuition;
- Specific sense of humor;
- They don’t stop in a dead end situation, they always look for a way out.
But let’s immediately make a reservation that this applies only to the selected activity. In ordinary life, such people may not notice the obvious. Therefore, it is correct to distinguish several types of genius.
Are genius and insanity equivalent concepts?
Do not forget that among the geniuses there have always been and are crazy people. Also, many crazy people showed genius abilities. But we shouldn’t jump to conclusions that all geniuses are crazy. After all, such brilliant personalities as Columbus, Galileo, Michelangelo, Napoleon did not show signs of insanity.
Crazy people lack such qualities as perseverance, concentration, strength of character, diligence, accuracy, and memory. However, these are precisely the qualities that are inherent in all gifted geniuses.
In addition, madness usually manifests itself after 35 years, and genius in a person is noticed from childhood. Madness is usually inherited and intensifies with each generation, while genius dies along with its bearer. If geniuses are usually men, then insanity is equally common in both women and men.
Virginity and masturbation
Agree, at the end of the first part of American Pie it was immediately clear to everyone who was smarter!
There is an opinion that an intelligent person spends less time on sex. The reasons for this indicator may go much deeper than the simple explanation that no one wants to hug assholes.
But scientists recently conducted a study in which they determined that the number of sexual partners among more intelligent students is significantly lower than among their colleagues with average intelligence. Also, the virginity rate of smarter people is 45% higher than that of the general student population.
But there are a number of scientific explanations for all this:
1 Science has proven that the hormone testosterone can suppress intelligence, which means that smarter people have significantly less of it, which makes them less aggressive and relegates girls to the background.
2 An intelligent person thinks more often about the risk of pregnancy or illness and is aware of its consequences.
3 If a person is able to teach himself, most often he will lead a reclusive lifestyle and looks at parties and parties as an unnecessary risk. We should also not forget that introverts are also uncomfortable being in large crowds of people, and masturbation or abstinence does not pose a risk at all.
