has anybody got any ideas on genius- what is one, how to become one, was aleister crowley a genius? etc.
I would appreciate the ideas of others for an intresting grasp of the subject and peoples opinions of it, as im sure other people would as well

Most psychologist agree that a genius is anyone who measures with an IQ of a minimum variance between 136-166. Thats two say that some think the minimum is around 136 and others think its around 166 and that any score between the two is deffinately an above average IQ and anything beyond 166 is deffinately a genius level score.

Standard IQ tests messure one's ability to think cognitively, recognize numerical, mathematical, spatial and linguistic patterns. There is a certain expectation of one's performance at a given age. So the younger you are the more questions on the test you can miss and still recieve a higher IQ. However the older you are the more mature you are considered and that means you should miss fewer. One of the key factors in determining an IQ score is that it is timed. The faster one completes a test and the more answers they get correct, the higher the IQ.

While a standard IQ test is generally an exceptable way to measure the intelligence of most middle and upper class english speaking citizens, it is culturally biased in that someone who is just starting to learn the language would likely not do as well as one who already spoke the language. Then again a non-American, who speaks english and has a better education than an equivilant person in this country, might do better simply because of the better education.

Thats the standardized version of what a genius is - a number within a percentile.

Basically a genius is anyone who's a prodigy in some mental ability be it mathematical, artistic, litterary, musical, philosophical, or other wise scientific.

A genius is usually regarded as an incredibly intelligent person, others define it as people who are so intelligent that they cause the world to view things in a different way through discovery or work of art, perhaps even inventions that change the world.

Some rate it simply as having an IQ that is higher then the 98% of the rest of the people on the planet…but I hold Genius a bit higher then just intelligence, there has to be more action behind it. It is funny as one of the most intelligent people in the world, has done nothing to show for it as of yet. But he can learn anything mathematical and write incredibly well, play complex instruments…but he is supported by his professor girlfriend and often does not finish anything he is working on.


I am a bit more broad minded in what I consider genius. I think of it as anyone who masters something difficult and makes it look easy. People who do not need to obsess in order to be masters of their craft. This allows athletes to be athletic geniuses, and almost any other discipline to have geniuses.

How does one become a genius? No idea. Was Aleister Crowley a genius? I would think he has to be. It is difficult to think of a single person who has had more influence in one area then he has.

I have no idea how one becomes one…what is necessary, or anything like that. I would also like to differentiate it from a savant, someone who has labored and or studied long at his craft and is able to do it on a level few others can.

Also famously Idiot savants come to mind, Masters of one thing, but useless in almost all other aspects of daily life.

I think a genius must also be able to express his thoughts, this makes it much clearer in the arts, but more clouded in other crafts.

This last I am not too tied to, but it helps in recognizing one.

That is my current take, ask me again in a year and I may change my opinion.

I am not sure I altogether agree with that statement. I have heard of autistic or the aforementioned idiot savant individuals who are most definetely genius, particularly musicaly gifted who cannot string a comprehensible sentence of words together and yet function in a magical world of the high intelligence without the need to interact with other humans (bottom feeders).

While I am very willing to give up that point, any artistic endeavor is by it’s nature a form of expression, thus I can not yet give this point up.

As a bottom feeder, I lack the intellectual capacity to see how someone who can not express themselves can change the outlook of the world on a subject, or some discovery without being able to express it, does not make them any less intelligent, however totally useless to the bottom feeders, thus pointless to acknowledge.

However like I said I am more then willing to give up, I just do not see how.

like quite alot of people i disagree with IQ'S to see if someones a genius.
I Think the intelligence has to be used creatively, by making somesort of progress in a particular area in mankind. i think that makes a genius.
Bertrand russel states that one of things to do to achieve it is ignore fact and reason.
Not sure whether i agree with this, but some of the most surreal ideas end up becoming appreciated-parralel universes for instance.

While I agree, if you've never taken an IQ test, don't know whats on it and can pull it off a high score is a pretty amazing thing and does indicate a level of "giftedness". But being gifted doesn't mean much other than if you're a child you'll be taking special ed classes (the kind for those who are the opposite of retardid) and people will call you names like nerd or poindexter.

yeah i do agree with that, there is something out of the odinary, but people with an extreme amount of logic have to apply creativity to it to become genius, because to me genius is
about applying that creativity for progress in mankind.

I'm in Mensa and while the other members are interesting to chat with and such, most are fairly ordinary in most senses. Personally, I've never viewed myself as being a genius, rather I've just thought I have a quirky talent for IQ tests. There are a lot of truck drivers, factory workers, housewives etc in the mix of people around here. I don't know anyone locally in Mensa who has done anything exciting and creative. It seems that there is intelligence, and then there is creativity. They seem separate but allied. There are a lot more intelligent people that can analyze or understand or synthesize things, but there aren't many who can create anything radically new. I don't even see many who can take ordinary concepts and reorder them, take them apart and put them back together again in a new way very often.

Genius is the person who decided to put a clock in a vcr.

I mean seriously. Has anyone done that for dvd's yet?

Any egghead could have come up with the Electromagnetic Theory, or Faraday's law of induction, but the turkey that came up with quilted, 2 ply toilet paper? Brilliant.

i totally know what you're saying Goibniu. I think society has gone well i know about certain subjects and i know the facts and the reason behind them, but life isnt all about fact and reason, to toy with the versatile nature our minds. Meditation is probably extremley important to get into a kind of zone for this, all renaissance men meditated in a way, there was a spirit of thought set deep into thier minds sprung from the world around them.