The natural function of the brain is to learn, to explore,
and to expand its own mental powers. We have in our head a vast,
substantially-dormant super bio-computer, the human mind, given to us free at
birth.
The nature of genius is in all human beings; it is the
nurture of that nature that is all-important; this view has been held by many
of the great geniuses themselves.
A study of 100 of the greatest geniuses in history proves
that all our societal prejudices about genius are wrong. "Great
intelligence is characterized by robust health, greater physical size, advanced
social skills and, importantly, a sense of humor," say Tony Buzan and
Raymond Keene, authors of Buzan's Book of Genius, an exhaustive research and
ranking of history's top 100 geniuses.
“The creative genius has all these skills and is, in
contradiction to the stereotype, meticulously organized, scrupulously clean,
and possessed of an exceptionally powerful memory.” Buzan says. “Recent studies also, not surprisingly, show
that those who engage in physical activity are, across the board, superior in
their multiple intelligences.”
The study of geniuses also shows that their intelligence,
creativity, productivity, and work rate tended to accelerate with age. Many of their greatest achievements came at
the end of a long life.
The message here is that longevity is another characteristic
of genius.
“The planet Earth,” Buzan asserts, “provides the ultimate
intelligence test. It is the
individual’s ability to deal with the intricate multiplicity of challenges
which the environment provides on a second-by-second basis that ultimately
determines the level of our intelligence and our consequent chances of
survival.”
Buzan and Keene researched 100 geniuses which they ranked in
their Hall of Fame and many more that did not make the list, and 20
characteristics of genius emerged. These
characteristics recur constantly whether they come from arts, science,
religion, business, politics, sports, theatre, or the professions.
These 20 qualities are: vision, desire, faith, commitment,
planning, persistence, learning from mistakes, subject knowledge, mental
literacy, imagination, positive attitude, auto-suggestion, intuition,
mastermind group (real), mastermind group (internal), truth/honesty, facing
fears/courage, creativity/flexibility, love of the task, and energy
(physical/sensual/sexual).
Take an inventory of yourself. You probably possess many qualities of genius.
