You May Be A Genius

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.