1 - The nature of genius

Summary

When a true genius appears in the world,

you may know him by this sign, that the

dunces are all in confederacy against him.

Jonathan Swift

Popular concepts of genius

There are many books on the topic of genius; since the days of Aristotle and Plato, philosophers, artists, teachers, scientists, psychiatrists and lately psychologists have combined to tell us what genius is, how it is produced, how it relates to madness, how it can be cultivated. These contributions consist of writings which rely on common-sense, historical anecdotes, and descriptive passages extolling the wonders of genius. Thus ‘genius’ is depicted as the possessor of a mystical gift that cannot be explained by the ordinary laws of human nature – a conclusion that would immediately make impossible the realization of the research project on which this book is based. It is possible to bring together popular notions of genius by citing a number of definitions. Some of these make genius seem remarkably commonplace. Thus for Buffon, genius was ‘but a great aptitude for patience’. Frederick the Great thought it was a ‘transcendent capacity for taking trouble’. Edison considered it ‘one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration’, while Disraeli agreed with Buffon – ‘patience is a necessary ingredient of genius’. Thus we learn that genius means hard work, true but not very revealing. It may highlight the absurdity of modern educational methods which stress the alleged natural creativity of children, but refuse to impart the necessary knowledge without which creativity cannot function.

More interesting are quotations telling us about the creativity of genius.