Tuesday, November 20, 2012

A Genius Post


gen·ius  (jnys)
n. pl. gen·ius·es
1.
a. Extraordinary intellectual and creative power.
b. A person of extraordinary intellect and talent: "One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius" (Simone de Beauvoir).
c. A person who has an exceptionally high intelligence quotient, typically above 140.
2.
a. A strong natural talent, aptitude, or inclination: has a genius for choosing the right words.
b. One who has such a talent or inclination: a genius at diplomacy.
3. The prevailing spirit or distinctive character, as of a place, a person, or an era: the genius of Elizabethan England.
4. pl. ge·ni·i (jn-) Roman Mythology A tutelary deity or guardian spirit of a person or place.
5. A person who has great influence over another.
6. A jinni in Muslim mythology.

That’s how http://www.thefreedictionary.com/genius defines genius. It’s an interesting word. It’s also a word that I have been that I have been hearing a lot lately.  Even so much as a few people have referred to me as one. My initial instinct when someone throws this word at me is to laugh it off, or deny it vehemently as absurd.  Perhaps it’s the deeply engrained catholic supplicant roots that make me so averse to receiving compliments (but that’s a whole nother ball of wax).

What I really want to talk about is the word genius because I have been hearing it so much lately. I guess when I hear it Einstein comes to mind, or other hyper intelligent women and men who seem like untouchable figures in the history books.

But looking at the nuts and bolts of this definition, it occurs to me that genius can come in all shapes and sizes.  There is a possibility that I could be considered a genius in the right light.  In fact everybody has talents of some sort, so really we all have the capacity to be a genius in one way or another, and that I find very cool.

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