Genius

Although giftedness is a term used to denote the highest talent in a particular field, genius has connotations of creativity and discovery which go beyond normal ability. It is applied to persons of extraordinary intellectual power, either as measured by some test of intelligence or as demonstrated by some actual achievement involving creative ability of an exceptionally high order. It is associated with creativeness, originality and the ability to think and work in subject areas not previously explored and thus to give the world something of value it would not otherwise possess; and has been described as a unique combination of intellect, zeal and power of working.

Psychologically, it has not proved possible to define a particular personality type to which genius may be said to belong. It does not even seem to be related to "cleverness" or high intelligence in general. Although gifted people tend to come from gifted families, lead lives above average in health and happiness, and be emotionally stable, many persons classed as "genius" lead unhappy and deprived lives, often suffering depression from early loss of a parent. They tend to be emotionally unstable (sometimes verging on madness), and many have become insane, although again it is not possible to generalize. Certainly fantasy and playing games with reality have a large part to play. Political and social judgement among acknowledged geniuses has been shown to be remarkably lacking. Nevertheless, the creative process manifested by a genius is not different in kind from that inherent in any gifted person. This has not prevented some suggestions that people of genius belong to a separate psychobiological species, differing as much from ordinary man as man does from the ape; or that they have developed their ability over many lifetimes.