Bodhisattva

In the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer, a genius is a person in whom intellect predominates over "will" much more than within the average person. In Schopenhauer's aesthetics, this predominance of the intellect over the will allows the genius to create artistic or academic works that are objects of pure, disinterested contemplation, the chief criterion of the aesthetic experience for Schopenhauer. Their remoteness from mundane concerns means that Schopenhauer's geniuses often display maladaptive traits in more mundane concerns; in Schopenhauer's words, they fall into the mire while gazing at the stars.

"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see."

— Arthur Schopenhauer

just a quote to get the thread started, i do not agree with Schopenhauer

the thread is.. what does genius mean to you? is genius important? im not asking if you think it has been important because it HAS been, but rather IS it important to have such instances FOR the future? is it hypothetically possible for a world to be entirely geniuses? what are the conditions necessary for genius? and any other 'genius' related question marks you want to pose or address.

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Mafoo

i really like that quote

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PLUR
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return

Mercury

To me a genius is someone who is a contradiction or a paradox against what is considered usual.

For example:

-a genius might be a janitor who lives in a mansion.
-a hideously ugly man who dates supermodels
-someone who was born in a shed and now rules over a small country

verklingen

imo genius is doing something with appropriate timing, in a proper capacity and to the proper effect.

i also dig that quote.

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“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

Bodhisattva

"imo genius is doing something with appropriate timing, in a proper capacity and to the proper effect."

sounds a like a janitor cleaning up fresh puke


merc, i think your describing luck or a irrational self-confidence that pays off in the long run

im aiming more for the einstein model with the word genius, but let the thread go where the people take it, i suppose

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Lord X

I would have to agree with the quote. Look at Da Vinci he created wonders that work, they had never been dreamed up. His mind is amazing. i hope that I can one day join his ranks.

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Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

verklingen

right on man, genius needn't be extraordinary. it's amazing enough to me that there is a solution to everything, including how best to isolate, clean up, and disinfect fresh puke. that's genius to me, and i appreciate one's ability and willingness to do so.

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“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

The Rev

Interstingly, the actual word "genius" sounds really fucked up if you say it while puking (much like "Buick" or "York").

Seriously, "genius" is a term people use to describe people who are smarter than they are only by a degree small enough that the person using the word can understand that the "genius" is smarter. You take it any further than that, and he will call him a moron, instead.



The Rev

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my_scatterheart

There is genius in everything to me.
Genius can be seeing an answer no one else perceives just as much as it is doing something no one else dares to do. To even see or speak of the dark recesses of your subconscious that are otherwise considered unspeakable.

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Be mindful even if your mind is full. -J. De La Vega

Waves

a genius to me is someone who lives up to their potential

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On this life that we call home
The years go fast and the days go so slow

Bodhisattva

"is a term people use to describe people who are smarter than they are only by a degree small enough that the person using the word can understand that the "genius" is smarter. You take it any further than that, and he will call him a moron, instead."


hmmm do we...

perhaps in some way some variation thereof

but its my delusion that the more intelligent dogs and cats i've had, thought me something like magical, opening doors turning on lights, there is something like 'marvel' in their perception of the human with the hands and the technology, atleast for me, a doctor doolittle perhaps

perhaps its such a steep cliff with humans, that the smartest dog is much closer to the dumbest human, than the dumbest human is to the smartest human, unlikely, or rather its some complexity, like our preconceived notion of our individual selves as 'something smart', or the genetically ingrained insistence on 'thinking for ourselves' that we all have in varying degrees and ways, atleast beyond a domesticated canine

humans have undeniably been historically quick to anger at many revolutionary concepts, disregarding them with passion, but people have done the same with concepts that actually WERE 'moronic'


There are lots of words for marveling at the many many marvelous things

i don't see a reason to degrade the word genius, rather than redefine the word as the opposite of what it means, why dont you just claim genius doesn't exist, if that's your opinion

i created this thread because 'genius' is a word with many definitions, none of which are 'everyday little things that a chimp or retarded person can be trained to do'

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The Rev

I would never say that sparks of ingenius creative light don't appear from time to time. There are always great minds among us, at any time of history. It's just that, from my experience, the guy a little smarter is often given alot more credit for being smart than the guy who is alot smarter. More often than not, the much smarter man is disregarded completely, as if he were a moron.

That was my only point.



The Rev

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Bodhisattva

too often

far too often a man isn't afforded the chance to see any of the effects his thoughts will have on the world, its quite sad

or are you refering to the 'un-picked-up' genius, the mind for the path we forsook the chance to take?, just the thought of it brings up all kinds of doubt and curiosity

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The Rev

I just think people appreciate only the kind of smart that they are smart enough, themselves, to understand. Anything they aren't smart enough to get, they dismiss. I think this tendency is why many of the real geniuses of history have been scorned in their time, and mediocrities given more credit. (A good, though fictitious example is Salieri and Mozart in the movie, Amadeus).



The Rev

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verklingen

bodhisattva,

it seems to me that your keen on exclusion, so i can respect that. but i see no difference between a person you would consider a genius and the plumber whose work allows the genius to shit comfortably, or the dry cleaner who does his clothes, and the practically endless parade of people who play a supporting role in bringing about the conditions suitable for a genius to do works of genius. this is because i'm obsessed with honoring the process of life rather than picking it apart and honoring only those portions of it which appear exceptional to me. this is a severe divide between our respective modes of thought (i.e. opinion), and i thank you for aiding my recognition of it.

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“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

Bodhisattva

does paying honor to something as grand and inexorable as the process of life, suggest a 'wonder' for every little thing, an embrace is only warranted for the soft, what of the spiky and what is un-embracing and the toxic things, granted i have not read your 6000 posts, so i may be blatantly-ignorant, do you have some circumvention for hugging cactus or do you have some other way of honoring such, that i am ignorant too

and before i can be reminded of the grandness of cacti, i must say that i am speaking in metaphors, the predation and the death and even the cruelty, what of it and your bestowed honors

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Bodhisattva

"And ye tell me, friends, that there is to be no dispute about taste and tasting? But all life is a dispute about taste and tasting!"

verklingen

dude when did i say i hug things? and cactus looks cool lol

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“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

B.

For me, genius is a hugely over used term that noone has bothered to properly define... probably because they can't... maybe a genius needs to do it! ho ho

But seriously, I get sick of hearing the word, I cringe every time a football commentator desribes Cristiano Ronaldo as a genius... nope, sorry... he is an athlete who is good at kicking a ball... not a genius.

Or the fact that the mainstream entertainment media decide that any Johnny-come-lately whiney accoustic nob, who actually writes something without the aid of a record company dictating to them, is automatically elevated to genial status... nope, sorry again, but he just wrote a shit song because his ex-girlfriend saw him for the cunt that he is... not a genius, just self important.

I could go on... but I won't, because I can see where this post is going, and it has probably got nothing to do with the original post... I didn't read it, I just saw the word genius and went off on one... it really pisses me off to be honest... its a word that means one person is better than another... which is bollocks, I reckon everyone has the capacity for genius given the right set of circumstances... its just another word for spontaneity... an idea out of the blue that anyone is capable of.

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The Lizard-Man makes his living as a freak...



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^I believe the greatest miscalculation of our modern era is the assumption that all man is created equal.