Genius (from lat. genius — spirit) is an amazing, admiring ability of a person to create, give birth to new ideas, and find the right solutions. A genius is a person “who over a long period of time does a great job that has a significant impact on other people for many years” (R. S. Elbert, 1975). The genius is characterized by extraordinary creative productivity, mastering the cultural heritage of the past and at the same time resolutely overcoming outdated norms and traditions. Genius, figuratively speaking, creates a new era in his field of activity.
The average age of parents of brilliant children is mother 27, father 38 years.
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According to Boris Akunin, there are three different types of talent, three types of genius: the “hormonal” genius, the genius of mastery, and the genius of age-related extinction. He writes: “Very often, a bright flowering of creativity coincides with a physiological flowering. Such talent can be called «hormonal». This flower is lush and beautiful. What the artist does not have enough intelligence or taste for, the artist easily gets by with flair, energy, “chemistry”, charm (sometimes even negative). But in old age, hormones cease to run amok, the upper instinct weakens, and only technical skills remain, which, of course, you won’t drink away, but you won’t get drunk from them. And it turns out that yesterday’s idol is unintelligent, morally unsympathetic, boringly replicating past discoveries or embarking on experiments that are painful to watch. The «hormonal» genius is very similar to a dazzling beauty, all the charm of which lies in appearance and sex magic. Old women of this sort often present a depressive picture, and when they use remedies that once worked flawlessly, it only gets worse. In order for a talented artist to retain his strength, it is necessary that it is based not only on testosterone, but also on the mind and heart. Such a director will make his best film in his seventies, like Ingmar Bergman, and even in the eighth, like Akira Kurosawa. And if he feels that he is tired, he will stop in time, because he has enough intelligence and tact.
And also: “In addition to the “hormonal” genius, in some incomprehensible way connected with the physiological flowering, there is also the genius of the opposite vector, associated with age-related extinction. And this kind of talent is perhaps more interesting and optimistic than the others. It happens that a person truly reveals himself at that time in life when it is customary to give up on oneself or, in any case, to take stock. It’s too late to think about the future, except, as they say, to look at the land on dry land.
Here are two fates as an example. The first is a textbook, the story of «Colonel Sanders». He’s a pure, malignant loser. He was orphaned early, did not finish school, from the age of thirteen he earned a living, barely survived. With great difficulty, he studied in absentia as a lawyer, but with a bang he flew out of the profession after he beat his own client right in the courtroom. Didn’t stay long at any job. He tried several times to start a business and failed all the time. The only thing he was good at was frying chickens. Sanders invented a new way to cook them, opened a roadside restaurant and even began to make ends meet, but fate seemed to decide to finish the poor fellow. A new highway was laid nearby, all the traffic flowed there, and the institution went bankrupt.
Sanders by this time was already sixty-five. In a good way, he should have recognized his life as completely unsuccessful and began to prepare for the transition to a world more just than this. Instead, the old loser came up with the idea of turning his “chicken-roasting” method into a franchise and began selling it all over America. This is how the Kentaki Fried Chicken chain was born — one of the most popular fast foods in the world. Grandfather became very rich, lived happily for many more years and left a winner, and finally established a charitable foundation — this is the best memory that a rich person can leave.
The second story is about an American artist, commonly referred to as Grandma Moses. She was born in 1860 and lived a hard, joyless life. She was the wife of a farmhand, gave birth to ten children, half of whom died in infancy. She was widowed at 67. An interesting thing began ten years later, when an old woman, due to arthritis, lost the opportunity to embroider and decided to paint. I was going to give them to relatives and friends for Christmas and other holidays, so as not to spend money on gifts. No one has ever taught her how to draw. She had no education at all other than elementary school. Therefore, she painted, as God puts on the soul. And He put it — did not stint. Grandma Moses created over a thousand paintings. She became famous and rich. She lived one hundred and one years. It is now considered a classic of «naive art». Her work hangs in venerable museums, even in the White House.
Recently, I was presented with a book by Vladimir Yakovlev “The Age of Happiness” — so it all consists of similar real stories: about our contemporaries, whose real life began only in old age. There I read about a Russian grandmother who suddenly discovered her abilities in aikido, about an American grandfather who became a magician at the age of 78, and many other positive things.
Let us never, at any age or physical condition, bury ourselves before death, never say that everything is behind us and that all that remains is to live somehow, to creak. Let’s look carefully around and inside ourselves. It is very possible that life saves the most interesting discoveries, both external and internal, for dessert.
Personal qualities of great people, however, are not always a role model. A.P. Chekhov, according to contemporaries, was a womanizer and adored brothels. In general, “litter” was enough: “an unimportant doctor, not a very faithful friend, almost a Nietzschean and a decadent, threw all his surroundings as prototypes into the stove of his stories. Many recognized themselves and were offended.”
Genius, unfortunately, has nothing to do with the qualities of human decency. When A.S. Pushkin wrote: «Genius and villainy are two incompatible things,» this is a beautiful pedagogical suggestion, but not a scientific fact. On the other hand, if a person who is outstanding in his abilities evokes negative feelings in the majority of those around him, people will belittle his abilities and will not classify him as a genius. It has been noticed: more often they rank among the geniuses of those outstanding people who had to create a circle of friends and admirers around themselves, who, in fact, began to broadcast an opinion about the genius of the names.
Curiously, Immanuel Kant was basically a homebody and not the most sociable person, but his fame as a philosopher was greatly facilitated by the weekly receptions that he arranged for the educated nobility of his city. Similarly, Boris Pasternak regularly gathered cheerful and tasty feasts for a large circle of writers in Peredelkino. Not only Pasternak had many excellent poems, but it was he who was raised by public opinion. Friendship is helpful!