At first glance, geniuses seem different from each other. Some of them are focused and reserved, some are scattered and quick-tempered, some love society, and some are perfect misanthropes. But there are a number of psychological characteristics that accurately label genius.
What unites talented writers, mathematicians, artists, musicians, and is it possible to bring up a genius? There is still no answer to this question, but there are facts that confirm that all gifted people have common characteristics, and they can be used to determine the future genius.
Three clicks
“Geniuses have a certain set of the same character traits,” says Walter Isaacson, author of biographies of Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, and Steve Jobs.
On the one hand, they are united by a love of simplicity. For example, during the development of the iPod, Steve Jobs required that the user make no more than three clicks to search for any song. His team figured out how to use the scroll wheel and did it even more efficiently.
Another feature of Jobs was perfectionism – another common symptom of genius for the heroes of all his books.
Madness of the brave
Connie Strong, a researcher at Stanford University’s Department of Psychology, argues that creative people – whether they are poetic or talented mathematicians – are prone to bipolar disorder during intensive work.
She found that creative people are able to experience a much wider range of emotions than the average person, and due to this they significantly benefit.
It is groups of outstanding people that are most effective. They enhance each other’s strengths
“Excellent artists are 10 to 30 times more likely to suffer from manic depression and general depression in the course of their work,” says Johns Hopkins University clinical psychologist Kay Jamison. “This does not mean that geniuses are necessarily tormented when they are working on a masterpiece. People with manic depression can be extremely vulnerable and incredibly self-confident at the same time. And it is precisely this self-confidence that is needed when you destroy the generally accepted framework in art and do what no one has done before you.”
Not alone
Nevertheless, we do not consider mental deviations as a sign of a genius, but his achievements in his field. For geniuses, compromise is impossible. Their purpose is an intellectual breakthrough and the creation of things that simply did not exist before them. Steve Jobs claimed that he didn’t do any market research before launching the Macintosh because people didn’t know what they wanted.
However, biographer Walter Isaacson believes that genius does not walk alone on the road to greatness. In the arsenal of the same Steve Jobs were dozens of talented engineers and designers.
“It is groups of outstanding people that are most effective. They cover up weaknesses and enhance each other’s strengths,” says Isaacson. He notes that, despite his harshness and intolerance in relations with his own employees, Jobs had a gift for breaking down barriers in communication and gathering around him the most dedicated people.