Results tagged “genius” from Learn at Every Turn - Creative, Enriched Homeschooling

A recent article in Time magazine, "Is Genius Born or Can It Be Learned?" discusses a new book by Dean Keith Simonton entitled Genius 101: Creators, Leaders, and Prodigies. According to the article, Simonton believes genius is a product of good genes and good environment. In the article, this belief is contrasted with Anders Ericsson's belief that genius is primarily the product of deliberate practice for extended periods of time.

While I find these abstract discussions interesting, some part of me wants to ask why should we as a society care? As the article notes, humanity has attempted to define genius and its causes since antiquity. After all this time, we still are unable to come up with a satisfactory definition of genius or a reliable means of quantifying it. Similarly, its causes are mere conjectures by even our brightest minds.

As a homeschooling mother, I live in the trenches. When I get up tomorrow morning, I will face three children who by both genetics and environment should and appear to have significantly high IQ's. And I will face one question: how am I going to reach each of those boys where they are today to help them eventually reach their full potential as human beings? While the answer changes from child to child, the question remains the same. Furthermore, I would argue that genius, average or otherwise, the question still remains the same.

I don't believe every child is meant to be a brilliant artist or nuclear physicist, but I do believe that every child has something to contribute to the world. I realize my hope that each child gets everything he or she needs to reach his or her full potential, whatever that might be, is a utopian fantasy. I also realize that for some, being identified as unique or gifted opens doors to resources that they genuinely need in this society as it stands now.

Still, I can't help but wonder if we using our energies in a less than productive manner in attempting to define that which can't be defined. Instead of asking how we can create more geniuses as the article mentions, I wonder if our time would be better spent asking how we can help every child reach his or her full potential.

In a continuing effort to catch up on articles friends send my way, I recently read "Late Bloomers: Why do We Equate Genius with Precocity?" from The New Yorker. To summarize, we tend to equate genius with precocity, but our assumption is false. Genius seems to fall into two categories. Prodigies tend to be conceptual. They rarely engage in opened inquiry and tend to start with a clear idea and execute it.There is some suggestion that prodigies may burn out early in life. In contrast, late bloomers are experimental. Their goals are imprecise. For them, the process reveals the goal. Learning is more important than the end product. Their creativity proceeds through trial and error. For this reason, it takes time to come to fruition.

The implication that arises from these types is that late bloomers simply aren't good at what they do until late in their careers because they must learn along the way.

Two quotes from the article jumped out at me. First, "[w]henever we find a late bloomer, we can't but wonder how many others like him or her we have thwarted because we prematurely judged their talents." Second, "[w]e'd like to think that mundane matters like loyalty, steadfastness, and the willingness to keep writing checks to support what looks like a failure have nothing to do with something as rarefied as genius. But sometimes genius is anything but rarefied; sometimes it's just the thing that emerges after twenty years of working at your kitchen table."

This article provides a great reminder at least for me that every child needs to be given his or her due. We have no way of knowing what a child may eventually do or in what time frame. Therefore, our role as a parents is to put aside preconceived judgments and to discern and meet the unique needs of each child, whether a prodigy or a late bloomer or something in between.