What is a genius?

I always liked Kanye West’s claim that “I’m a creative genius, and there’s just no other way to word it than that.”

Well, that’s obviously false, because a true creative genius could word that (or otherwise get the point across) in innumerable other ways.

So I’ll say that it’s a curse when you apply the label to yourself. Stupidly. In public. On video.

Genius is subjective and often overrated.

Genius is only demonstrated in the output or product, never in the individual.

It is not a curse, but someone who has shown genius will generally shrug their shoulders, say thank you, and not think anything more of it.

IQ test score of 145 or above.

Someone who can solve a series of puzzles on a written test in a certain time frame and gain a score of over 140. It has no bearing on a person’s ability to live a functional life.

@CWOTUS Perhaps Kanye’s “genius” does not extend to objective self evaluation. His “creative genius” may well involve a talent for the “creation” of lucrative marketing opportunities to foist on gullible consumers of limited taste. As Trump endlessly reminds us, the surefire gauge of an individual’s genius may be readily determined through observation of his or her bottom line.

The most overrated and pretentious word ever, that should be used only sarcastically.

It doesn’t exist?

The term genius is a quantitative and qualitative word, a noun and an adjective. Tests have been constructed to measure a quality called intelligence. An example currently in use is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) (“see”:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_standardized_tests_in_the_United_States) and (“see also”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wechsler_Adult_Intelligence_Scale#WAIS). I think scores above 145 on WAIS is considered genius (noun). However, one problem with such tests is that the definition of the term intelligence is limited to elements of the test (in psychology courses, I was taught that a test measured itself).

Genius (“see wiki”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genius) as an adjective is “is a person who displays exceptional intellectual ability, creative productivity, universality in genres or originality, typically to a degree that is associated with the achievement of new advances in a domain of knowledge.”

As a label, this term often is used more ambiguously. When someone is called a genius it is a complement that might not be found by a psychological test to be accurate. Thinking of oneself as a genius is possibly delusional and therefore potentially harmful.

Hmm… your “adjective” definition is another noun, @Bill1939 – although it is certainly correct that the word can be used as an adjective (though not very well, I think, since terms like “genius idea” are pretty awkward). And “compliment”, not “complement” in this sense.

But I’m really writing to take issue with the final assertion. While it may be potentially harmful that thinking of oneself as a genius and that therefore one’s ideas are beyond criticism from ‘mere mortals’ is very likely to be harmful, even if only as a display of hubris, to fail to recognize one’s own genius would be a huge miss on self-awareness, too (or a sign of non-genius, I suppose, but even geniuses can be blind or partially so). On the other hand, as @zenvelo wisely notes, deciding to avoid the “I’m a genius” self-promotion or deflecting/declining the compliment – whether deserved or not – when it is delivered is certainly healthy.

Everyone is a genius
But if you judge a fish on it’s ability to climb a tree
It will live it’s whole life believing it is stupid

Here’s a relatively recent reanalysis of intelligence and the forms it takes. It has a view of intelligence which is not included in the test you took. People may have multiple intelligences if you consider these skills.

HOWARD GARDNER’S NINE MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES:

1. Linguistic Intelligence: the capacity to use language to express what’s on your mind and to understand other people. Any kind of writer, orator, speaker, lawyer, or other person for whom language is an important stock in trade has great linguistic intelligence.

2. Logical/Mathematical Intelligence: the capacity to understand the underlying principles of some kind of causal system, the way a scientist or a logician does; or to manipulate numbers, quantities, and operations, the way a mathematician does.

3. Musical Rhythmic Intelligence: the capacity to think in music; to be able to hear patterns, recognize them, and perhaps manipulate them. People who have strong musical intelligence don’t just remember music easily, they can’t get it out of their minds, and it’s so omnipresent.

4. Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence: the capacity to use your whole body or parts of your body (your hands, your fingers, your arms) to solve a problem, make something, or put on some kind of production. The most evident examples are people in athletics or the performing arts, particularly dancing or acting.

5. Spatial Intelligence: the ability to represent the spatial world internally in your mind—the way a sailor or airplane pilot navigates the large spatial world, or the way a chess player or sculptor represents a more circumscribed spatial world. Spatial intelligence can be used in the arts or in the sciences.

6. Naturalist Intelligence: the ability to discriminate among living things (plants, animals) and sensitivity to other features of the natural world (clouds, rock configurations). This ability was clearly of value in our evolutionary past as hunters, gatherers, and farmers; it continues to be central in such roles as botanist or chef.

7. Intrapersonal Intelligence: having an understanding of yourself; knowing who you are, what you can do, what you want to do, how you react to things, which things to avoid, and which things to gravitate toward. We are drawn to people who have a good understanding of themselves. They tend to know what they can and can’t do, and to know where to go if they need help.

8. Interpersonal Intelligence: the ability to understand other people. It’s an ability we all need, but is especially important for teachers, clinicians, salespersons, or politicians—anybody who deals with other people.

9. Existential Intelligence: the ability and proclivity to pose (and ponder) questions about life, death, and ultimate realities.

A Genius is defined as a person with exceptional mental AND creative power.
One whom thinks outside of the box, so to speak.
Also in context: to a person who is not creative one would think a creative person a genius. and so on.

@CWOTUS, You are right. I meant to write “When someone is called a genius it is a compliment…” Auto correct and my failure to notice the mistake are to blame.

A genius is someone who does brilliant things. If you haven’t done anything brilliant, don’t worry, you are not a genius.