TechProfound

I just read What Kind of Genius Are You? from the July, 2006 Wired Magazine. The article is about some work that David Galenson did and the author Daniel H. Pink comments about different aspects of that work. Primarily it’s about Conceptualists and Experimentalists.

Conceptualists
Many geniuses peak early, creating their masterwork at a tender age…

Experimentalists
…while others bloom late, doing their best work after lifelong tinkering.

When Galenson plotted the average auction price of an artist’s work against age, two distinct patterns emerged. Conceptualists did their breakthrough work early in life and then declined steadily. Experimental innovators, on the other hand, plodded along, peaking late in their careers.

Conceptualists
Many geniuses peak early, creating their masterwork at a tender age…

LITERATURE:
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Age 29

PAINTING:
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
Pablo Picasso
Age 26

FILMMAKING:
Citizen Kane
Orson Welles
Age 26

ARCHITECTURE:
The Vietnam War Memorial
Maya Lin
Age 23

MUSIC:
The Marriage of Figaro
Wolfgang Mozart
Age 30

Experimentalists
…while others bloom late, doing their best work after lifelong tinkering.

LITERATURE:
Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain
Age 50

PAINTING:
Château Noir
Paul Cézanne
Age 64

FILMMAKING:
Vertigo
Alfred Hitchcock
Age 59

ARCHITECTURE:
Fallingwater
Frank Lloyd Wright
Age 70

MUSIC:
Symphony No. 9
Ludwig van Beethoven
Age 54

It was an interesting read, albeit a little heavy on the artsy side for me. I don’t know all of the names of the various artists or writers mentioned, etc. The point of the article and the study that Galenson did is interesting to juxtapose next to various dot com, startup, online, entrepreneurial ideas – and the timing of those ideas along with their creators.

Pink ends the article with a great piece of commentary. “This is a universal theory of creativity, not a Viagra for sagging baby boomer self-esteem. It’s no justification for laziness or procrastination or indifference. But it might bolster the resolve of the relentlessly curious, the constantly tinkering, the dedicated tortoises undaunted by the blur of the hares.”

I’m not sure that I fall anywhere on that chart, except that I was once younger than I am now, and I may eventually get older. Although, I think I might lean more towards the Experimentalists camp.