TechProfound

OK, I stole that title from Brad Paisley.  But, it makes a point.  Time can be squandered away.  It can also be “well wasted.”  Having done some of each lately, I believe there is a difference.

Take, for example, reading about genius on Wikipedia.  Under the Etymology section, the first paragraph currently reads like this.

In Ancient Rome, the genius was the guiding or “tutelary” spirit of a person, or even of an entire gens. A related term is genius loci, the spirit of a specific locale. In contrast, the internal driving force within all living things is the animus. A specific spirit, or daemon, may inhabit an image or icon, giving it supernatural powers.

A comparable term from Arabic lore is a djinn, often Anglicized as “genie”. Note, however, that this term is a false friend, not a cognate.

Now, that’s not such a problem as it is a squandery (not a word, but it should be) waste of time to read (unless you dig Latin and thrive on the obscurities finer details of language formation, use, and – well, etymology).

Further, there is a section on Limitations in which, “Geniuses are often accused of lacking common sense, or emotional sensitivity.”  There is a theory about this.  This, I believe is time well wasted.

Leta Hollingworth introduced the idea of an essential “communication limit” based on IQ. According to her theory, to be a good leader of one’s contemporaries, he/she must be more intelligent but not too much more intelligent than the people who are being led. This implies that geniuses may not make good leaders of those substantially less gifted and that they could have disdain for authority. The theory also states that children and adults become intellectually ostracized from their contemporaries when an IQ difference of 30 points or more exists.

See this reference to The Outsiders, an article from The Prometheus Society.  Crap!  Now, I’m going to have to go look up Prometheus to make sure it doesn’t mean something bad.    BTW, that article on The Outsiders is a stroke of genius!

Some of those reading this paper may find the portrait painted here to be completely incredible. Their own experiences were nothing at all like those described, nor were those of most of their gifted friends. But the point of this article is not that there’s some special hazard in having an exceptional IQ: There’s not. The point is that the danger lies in having an exceptional IQ in an environment completely lacking in intellectual peers. It’s the isolation that does the damage, not the IQ itself.

Back to Genius, I am going to slow my research and rest on the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry.

A genius is a person with distinguished mental abilities. This can manifest either as a foremost intellect, or as an outstanding creative talent. The term also applies to one who is a polymath, or someone skilled in many mental areas. The term specifically applies to mental rather than athletic skills, although it is also colloquially used to denote the possession of a superior talent in any field; e.g., Pelé may be said to have a genius for soccer, or Winston Churchill for statesmanship.

That one clicks with me.  It makes common sense.  And it’s emotionally sensitive to different kinds of genius.

Well, I guess this one is summed up…  Due to my awareness of common sense and emotional sensitivity, me thinks me no genius.  But, one can dream, eh!

Now that is a Casual Friday post!

Filed under: Blogging, CasualFriday, Geek, Humor, Perspective, Writing