The term genius acquired its modern sense in the eighteenth century, and is a conflation of two Latin terms: genius, as above, and Ingenium, a related noun referring to our innate dispositions, talents, and inborn nature.
Because the achievements of exceptional individuals seemed to indicate the presence of a particularly powerful genius, by the time of Augustus, the word began to acquire its secondary meaning of "inspiration, talent". The noun is related to the Latin verbs "gignere" (to beget, to give birth to) and "generare" (to beget, to generate, to procreate), and derives directly from the Indo-European stem thereof: "ǵenh" (to produce, to beget, to give birth). In ancient Rome, the genius (plural in Latin genii) was the guiding spirit or tutelary deity of a person, family ( gens), or place ( genius loci). Ĭonfucius, one of the most influential thinkers of the ancient world and the most famous Chinese philosopher, is often considered a genius. Walter Isaacson, biographer of many well-known geniuses, explains that although high intelligence may be a prerequisite, the most common trait that actually defines a genius may be the extraordinary ability to apply creativity and imaginative thinking to almost any situation. Sometimes genius is associated with talent, but several authors such as Cesare Lombroso and Arthur Schopenhauer systematically distinguish these terms. There is no scientifically precise definition of a genius. Geniuses may be polymaths who excel across many diverse subjects or may show high achievements in only a single kind of activity. For the taxonomic level, see genus.Ī genius 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 discoveries or advances in a domain of knowledge. For other uses, see Genius (disambiguation).
For the mythological spirit, see Genius (mythology).
This article is about the higher level of intellectual ability possessed by certain individuals.
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