What is the mystery of genius, still unsolved? - стр. 3

There are those who claim that a genius appears as a result of an accidental combination of circumstances, in which any intelligent and gifted person can rise and produce something extraordinary – in the manner of Napoleon.

The reliance on accidental set of circumstances does not take into account the mass of human features, without which, in any case, genius could not be manifested in any way. The same Napoleon had a number of extraordinary abilities, including a unique memory, high speed of decision-making based on the ability to adequately summarize the data, enormous ability to work, etc.

It is also believed that if life requires a genius, then he will certainly appear from the masses of the population and will think up demanded by this life – it is only necessary to strain and be allocated to someone. Whoever is able to do it in favorable circumstances will be recognized as a genius. And no matter as far as he is silly or clever. The main thing is perseverance, the ability to find and unite like-minded people around you on the basis of, perhaps, the wrong idea, keep on the wave of success, not allowing to remove yourself, skillfully to use the known practices and ideas of the colleagues, receiving the desired result. Lenin and Stalin managed all this, for example.

Here already the matter is being resolved by history. In particular, it is impossible to recognize Lenin and Stalin as ingenious after years, since the social structure, respectively, laid and built by them, historically quickly enough failed.

Also curious are statements about geniuses of such expert on life as the famous German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer famous for the aphorisms and strange interest in will, assigning the role of representations for the rest.

The viewpoint of Schopenhauer about genius come down to the following.

“Genius … consists in excessive intellectual surplus which can find for itself the application only in that to head to the general beginnings of being" (A. Schopenhauer. The World as Will and Representation. Volume 2. Chapter XXXI. On Genius).

"In the private constantly to see the general – exactly in it and consists the main line of the genius" (ibid.).

All great theoretical creations, whatever they may be, are realized in such a way that the one who begins them, all forces of the spirit direct to one point in which he connects them and concentrates to such extent strongly, firmly and exclusively that all other world for him disappears" (ibid.).

"The talent can create that above creative abilities of others, but not above their receptivity. That is why he immediately finds connoisseurs. On the contrary, creations of the genius go beyond not only creative abilities of other people, but also their susceptibility therefore they also do not recognize him" (ibid.).