Illustration credit: spectator.co.uk
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While all geniuses were not made equal, they all share with each other common personality traits that form an integral part of their persona. Their behavior might seem odd to many but there is a ‘madness’ behind their ways.
Fortunately, there are some traits highly intelligent people share in common that we can all learn from. Here are some that are hard to disagree with.
Even experts would agree on some of these common traits that most geniuses have in common.
[Here are the first five that Jenarius discusses.]
#1. They are thinkers to the core in every respect.
Their mind is always on the move, with thoughts constantly flowing through it. Not only is their mind constantly on the run but they also tend to think of a problem more productively by thinking about different perspectives to it. With every perspective, they would understand the problem that much better and find not just a solution but even innovate through it.
#2. They have an insatiable appetite for knowledge.
They are constantly hungry for knowledge and will go out of your way to experiment and explore the possibilities in everything they put their mind into. There’s hardly ever a day where they go to sleep without learning something new or deeply introspecting something they’ve been thinking about.
#3. They admit that don’t know, what they don’t know.
The less intelligent you are the more you overestimate your mental abilities. If anything, more intelligent people underestimate things in hope that they get to learn more about what they don’t know too much about. They find it more productive to admit to the fact that they don’t know something when they don’t. They realise that not knowing in itself presents an opportunity for them to learn about it.
#4. They enjoy and look forward to spending time with themselves.
You’ll find that intelligent people love to invest time in their own mind. They tend to be more individualistic than others. Not only does spending too much time with people bring them less satisfaction but it also gives them much lesser time to introspect on their own thoughts. They may not connect with people on several things that they lack interest in, as they mostly speak when they feel like they need to. In that sense, they ‘don’t really fit in’.
#5. They could be messy or disorganised.
So, you’ve been accused of leaving a messy desk/room behind all your life? Well, the chance that you’re more creative and a genius in comparison to your prim and proper counterparts is much higher. A study conducted by the University of Minnesota concluded that if you’re not spending too much time cleaning and organising your settings your mind is obviously preoccupied with thoughts that are more important. The researchers claimed that it led to better creative output.
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If you have a special interest in knowing more about those with exceptional intelligence, I highly recommend these sources, the first two available in a paperbound edition:
o Harold Bloom’s Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds (2003)
o Eric Weiner’s The Geography of Genius: Lessons from the World’s Most Creative Places (2016)
o Darrin M. McMahon’s Divine Fury: A History of Genius (2013)