Monday, May 9, 2011

What makes a genius?

Just caught the tail end of the documentary What Makes a Genius? on SBS2. Was bummed to realise that I'd missed most of it, but the internet is a wonderful thing, and am currently watching it from the beginning.

Having seen the last 10 minutes, as well as the first 5, there seems to be a fair amount of discussion about the role of creativity and genius. The very beginning features a man capable of squaring large numbers in his head - up to 5 digits. However, he says:

"I wouldn't call myself a genius, and I'm not just being modest. I think genius is something that is a very creative process, whereas what I'm doing is a process that is somewhat mechanical. It's almost like, you know, genius is Mozart who can compose brilliant compositions. I'm merely someone who's playing the piano real well... and I think there's a real difference between a skill and something that's immensely creative."

Anyhow, I'm off to watch some more.

Here is the opening part of the documentary



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