Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727). Artist G. Kneller. 1689

It is said that Isaac Newton discovered the law of universal gravitation in his garden. He watched a falling apple and realized that the Earth attracts all objects to itself, and the heavier the object, the stronger it is attracted to the Earth. Reflecting on this, he deduced the law of universal gravitation: All bodies are attracted to each other with a force proportional to both masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. The brilliant English scientist, experimenter, researcher, he is also a mathematician, astronomer, inventor, made a lot of discoveries that determined the physical picture of the world around him.

In 1658, King Louis XIV himself, a fan of the arts, attended the debut of Molière's troupe at the Louvre Palace. In front of His Majesty, a farce was played, a merry comedy "Doctor in Love". The actors did their best, the king laughed to tears. The play made a good impression on him. This decided the fate of the troupe - she was given the Petit Bourbon court theater. After 3 years, Molière, already a well-known director, author of many comedies, together with his artists moved to another theater, the Palais Royal. For 15 years of intensive work, Moliere wrote his best plays, became famous as an outstanding actor and reformer of theatrics.

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At the beginning of the 17th century, strict rules reigned in the best French Jesuit college in La Flèche. The disciples got up early and ran to prayer. Only one, the best pupil, was allowed to stay in bed due to poor health - it was René Descartes. So he developed the habit of reasoning, finding solutions to mathematical problems. Later, according to legend, it was during these morning hours that he had a thought that spread all over the world: "I think, therefore I exist." Like the great thinkers of antiquity, Descartes was universal. He laid the foundations of analytical geometry, created many algebraic notations, discovered the law of conservation of motion, explained the root causes of the motion of celestial bodies.

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The founder of classical pedagogy, the Czech scientist Jan Amos Comenius, back in the 17th century, established that education in schools should be comprehensive in four age groups - children (up to 6 years old), adolescent (from 6 to 12), youth (from 12 to 18) and higher school for young people from 18 to 24 years old. He was the first to express the idea of ​​publishing books for children with pictures, systematized the educational process - introduced the concept of a lesson as the main form of teaching children. All the proposals and wishes of Comenius, and they number many dozens, entered the practical experience of European pedagogy.

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The young Florentine Galileo Galilei, who studied at the University of Pisa, attracted the attention of professors not only with clever reasoning, but also with original inventions. Alas, the gifted student was expelled from the third year - his father did not have money for his studies. But the young man found a patron, the rich Marquis Guidobaldo del Moite, who was fond of science. He supported the 22-year-old Galileo. Thanks to the Marquis, a man entered the world who showed his genius in mathematics, physics, and astronomy. Even during his lifetime, he was compared with Archimedes. He was the first to claim that the universe is infinite.

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William Shakespeare is considered a brilliant poet and playwright not only in Britain, but throughout the world. It is generally recognized that his works are a kind of encyclopedia of human relationships, they are like a mirror in which people, great and insignificant, are presented in their essence. He wrote 17 comedies, 11 tragedies, 10 chronicles, 5 poems and 154 sonnets. They are studied in schools, higher educational institutions. No playwright has been able to achieve such greatness as Shakespeare was awarded after his death. Until now, scientists from different countries are trying to solve the question of how such a creator could appear in the 16th century, whose works 400 years later remain still relevant.

The childhood of the future ruler of Foggy Albion was far from happy. Her father, King Henry VIII, was not happy about the birth of his daughter. England needed an heir to the throne, everyone was waiting for the boy. This was predicted by fortune-tellers, astrologers. In honor of the future heir, knightly tournaments were organized, a special font was being prepared in the church for his baptism. And suddenly a girl. Heinrich only pretended to be a happy father. In fact, already then he decided to get rid of Anne Boleyn - his wife, the mother of his newly born daughter.

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What is talent, people have been wondering for a long time. Some consider it as a gift from God, while others see giftedness as the result of hard work and self-improvement. Is it possible to develop certain abilities and what determines the presence of a gift in a person?

Talent - what is it?

Talent is called certain inherent in an individual from birth. They develop with the acquisition of experience and, directed in the right direction, form a skill. This term comes from the New Testament and means the gift of God, the ability to create something new and unique. Simply put, it is the ability of a person to do something better than others. When and how does talent show up?

1. A person can be gifted from birth and show their uniqueness from childhood (Mozart is a prime example).
2. An individual can express himself in adulthood, like Van Gogh or Gauguin.

Talent in psychology

Human talents are considered in psychology as a set of abilities. What is talent, the politician Carlo Dossi very succinctly described back in the 19th century, this is in equal parts:

• instinct;
• memory;
• will.

However, scientists claim that such an isolated ability is not a talent, even if it is pronounced. This is proved by surveys of people with phenomenal memory, conducted in the first half of the 20th century by a Moscow group of psychologists. The outstanding mnemonic abilities of the subjects did not find application in any areas of activity. Memory is only one of the success factors, but the development of talent depends no less on fantasy, will, and interests.

Are all people talented?

Among scientists and critics, disputes about what talent is and whether it is inherent in all personalities do not subside. Here opinions are divided into diametrically opposed:

1. Everyone has talent, because any individual is good in a certain area. You can use specific methods to develop your extraordinary abilities and develop them through exercises.
2. Genius is the lot of the elite, a spark of God that occurs rarely and is completely unpredictable.
3. Any talent is hard work and daily exercises. A person's abilities are revealed over time, come with experience.

Signs of a talented person

There are several signs of a person with a gift:

1. Creative people have a lot of energy in their area of ​​interest and are covered by an idea for days on end.
2. Gifted individuals are both introverts and extroverts.
3. The uniqueness of talented people is also manifested in the fact that they are modest and at the same time.
4. For the sake of a favorite cause, such individuals are ready to sacrifice their careers.
5. Extraordinary individuals are not always gifted in all areas, but often in any one. Talent and genius should not be confused, because in the second case, a person is considered gifted in all areas. In other words, genius is the highest level of creative manifestations of personality.

What are the talents?

Scientists distinguish certain types of talents depending on the types of intelligence:

• linguistic (linguists, journalists, writers and lawyers possess it);
• logical and mathematical (mathematicians, scientists);
• musical (musicians, composers, linguists);
• spatial (architects, designers, artists);
• bodily-kinesthetic (dancers, athletes);
• interpersonal (politicians, actors, directors, traders);
• emotional, or intrapersonal (inherent in all professions, this is what a person says about himself);
• there is also a hidden talent that the individual subconsciously or consciously does not develop, sometimes because of a lack of self-confidence, sometimes because of the fear of leaving the comfort zone.

How to become talented?

Millions of minds are struggling to figure out how to recognize your talent. Disclosure of outstanding abilities involves their identification of abilities, accumulation of experience and full use. The stages of revealing unique talents are as follows:

1. Before finding his talent, a person feels certain inclinations towards a certain area: he is interested in news related to this area, accumulates knowledge, collects material.
2. The stage of deeper immersion in the topic, attempts to copy other people's work.
3. Attempts to create something unique, unrepeatable. If at this stage author's things or previously unspoken ideas are born, it means that talent has been born.
4. Full exploitation of the identified abilities.

How to raise a talented child?

The potential inborn talent of a child depends on his parents. When adults try to view their offspring as extensions of themselves, they are demanding too much and giving too intense instructions. Then the child does not develop and form his needs, but only satisfies the unfulfilled dreams and unfulfilled desires of his mother and father. Therefore, in order to raise a gifted child, you need to listen to what interests him. The identified personal predisposition of the baby should be developed.

The most talented nation in the world

In an attempt to determine which country's representative is the most talented, people have had a lot of debate, primarily because it is difficult to determine what criterion of uniqueness can be taken as a basis. If high intelligence is taken as the main criterion for giftedness, then judging by the Nobel Prize winners, the most extraordinary people in the world live in the following countries:

1. USA - more than a third of the laureates live in this state.
2. Great Britain - every year British scientists win the championship in any field.
3. Germany - the German machine is trying to be the first in everything, including in the field of discoveries.
4. France - in the field of art, literature, painting, this state has no equal.
5. Sweden - the birthplace of Alfred Nobel closes the top five.

Top talented people in the world

It is difficult to say what the most talented people in the world are, since there are a lot of types of giftedness. However, you can make a list of outstanding charismatic personalities who have made a huge contribution to the development of mankind:

Films about talented people

Gifted individuals have always been of interest to society, so there are many films about geniuses, great scientists, doctors, composers, writers, whose uniqueness could not go unnoticed. Films about talents and extraordinary personalities inspire, inspire a thirst for activity. These films can be divided into two subgroups.

Films that describe real-life or existing talented people of the world:

• "Pianist" Roman Polanski (2002), describing the life of Władysław Szpilman;
• "Pirates of Silicon Valley" Martin Burke (2009) about the conquest of the world by Bill Gates and Steve Jobs;
• "Jobs: Empire of temptation" Joshua Michael Stern (2013);
• "Stephen Hawking Universe" Jaime Marsha (2015).

Fictitious feature films where, to one degree or another, what talent is:

• "Mind games" Ron Howard (2001);
• "Good Will Hunting" Gus Van Sant (1997);
• "Perfumer" Tom Tykwer (2006);
• "The Thomas Crown Affair" John McTiernan (1999).

Books about talented people

There is an extensive layer of literature, both artistic and biographical, about child prodigies and outstanding personalities who, through hard work, have achieved recognition and fame:

1. Ivan Medvedev. "Peter I: good or evil genius of Russia": fascinating and impartial about who the talented person really was.
2. Georg Brandes. Shakespeare's genius. King of Tragedy": dedicated to the 450th anniversary of the writer, a detailed description of his life and work.
3. Irving Stone. "Lust for Life": the most famous chronicle of the life of Vincent van Gogh, his thorny, difficult path to recognition.
4. Cesare Lambroso. "Genius and Madness": an original view of the Italian psychiatrist on the nature of genius.
5. Kir Bulychev. "Genius and Villainy": a fantasy story about an attempt to take over the world with the help of soul teleportation.
6. Dina Rubina. "Leonardo's Handwriting": A story about an incredibly gifted woman who rejects a gift from heaven and just wants to be ordinary.

Works that mention extraordinary personalities help people who have not yet developed their abilities to find themselves, raise self-esteem, get out of their comfort zone, find an idea that would capture the mind and actions and get to know world history better. It is useful to get acquainted with some of the presented works. Even for the purposes of general development.

“Glory is in the hands of labor,” said Leonardo da Vinci, and he was undoubtedly right, but in addition to hard work, sometimes at least a little talent is needed. Who knows which way the history of mankind would have gone if at least one of them had not been born - the geniuses who transformed the world. Here are just a few of the Great Ones living today.

1. Tim Berners-Lee - the "spider" who wove the World Wide Web

It is no coincidence that British scientist and inventor Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee heads the World Wide Web Consortium - after all, it was he who invented the Internet, and also introduced many other developments in the field of information technology.

While working back in 1989 on the ENQUIRE internal document exchange project for CERS (European Laboratory for Nuclear Research), Timothy came to create a global hypertext project, approved and later called the World Wide Web - the World Wide Web. The basis was a system of hypertext documents interconnected by hyperlinks - all this made possible the revolutionary developments of Berners-Lee: HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol), URI identifier (and its variety - URL), HTML language. He created the world's first "httpd" web server and the world's first website, which was born on August 6, 1991 (it can now be found in the archives of the Internet). The brilliant Briton also wrote the first Internet browser for the NeXT computer.

In 1994, Ty Berners-Lee founded the World Wide Web Consortium at the Computer Science Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he is its head at the present time: the Consortium develops Internet standards.

Now the creator of the Internet wants to go even further: he hopes to create a semantic web - an add-on to the World, which will raise the interaction of computers around the world to an absolutely incredible level. The point is that machines will have access to clearly structured information available to any client applications, and no matter what programming language they are written in: computers will be able to exchange information directly, without human intervention - perhaps this will lead to the creation of the World Artificial Intelligence.

2. George Soros, financial Robin Hood

This is one of the most controversial figures on the world economic scene: some call him a financial fraudster and speculator, while others attribute a brilliant financial instinct.

George Soros "made" "black Wednesday" - September 16, 1992, when there was a "collapse" of the British pound sterling in the foreign exchange market. It was rumored that he himself arranged this collapse, buying up pounds for several years, and then exchanging them for the German mark at a speculative rate: the pound collapsed, and George, using reserve funds, earned $ 1–1 on its purchase in one day, according to various estimates, 5 billion. This legend is not entirely true: the "lucky" himself only admitted that having shares worth $7 billion, he was bluffing, bringing the amount of transactions to $10 billion - whoever does not take risks, you know ...

The infamous investor developed the “stock market reflexivity theory”, which says that securities are bought depending on the expectations of their future value, and expectations are a thin thing, it is subject to information attacks from the financial media and the actions of market destabilizing speculators.

The grandiose intricate financial activities of George Soros have one undeniably bright side - back in 1979, he created the Open Society Charitable Foundation in the United States. In 1988, one of the foundation's subdivisions even appeared in the USSR, but the Cultural Initiative Foundation was quickly shut down because of Soviet partners. In 1995, the "Open Society" itself came to Russia, thanks to the program "University Internet Centers" 33 Internet centers appeared in Russia. However, in 2003, Soros officially curtailed his charitable activities in Russia.

3. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons and Futurama cartoon universe

The world-famous cartoonist insists that his last name is pronounced Groening - a quirk of genius, there's nothing to be done: this is reflected in his appearance on The Simpsons, where the last name is pronounced that way.

Matthew from school showed an aptitude for journalism and animation, and after arriving in Los Angeles, he began to draw comics describing how he lives in a big city.

Impressions from Los Angeles, apparently, were not very good, since the comics were called "Life in Hell": Matt had to work as a record seller, journalist, courier, and even the director's chauffeur.

In 1978, the comic book was published by the avant-garde Wet Magazine, and in 1980 by the Los Angeles Reader. Later, Groening was invited to write a rock and roll column in it, but he wrote in it mainly about what he saw during the day, recalled his childhood, shared his thoughts about life - in general, he was fired.

In 1985, he was approached by producer James Brooks to draw short cartoon sketches for The Tracey Ullman Show, but Groening came up with something else: the Simpson family living at 742 Evergreen Alley, Springfield.

4. Nelson Mandela, who raised South Africa from its knees

Mandela's life is a vivid example of a non-violent, but no less stubborn and difficult struggle: already in his freshman year at the University of Fort Hare (at that time the only higher educational institution in South Africa where blacks could study), he took part in the boycott of Fort Hare government policy and refused to take a seat on the Student Representative Council, after which he left the university. While studying law at the University of the Witwatersrand, Mandela met future anti-apartheid comrades-in-arms Harry Schwartz and Joe Slovo (the latter would later take a seat in Mandela's government).

In the 1940s, Nelson became interested in radical liberal ideas, became interested in politics and participated in protest demonstrations, and in 1948 he was elected secretary of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League - this was the beginning of his ascent up the political career ladder.

The political path of Nelson Mandela was long and thorny: years of struggle (including sabotage and preparation of a real subversive war against the South African government) against the oppression of the black population, a trial, and finally - 27 years in prison. Having gained freedom in 1990, Mandela again became the leader of the ANC, which by that time was already a legal political party, and in 1993 received the Nobel Peace Prize. He became the first black president of South Africa by election in 1994, and remained in office until 1999.

5. Frederick Senger, twice Nobel chemist

In his youth, Sanger intended to follow in the footsteps of his father (he worked as a doctor), but later became interested in biochemistry and did not fail. Many years later, he wrote: "It seemed to me that this was the way to really understand living matter and to develop a more scientific basis for solving many of the problems facing medicine."

The only two-time Nobel Prize winner in chemistry in the world, Sanger has been studying the structure of amino acids and the properties of insulin since the 1940s, in 1955 he first presented a detailed description of the insulin molecule, thus initiating studies of the molecular composition of proteins - this was his first Nobel ", who found a hero in 1958. Sanger's research made possible the production of artificial insulin and other hormones.

Long years of work on deciphering DNA allowed the chemist in 1973 to create an analytical method for establishing sequences of nucleotide chains - this development in 1980 again made him a Nobel laureate along with Paul Berg and Walter Gilbert.

Now Sanger has retired and is enjoying a quiet family life in Cambridge with his wife Margaret Joan Howe (married in 1940), they have three children.

6. Dario Fo, Nobel Laureate Theater

You can tell everything about this person with his quotes, but it’s better to leave you the opportunity to discover his work for yourself if you are unfamiliar with him. In just a few words: this is a fountain of witty political and religious satire, hypocrisy, buffoonery and farce - a fountain that, contrary to the well-known expression of Kozma Prutkov, one does not want to shut up at all.

Dario Fo is an Italian director, playwright, and actor whose indefatigable activity and undoubted genius have made him the greatest figure in theatrical Europe over the past half century. The main motive of his work has always been to ridicule power - whether political, ecclesiastical, it does not matter.

Dario started writing sketches, monologues, and short stories as a student. Since the 1950s, Fo has been acting in films, writing scripts and plays, and touring with his own theater group, actively manifesting his political left.

In 1997, Dario Fo received the Nobel Prize in Literature, his diploma says: “for inheriting medieval jesters, boldly criticizing the authorities and defending the dignity of the oppressed.” He himself joked about this: “I also write novels, but I don’t show them to anyone.”

“The artist is under the gun of the authorities and the power is under the gun of the artist”, “Theater, literature, art that do not speak for their time are of no value” - all this is Dario Fo.

7. Stephen Hawking, professor of mathematics without a mathematical background

Hawking is known for his studies of the structure of black holes and work on quantum gravity: in 1975, he created the theory of "evaporation" of black holes - this phenomenon was called "Hawking radiation". The area of ​​interest of the famous theoretical physicist is the whole Universe, he published several popular science books on its birth and development, the interaction of space and time, superstring theory, and many other entertaining problems of modern physics and cosmology.

In his first year of teaching mathematics at Oxford, the untrained Hawking read the textbook only two weeks ahead of his students.

In 2003, in an interview, he gave a somewhat pessimistic forecast for the development of mankind: according to him, we will have to move to other planets, because viruses will dominate on Earth.

Back in the 1960s, Stephen began to show signs of a central nervous system disease, which later led him to almost complete paralysis of the limbs - since then he has been moving in a special chair, which he controls through sensors on some muscles that have retained mobility. In communicating with people, he is helped by a computer and a speech synthesizer, which friends gave him in 1985.

A serious illness did not break the character of the great scientist - he lives an interesting, active and, as they say, full life.

8. Philip Glass, the big minimalist

An American composer whose work is rooted in the Indian musical tradition, it can be said that Philip absorbed music along with his mother's milk: his father owned a music store. The trip of a 17-year-old boy to Paris became fateful - from there his ascent to the heights of the musical Olympus begins.

Glass traveled to India for several years, where he met the 14-year-old Dalai Lama, and has since been a vocal supporter of Tibetan autonomy. Glass's genius was influenced by Bach, Mozart, the French avant-garde and the legendary Indian musician Ravi Shankar.

The main thing in the composer's work is rhythm: his melodies are simple but expressive, he is stubbornly called a minimalist, but he himself denies minimalism.

In 1984, Glass became world famous when he collaborated with the director Godfrey Reggio in creating documentaries: in these films, music is not a background or an auxiliary visual means, it is the main character. Prior to this, Philip's most famous work was the opera Einstein on the Beach.

In the same 1984, Glass wrote music for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, his other famous works are the music for the films Candyman, The Truman Show and The Illusionist.

When Glass was asked the question: "What kind of music should each person hear?", He answered: "Music of one's own heart."

9. Grigory Perelman, a genius in isolation

Back in the 1990s, our brilliant compatriot stirred up the world scientific community with his sensational works in geometry, mathematics and physics, but two proofs of the Poincaré hypothesis, one of the so-called "Mysteries of the Millennium", and the rejection of well-deserved awards and monetary rewards.

Grigory Yakovlevich is a surprisingly modest and unpretentious person in everyday life: having arrived in the United States in the early 1990s, he surprised his American colleagues with an almost ascetic lifestyle and a skeptical attitude towards the scientific community. He is perfectly characterized by the statement “Outsiders are not those who violate the ethical standards in science. People like me are the ones who end up in isolation.”

One day, the mathematician was asked to provide C.V. (summary) and recommendations, to which Perelman sharply replied: “If they know my work, they do not need my C.V. If they need my C.V. “They don’t know my work.”

In 2005, Grigory Perelman resigned from the St. Petersburg branch of the Mathematical Institute, practically stopped contacts with colleagues and lives with his mother, leading a rather secluded life.

10. Andrew Wiles, dreamy mathematician

This professor of mathematics at Princeton University proved Fermat's Last Theorem, over which more than one generation of scientists struggled for hundreds of years.

Even as a child, Andrew learned about the existence of this mathematical theorem and immediately began to look for a solution, picking up a school textbook. He found it 30 years later after another scientist, Ken Ribet, proved the connection between the theorem of Japanese mathematicians Taniyama and Shimura and Fermat's Last Theorem. Unlike more skeptical colleagues, Wiles immediately understood - this is it, and after seven years he put an end to the proof.

The process of this proof turned out to be very dramatic: having completed the work in 1993, Wiles, literally during a public speech with a sensation that shook the scientific world, discovers a gap in the solution - the basis of his proof crumbles before our eyes. It takes two months to search for an error line by line (the solution of the equation took 130 printed pages), for almost a year and a half, hard work is being done to eliminate the gap - nothing comes of it, the whole scientific world is secretly waiting for the result, but at the same time gloating. And on September 19, 1994, Wiles had an insight - the proof was completed.

The selection is based on The Daily Telegraph's "List of 100 Living Geniuses".

FEDERAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION

State educational institution of higher professional education

"Altai State University"

Faculty of Geography

Extramural

Brilliant and gifted people (development of abilities or natural inclinations)

Prepared by student 981-z gr.:

Borisenko I.N.

Checked by: Cherepanova O.V.

Barnaul 2009

Introduction

Among the many problems of the mystery of the mind that have not yet been solved, there is one as important as the problem of genius. Where does it come from, and what is it, what are the reasons for its exceptional rarity? Is this really a gift from the gods? And if this is so, then why are such gifts given to one, while stupidity, or even idiocy, is the destiny of another? There is the question whether genius is a supernormal faculty of the mind, which develops and grows stronger, or of the physical brain, that is, its bearer, which, by some mysterious process, becomes more and more adapted to the perception and manifestation of the inner and divine nature of the over-soul of man.

A Great Genius, if he is a true and born genius, and not just the result of a pathological expansion of our human intellect, never copies someone, never descends to imitation, he will always be original, in his creative impulses and their implementation. To use a popular expression, it can be said that inborn genius, like murder, sooner or later is revealed, and the more it is oppressed and opposed, the greater will be the flood of light caused by its sudden manifestation.

Genius is a rare occurrence. Lavater calculated that the ratio of the number of geniuses (in general) to ordinary people is about one in a million; but the same applies to a genius without tyranny, without pretensions, who judges the weak impartially, who rules humanely, and both in justice, there are one in ten million

Even genius - this is the only sovereign power that belongs to a person, before which one can kneel without blushing - even many psychiatrists put it on the same level with a propensity to crime, even in it they see only one of the teratological (ugly) forms of the human mind, one kind of madness. And note that such profanity, such blasphemy is allowed not only by doctors, and not exclusively only in our skeptical time.

Even Aristotle, that great ancestor and teacher of all philosophers, noticed that under the influence of rushes of blood to the head, many individuals become poets, prophets or soothsayers, and that Mark of Syracuse wrote pretty good poetry while he was a maniac, but, having recovered, completely lost this ability.

He says elsewhere: It is noted that famous poets, politicians and artists were partly melancholy and mad, partly misanthropes, like Bellerophon. Even at the present time we see the same thing in Socrates, Empedocles, Plato and others, and most strongly in the poets. People with cold, abundant blood (lit. bile) are timid and limited, and people with hot blood are mobile, witty and talkative.

Plato argues that delirium is not a disease at all, but, on the contrary, the greatest of the blessings bestowed on us by the gods; under the influence of delirium, the Delphic and Dodonic soothsayers rendered thousands of services to the citizens of Greece, while in their ordinary state they brought little or no use at all.

Felix Plater claims that he knew many people who, while distinguished by remarkable talent in various arts, were at the same time mad. Their insanity was expressed by an absurd passion for praise, as well as strange and indecent acts.

giftedness

According to experts, children who demonstrate a high level of achievement in one or more areas of activity can be called gifted: intellectual, academic achievements, creative thinking, artistic activity, sports success. Separately, they distinguish giftedness in the field of communication, leadership and leadership.

Therefore, not all parents perceive the discovery of the giftedness of their baby with enthusiasm: "I don't want him to be a genius. Let him be a normal, happy, well-adapted child." But what does normal mean in relation to a gifted child? It is quite normal for such a baby to be inquisitive, energetic, sensitive, quick-witted, remember everything, speak well and be very independent.

In America, there is a rather coherent system of services and agencies responsible for the search and selection of gifted and talented children. A single nationwide and a number of regional programs have been developed. An individual child development program is compiled by a gifted specialist who tracks the child's progress and growth over time. Parents and psychologists are directly involved in this work, supporting the young genius. Children with an IQ above 140 are under the most careful supervision not only of pedagogical structures. In England, in 1950, the MENSA society was created, uniting people with high IQ. Russia is the most powerful supplier of children's talents for countries where they are really appreciated.

Genius

“Genius is the highest degree that human ability can reach. In the thought born of the inspiration of a genius, there is something exorbitant, extraordinary - this is what distinguishes his creations. But when he is not obsessed with inspiration, he can only be more or less intelligent, more or less educated." Serge Voronoff, From Cretin to Genius, St. Petersburg, European House, 2008, p. 20.

At present, the phenomenon of genius has not yet been studied in detail. It has been established that genius children are much more common among boys than among girls. Medical authorities believe that hyper-giftedness is the result of high levels of hormones in certain glands, including the pituitary and adrenal glands. Geeks are brilliant because, the researchers of this phenomenon believe, their nervous system reaches its highest development long before the whole organism develops. There are different points of view:

According to Plato, genius is the fruit of divine inspiration;

Cesare Lombroso postulated a link between genius and mental disorders;

In psychoanalysis, genius is defined as the innate ability to sublimate one's deepest sexual complexes;

Behaviorism defines genius in terms of behavior: genius notices, perceives, contemplates, feels, thinks, speaks, acts, creates, composes, expresses, creates, compares, separates, connects, reasons, guesses, communicates, thinks as if it were all for him. dictates or inspires a certain spirit, an invisible being of a higher kind; if he does all this as if he himself were a being of a higher kind, then he is a genius;

Gestalt psychology defines genius as the ability to see the general in the particular;

Cognitive psychology is closely intertwined with the humanistic direction and defines genius as the ability to have a stable goal with a very wide choice of ways to achieve it. Humanists introduce the concept of "I-concept" and put self-actualization as the central subject of study;

From the point of view of fashionable "quantum psychology", a genius is one who, as a result of some internal process, managed to break through to the seventh neurological circuit (called the vague term "intuition") and return back to the third already with the ability to draw a new semantic map - to build a new model of reality ;

Analytical psychology, led by Carl Jung, defends the opinion that "... a work of art arises in conditions similar to the conditions for the emergence of a neurosis ...".

According to the Oxford Dictionary, genius is "a natural intellectual force of an unusually high type, an exceptional capacity for creativity requiring expression, original thinking, invention or discovery."

In the third edition of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, genius is defined as "the highest degree of manifestation of a person's creative powers." The term "genius" is used both to denote a person's ability to be creative, and to evaluate the results of his activity, suggesting an innate ability for productive activity in a particular area. Genius, unlike talent, is not just the highest degree of giftedness, but is associated with the creation of qualitatively new creations. The activity of a genius is realized in a certain historical context of the life of human society, from which the genius draws material for his creativity.

In all definitions, the most important, as clearly distinguishing between genius and talent, is a statement of what can be expressed by the formula: "Genius does what it must; talent does what it can." This formula implies the subordination of a genius to the task that his inner essence sets before him. This formula implies the fatal doom of a genius, his hopelessness in subordinating his creativity, the inevitability of exerting all his strength to achieve his goal, to solve a certain problem.

This formula unites Alexander the Great, in spite of the revolts of his exhausted soldiers, rushing east and south from the Indus, which he crossed, defeating King Por; Napoleon going to Moscow; Mozart, on the eve of the day of his death, playing the Requiem, which, as he thinks, means his end; Beethoven, who wrote most of his greatest works while deaf. This formula unites many other brilliant people who became fanatics of their creativity. If Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin did not have an obsession, a fantastic sense of purpose, then they, with all their abilities, being “wunderkinds”, would have remained so. But Beethoven wrote in his will that he could not leave this life without having accomplished everything for which he was intended.

Studying the biographies of geniuses of all times and peoples leads to the conclusion: geniuses are born. However, only a negligible fraction of potential geniuses born - in geniuses develops. And of the genuine, undoubted geniuses, only a tiny fraction is realized. Consideration of the mechanisms of genius, the emergence of a potential genius is primarily a biological, even genetic problem. The development of genius is a biosocial problem. The realization of genius is a sociobiological problem.

At first glance, this leads to pessimistic conclusions. Since there is no potential genius, there is nothing to do, there will be no great. But there is also the other side of the coin, which consists in the fact that not genetic, but biosocial and sociobiological brakes lead to the fact that only one genius out of tens of thousands of potential ones is realized. If we recognize as geniuses only those who are almost unanimously recognized by them in Europe and North America, then the total number of geniuses for the entire time of the existence of our civilization will hardly exceed 400-500 . Approximately to such figures leads the selection of celebrities who are given the maximum place in the encyclopedias of different countries of Europe and the USA, if we subtract from the number of these celebrities those who got into history because of nobility or other random merit.

The diversity of the nature of genius

Geniuses are inexhaustibly diverse and often represent completely opposite types of personalities. Let's give some examples.

M. Faraday at the age of 40, after his epoch-making discovery of the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction, having resisted the temptation to go into industry for the sake of large earnings, he is content with five pounds sterling a week and remains a laboratory researcher, doing pure science.

William Thomson(Lord Kelvin) has amazing creative energy, and even on his deathbed continues to work on the completion of the latest scientific article. He became President of the Royal Society, a Peer of England, his fortune at death was estimated at 162 thousand pounds sterling, but he worked incessantly. His creative activity never stopped, he always worked - even surrounded by children, at a party.

The main feature of a genius really always turns out to be the ability for incredible work, absolute obsession and striving for absolute perfection.

Statement of thoughts Gauguin(I. Stone): “Hard work to coordinate the six primary colors, the deepest concentration, subtle calculation, the ability to solve a thousand questions in just half an hour - yes, the most healthy mind is needed here! And, moreover, absolutely sober... When I paint the sun, I want the audience to feel that it rotates with terrifying speed, radiates light and hot waves of colossal power! When I paint a field of wheat, I want people to feel how every atom in its ears strives outward, wants to give a new shoot, open up. When I paint an apple, I need the viewer to feel how the juice wanders and knocks under its skin, how the seed wants to break out of its core and find soil for itself.

Laplace once discovered that every time he began a phrase with the word "Obviously", it turned out that behind this word was hidden the many hours of hard work he had previously done.

It is known that the strongest physicists and mathematicians spent months of labor in order to understand the actions that had to be taken to sequentially derive those eight to ten formulas that Einstein denoted by the words "hence follows ...".

History knows many early ripened musical talents. Chopin made his first public debut at the age of eight. Weber was appointed conductor of the Breslau Opera Orchestra at the age of seventeen. Richard Strauss began composing music at the age of six, as did Haydn with his compositions. Yehudi Menuhin played the violin with ease at the age of three, and at eighteen he was already considered an unsurpassed virtuoso. Landon Ronald started playing the piano before he could speak.

Most of the young mathematicians, when their finest hour passed, faded into obscurity. Great French physicist and mathematician Ampere, after whom the unit of current is named, was a notable exception. He not only achieved universal recognition and fame, but also demonstrated amazing talents in other areas of human knowledge. An avid reader, he devoured every book his father was able to get for him. But nothing gave the boy such pleasure as diving into the encyclopedia. Even many years later, he could almost verbatim retell most of this multi-volume edition. In 1786, when Ampere was eleven years old, he had already advanced so far in the study of mathematics that he began to deal with complex problems in Lagrange's famous work Analytical Mechanics. Throughout his life, Ampère revolutionized mathematics, discovering the fundamental laws of electrodynamics and writing significant works in chemistry, poetry theory, and psychology.

Remained in history Carl Friedrich Gauss, born in 1777 in a poor German family. At the age of twenty-five, he published his Studies in Arithmetic, in which he dealt with the foundations of number theory, and soon established himself as the first mathematician of the nineteenth century. Gauss began to show promise quite early. Already at the age of two, he corrected his father, who incorrectly calculated the wages of several workers, by making this calculation in his mind. Soon the boy turned into a local celebrity in his hometown of Braunschweig and, thanks to several noble patrons, was able to attend school, quite successfully coping with various and complex tasks. One fine day, the math teacher asked Carl not to bother attending his classes, because he could not teach the boy anything that he did not already know.

One of the famous English prodigies was George Bidder, born in 1805. Known as the "counting boy," Bidder showed his unheard-of mathematical abilities as early as the age of four, although he did not know how to write down numbers and, naturally, did not even understand the meaning of the word "multiple." But at the same time, the boy so impressed everyone who met him that his father decided to take him on a trip to England, and soon noisy crowds everywhere demanded a "counting boy", with surprising ease answering all difficult questions.

boy named Miguel Mantilla, who was born in Mexico, already at the age of two could answer the question: "What year was it if February 4 fell on Friday?" The answer was given in less than 10 seconds.

George Watson, born in Buxted in 1785, was considered almost a complete idiot in everything except counting and memorization. Although he could neither read nor write, in his mind he made the most complex mathematical calculations and could answer without hesitation any questions about what day of the week was during this or that historical event. If it happened that this historical date fell within the years of his life, he could still say where he was at that time and what kind of weather it was then.

Some geeks display truly all-round talents. Christian Heineken, born in 1921 and known as the "child from Lübeck", frightened everyone when, a few hours after birth, he suddenly spoke. Rumor claimed that he was not yet a year old, and he could already reproduce from memory all the main events described in the five books of the Old Testament.

John Stuart Mill, a famous philosopher and economist of the 19th century, could read Greek at the age of three. A little later, when he was ten years old, he easily navigated the writings of Plato and Demosthenes.

Blaise Pascal, a French philosopher and mathematician, was also a comprehensively gifted child as a child. He was not yet twelve years old when he wrote theses on acoustics; At nineteen, Pascal invented the first calculating machine. In the thirtieth year of his life, the scientist wrote several theological studies.

In other words, the main feature of a genius is indeed the ability to work incredibly hard, absolute obsession and striving for absolute perfection.

The Mystery of the Genius

Isn't there an internal contradiction in the expectation of an increase in the frequency of the appearance of geniuses? If in the entire history of mankind there were only about 450 geniuses, then how can one count on such a miracle as their additional appearance, or 10-100 times more frequent appearance of remarkable talents? Legitimate question.

Therefore, it is immediately necessary to say that there are two gigantic abysses, and they lie on the same path. First, the gap between geniuses (and remarkable talents) potential, born and developing geniuses. Secondly, there is no less deep gulf between the geniuses who have developed and the geniuses who have realized themselves.

As for the frequency of appearance (birth) of geniuses, let's consider one simple calculation. Just as there is not the slightest reason to believe that one race or nation is superior to other races or nations in terms of hereditary gift, there is no reason to believe that any nations in the past, in the Ancient or Middle Ages, were superior to the present in terms of the same hereditary gift. .

We have to pay attention to the fact that geniuses and remarkable talents almost always appeared in flashes, in groups, but precisely in those periods when they were provided with optimal opportunities for development and realization. One of these optimal eras was the age of the famous commander Kimon and the historian Thucydides - the "golden age" of Athens in the era of Pericles. At Pericles, geniuses of world rank gathered at the table: Anaxagoras, Zeno, Protagoras, Sophocles, Socrates, Plato, Phidias - almost all of them were native citizens of Athens, whose free population hardly exceeded 100,000 people. Bertrand Russell, in The History of Western Philosophy, points out that in Athens during its heyday, about 430 BC. BC, there were about 230,000 people, including slaves, and the surrounding area of ​​rural Attica probably had a much smaller number of inhabitants.

If we take into account that the creativity of the musical geniuses of Ancient Greece did not reach us, and that the geniuses of natural science, mathematics and technology could neither develop nor be realized, since only generals, politicians, orators, playwrights, philosophers and sculptors were revered, then it is clear that that even in that era in Athens hardly a tenth of the free-born potential geniuses could develop and realize themselves. The greatest minds of the Hellenic world did not gather in Athens at all. Athenian citizenship was not easy, only natives of the city and children from the marriage of an Athenian to an Athenian woman received this citizenship, children from the marriage of an Athenian to a non-Athenian were not considered citizens of Athens. The geniuses of the “circle of Pericles” were formed on the spot, as a result of social continuity, communication with each other, due to the fact that their work was understood and “demanded” not only among connoisseurs, but also from the people.

No genetic data allow even the thought that the Athenians were hereditarily superior to the surrounding then or modern peoples. The secret of the “outburst of genius” was entirely in the stimulating environment. But if such an "outbreak" happened once, then it is reproducible! Moreover, today flashes of genius would give dozens of times more names, since the range of talents that modern society needs has expanded hundreds of times.

There are many other examples where a very small stratum, which, however, has the opportunity to develop and realize its talents, and often usurped these maximum opportunities in one way or another, singled out a lot of exceptionally gifted people in comparison with other strata. This happened in England during the Elizabethan era, when a lot of talented people quickly emerged, starting with the Cecil dynasty - Burghley and Bacon, ending with Drake, Raleigh, Walsingham, Marlowe and Shakespeare. So it was in France during the period of the Encyclopedists, the revolution and the Napoleonic wars.

The era of the Renaissance became a time of mass aspirations for culture, knowledge, and art. This was the era of mass demand for painting, not only on the part of patrons, but also on the part of the "crowd", the public spectator. In many workshops, gifted students, competing, discussing, criticizing, learning, created that “micronoosphere”, that circulation of ideas, that “critical mass” at which a chain reaction of creativity begins. It is simply impossible to give any reasonable idea of ​​the size of those sections of the population from which artists, poets, thinkers, outstanding popes and condottieri came out. It was an era of gigantic social change, breaking down barriers, overcoming the medieval way of life...

But in history, it is probably difficult to find any era of breaking caste, class and other restrictions, which would not be accompanied by the appearance of many talented people in various fields. Although, of course, even in the intervals between such social shifts that free up the paths of development and implementation, here and there, “micronoospheres with critical masses” appear.

Charlemagne specially sent people to all parts of his empire to look for gifted young men. The result is the Carolingian Revival.

Talented boys were selected for the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, they were given the opportunity to develop with good prospects for subsequent implementation - and what we now call the "lyceum effect" arose.

The term "noble period of Russian literature" has long been in official use. But, tracing the fate of the figures of this period, we see that almost all of them were, as they say, if not from childhood, then from youth, “familiar houses”. How this determined the goals, values, direction of efforts, can only be hardly imagined, despite all the work of Pushkinists and other literary historians. The unusually high frequency of remarkable talents and geniuses in those few genera that created this period is, of course, primarily due to the fact that members of these genera, as a rule, had very good opportunities for self-realization.

It may be premature and inappropriate to introduce a term like “the era of merchant patronage”, but it is perhaps difficult to imagine the development of Russian painting, sculpture, music and theater without Alekseev (Stanislavsky), without Tretyakov, Shchukin, Morozov, without the Abramtsevo circle (around Mamontov Vrubel, Serov, Vasnetsov, Chaliapin, Chekhov, Levitan gather in Abramtsevo). But these "merchants-patrons" were often neighbors, they were also "familiar at home."

The stratum of the highest Russian intelligentsia turned out to be extraordinarily rewarding, forming a self-stimulating, “familiar at home” team, from which many of the brightest representatives of Russian culture and science came out: Blok and Bely came out, the Lyapunov and Beketov dynasties came out, the Struve and Krylovs came out ... Nobody will doubt the fact that heredity alone would not be enough - the most favorable social succession was required.

The frequency of occurrence of potential developed and realized geniuses

So, you can be sure that the frequency of the birth of potential geniuses and remarkable talents is almost the same in all nationalities and peoples. The frequency of origin, based on the implementation in historically foreseeable periods (in optimally developing layers) is determined by a figure of the order of 1:1000. The frequency of would-be geniuses who have evolved enough to make themselves known as potential talents in one way or another is probably in the order of 1 in 100,000. The frequency of geniuses who have realized themselves to the level of recognition of their creations and deeds as brilliant, probably even in the age of almost universal secondary and very often higher education, is estimated at 1:10,000,000, which suggests the presence in the middle of the 20th century of about a hundred geniuses per billion inhabitants of civilized and countries not suffering from overwhelming need.

The order of initial values ​​is determined by historical precedents: the frequency of the appearance of genuine geniuses in Athens in the era of Pericles; in the age of Elizabeth - in the aristocratic families of England oriented towards the military-political initiative; in the branches of the Russian aristocracy oriented toward literary and poetic creativity, etc. Naturally, we do not claim that humanity in the third quarter of the 20th century really has a whole hundred recognized realized geniuses. We cannot prove, with figures in hand, how many geniuses born in our time successfully overcome both abysses that lie in their way. Probably, although we do not insist, out of a thousand potential geniuses, 999 are extinguished precisely because of underdevelopment, and out of 1000 developed ones, 999 are extinguished at the implementation stage. Approximate orders of losses are essential for us. It is essential for us that even a small country, for example, with 5 million inhabitants, but having achieved the development and implementation of 10% of its potential geniuses and talents, will in half a century outstrip any other country, even if 100 times more numerous, which will retain its force existing barriers that prevent the full development and realization of their potentially outstanding people.

But how often a potential genius turns out to be unrealized! How often he is deprived of even the slightest opportunity to translate his creativity into something tangible! In one of the stories of Mark Twain, someone who has fallen into the afterlife asks to be shown to him the greatest commander of all times and peoples. In the person shown to him, he recognizes a shoemaker who lived in the street next to him and died recently. But everything is correct - the shoemaker would indeed be the greatest commander, he would be a military genius, but he did not even have a chance to command a company ... And the great winners of world history were, “according to the Hamburg score”, compared to this shoemaker, only more or less capable but by no means the greatest.

The significance of the early influences that develop the intellect is clear from the work Bergins(VerginsR., 1971), which shows that 20% of future intelligence is acquired by the end of the 1st year of life, 50% - by 4 years, 80% - by 8 years, 92% - up to 13 years. Obviously, already at this age, a high predictability of the "ceiling" of future achievements can be achieved.

It is extremely significant that this happens quite early (it will probably happen even earlier), because, for example, the practice of awarding Nobel Prizes has shown that the fundamental discovery that precedes the person being awarded usually occurs at 25-30 years of age. In the work of A. Mestel (Mestel A., 1967) it is shown that the Nobel laureates in natural sciences for 1901-1962. made their discovery, later awarded the Nobel Prize, at an average age of 37 years, and this age has hardly changed from decade to decade.

In the course of studying the predictive value of intelligence tests, an extremely important truth was revealed and confirmed: starting with an IQ of 110-120, i.e. in the absence of pronounced defects in the set of basic abilities of an individual, the subsequent return in the form of any achievements does not correlate very strongly with further an increase in intelligence quotient. At the forefront is a characterological feature that is not captured by existing tests - the ability to become more and more completely passionate about one's work. This ability is not so rare - selfless, absolute, displacing or pushing away other interests, any side activities, "hobbies". It forces fanatically concentrated, relentlessly engaged in the chosen business, be it the construction of some kind of apparatus, the improvement of an existing device or method, the creation of a picture, a literary or musical work. Of course, this complete self-mobilization can result in genuine creativity only when it is based on an appropriate arsenal of talents, professional knowledge, skills and abilities. But if it is not added to this arsenal, if there is no boundless enthusiasm that makes even the subconscious work for work, then a very high IQ will not lead to great achievements. In other words, from a certain threshold, it is not the level of measurable talents that becomes decisive, but the ability or readiness to maximize the mobilization of the existing, purposefulness sufficient for productive creativity.

But in all cases, genius is, first of all, an extreme strain of individually characteristic talents, it is the greatest, unceasing work for centuries, despite non-recognition, indifference, contempt, poverty ...

Geniuses are characterized by the ability for extreme self-mobilization, exceptional creative purposefulness, which, for many, probably, by the IQ of no less gifted, is spent on obtaining small goods, career achievements, prestige, honors, money, satisfying the instinct of domination, or it is simply dispersed into countless difficulties. and temptations, with which life has always been rich enough.

The social value of a realized genius

Although the products of most geniuses are not marketable, the history of mankind shows that the activities of any of them extremely highly raised, if not the scientific, technical, military or economic potential of the country, then in any case its prestige and authority.

But maybe a genius is not so necessary? How many genuine geniuses did Japan need to rush from the Middle Ages and the science and culture of the 20th century in 30-40 years? Kitazato, Admiral Togo, 10-20 more names... Are geniuses (except political ones) needed in order for the former colonial countries to rise to the level of advanced ones: to eliminate hunger, poverty, overpopulation? “Not so much,” many people probably think. But this is only because there is no need to blaze new trails in science and technology, medicine, and agriculture. But what if you need to not only adopt ready-made, import and copy, always lagging behind by a dozen years? If it is necessary to participate in a common breakthrough into the unknown and unfamiliar? What to do with the information crisis, when it is easier to rediscover lost knowledge than to find it yourself in the sea of ​​already existing information? Is it possible to get second-hand equipment in an era of rapid development? What to do with interdisciplinary research? With white spots that are located at the junction of not even two, but several scientific disciplines? What to do with ever-complicating technology? With conflicting ideas? We are convinced that all these problems can be solved in only one way - an early search for genuine potential talents and geniuses. The study of the laws of the appearance of geniuses, the study of their internal properties turns out to be relevant and even necessary!

We cannot evaluate in tons of foodstuffs or in specie what Mozart, Beethoven, Shakespeare or Pushkin gave to the world. It is impossible to evaluate in some material units what brilliant composers, playwrights, poets gave. It is also impossible to appreciate the contribution of a major, epoch-making inventor, whether it be Fulton or Diesel.

However, when they begin to count, it turns out that with his discoveries, Louis Pasteur, for example, compensated France for the losses incurred as a result of the military defeat of 1870-1871. These losses (in addition to losses in killed and wounded) are estimated at 10-15 billion francs (only indemnity amounted to 5 billion). During the life of Diesel, the number of working internal combustion engines numbered in the thousands. But his contribution to technology amounts to several tens of billions of dollars.

One can always object that Copernicus, Galilei, Kepler discovered what would have been discovered half a century later without them, that Stephenson had a predecessor Papin, that Newton had a rival Leibniz. However, an analysis of the history of any discovery, invention or major creative act shows that an absolutely extraordinary, titanic work fell to the lot of its recognized author, immediately advancing humanity for decades to come. And if we conditionally accept that humanitarian values, by virtue of their ennobling influence on humanity, by virtue of the unification of the spiritual forces of mankind around common values, by virtue of the creation of ideals, are equivalent in value to natural science values, and these latter are technical, then this will make it possible to move on to a conditional "market" assessment of the contribution of geniuses of very different directions.

Edison's 1,000 or so patents have brought the United States several billion in profits; sulfonamides, antibiotics and vaccines have saved the lives and health of hundreds of millions of people; short-stemmed varieties raised the yield of grain crops by tens of percent. Hardly anyone thinks that human geniuses were less valuable to humanity than genius inventors or genius scientists. And in this case, each realized genius brings billions of values ​​to humanity.

One can, of course, consider that art is not necessary and has no material value, like the humanities; that scientific discoveries that do not give immediate access to practice also have no material value, that most of the technical progress is the result of collective creativity, that the role of individual geniuses in the past was exaggerated, and now is rapidly falling. But, no matter how skillfully they add up the actual data - like an accordion, in a minimal volume - the geniuses of the recent past still have gigantic merits, and with an increase in the volume of knowledge, skills, abilities, information, only having which one can count on moving forward, the role of giftedness, naturally , should increase.

This is essentially what our work is about. We will try to show what, in our opinion, were the mechanisms for the development of genius, and we will do this in the form of the shortest biographical sketches, focusing on the internal mechanisms that stimulated the activity of a brilliant personality, on the specifics of the pathography of geniuses.

Long before the inexhaustible hereditary heterogeneity of mankind, which is one of the main laws of the formation of the biological species Homosapiens, was shown, the remarkable Russian anthropologist Ya.Ya. Roginsky emphasized that the study of a person's individual psychology should "contribute to the development of various methods of pedagogical assistance in freeing the internal possibilities of his personality from everything that constrains them."

Forty years later, in connection with the advent of the era of the scientific and technological revolution, we can say that we are faced with the task of not only releasing the internal capabilities of a person, but also actively stimulating them.

giftedness genius creative child

Genius and insanity

In 1863, the Italian psychiatrist Cesare Lombroso published his book Genius and Madness (Russian translation by K. Tetyushinova, 1892), in which he draws a parallel between great people and lunatics. Here is what the author himself writes in the preface of the book: “When, many years ago, being, as it were, under the influence of ecstasy, during which the relationship between genius and insanity was clearly presented to me in a mirror, I wrote the first chapters of this book in 12 days. , then, I confess, even to myself it was not clear what serious practical conclusions the theory I created could lead to. ... "

In his work, C. Lombroso writes about the physical similarity of brilliant people with crazy people, about the influence of various phenomena (atmospheric, heredity, etc.) on genius and insanity, gives examples, numerous medical evidence about the presence of mental abnormalities in a number of writers, as well as describes the special features of brilliant people who suffered at the same time and insanity.

These features are as follows:

1. Some of these people showed an unnatural, too early development of genius abilities. So, for example, Ampère was already a good mathematician at the age of 13, and Pascal at the age of 10 came up with a theory of acoustics based on the sounds made by cymbals when they are placed on the table.

2. Many of them were extremely drug and alcohol abusers. So, Haller absorbed a huge amount of opium, and, for example, Rousseau - coffee.

3. Many did not feel the need to work quietly in the quiet of their office, but as if they could not sit in one place and had to constantly travel.

4. They also changed their professions and specialties no less often, as if their powerful genius could not be satisfied with any one science and fully express itself in it.

5. Such strong, captivating minds passionately indulge in science and greedily take on the solution of the most difficult questions, as perhaps most suitable for their morbidly excited energy. In every science they are able to grasp new outstanding features and, on the basis of them, draw sometimes ridiculous conclusions.

6. All geniuses have their own special style, passionate, tremulous, colorful, which distinguishes them from other healthy writers and is characteristic of them, perhaps precisely because it is developed under the influence of psychosis. This position is confirmed by the own admission of such geniuses that after the end of ecstasy all of them are not able not only to compose, but also to think.

7. Almost all of them suffered deeply from religious doubts, which involuntarily presented themselves to their minds, while a timid conscience forced them to regard such doubts as crimes. For example, Haller wrote in his diary: “My God! Send me just one drop of faith; my mind believes in you, but my heart does not share this faith - that is my crime.

8. The main signs of the abnormality of these great people are already expressed in the very structure of their oral and written speech, in non-logical conclusions, in absurd contradictions. Wasn't Socrates, the genius thinker who foresaw Christian morality and Jewish monotheism, crazy when he was guided in his actions by the voice and instructions of his imaginary Genius, or even just a sneeze?

9. Almost all geniuses attached great importance to their dreams.

In the conclusion of his book, C. Lombroso, however, says that on the basis of the foregoing it is impossible to conclude that genius in general is nothing but insanity. True, in the turbulent and disturbing life of brilliant people there are moments when these people resemble madmen, and in mental activity and others there are many common features - for example, increased sensitivity, exaltation, replaced by apathy, the originality of aesthetic works and the ability to discover, the unconsciousness of creativity and great absent-mindedness, excessive use of liquor, and great vanity. Between brilliant people there are lunatics, and between crazy people there are geniuses. But there were and are many brilliant people in whom one cannot find the slightest sign of insanity.

If genius was always accompanied by madness, then how can one explain to oneself that Galileo, Kepler, Columbus, Voltaire, Napoleon, Michelangelo, Cavour, people who are undoubtedly brilliant and, moreover, who were subjected to the most difficult trials during their lives, never showed signs of insanity?

In addition, genius usually manifests itself much earlier than madness, which for the most part reaches its maximum development only after the age of 35, while genius is revealed from childhood, and in young years it already appears with full force: Alexander the Great was at the height of his fame in 20 years old, Charlemagne - at 30 years old, Bonaparte - at 26.

Further, while madness is hereditary more often than all other diseases and, moreover, increases with each new generation, so that a brief fit of delirium that happened to an ancestor passes into real madness in a descendant, genius almost always dies with a man of genius, and hereditary brilliant abilities, especially in several generations, are a rare exception. Moreover, it should be noted that they are transmitted more often to the descendants of the male than the female, while insanity recognizes the complete equality of both sexes. Let us suppose that a genius can also err, let us suppose that he is always distinguished by originality; but neither delusion nor originality in him ever reach the point of complete contradiction with himself or of obvious absurdity, which so often happens with lunatics.

Much more often we notice in them a lack of perseverance, diligence, firmness of character, attention, accuracy, memory - in general, the main qualities of a genius. And for the most part they remain lonely, uncommunicative, indifferent or insensitive to what worries the human race, as if they are surrounded by some special atmosphere that belongs to them alone. Is it possible to compare them with those great geniuses who calmly and with consciousness of their own strength steadily followed the once chosen path to their lofty goal, not losing heart in misfortunes and not allowing themselves to be carried away by any passion!

These were: Spinoza, Bacon, Galileo, Dante, Voltaire, Columbus, Machiavelli, Michelangelo. All of them were distinguished by a strong but harmonious development of the skull, which proved the strength of their mental abilities, restrained by a mighty will, but in none of them did the love of truth and beauty drown out the love of family and fatherland. They never changed their convictions and did not become renegades, they did not deviate from their goal, they did not abandon the work once begun. How much perseverance, energy, tact they showed in carrying out the undertakings they had conceived, and what moderation, what an integral character they distinguished themselves in their lives!

The only, favorite idea, which constituted the goal and happiness of their life, completely took possession of these great minds and, as it were, served as a guiding star for them. To accomplish their task, they spared no effort, did not stop at any obstacles, always remaining clear and calm. Their errors are too few to be worth pointing out, and even they are often of such a nature that in ordinary people they would pass for real discoveries. Between brilliant people there are lunatics and between lunatics - geniuses. But there have been and are many men of genius in whom not the slightest sign of insanity can be found, with the exception of some abnormalities in the sphere of sensitivity.

Conclusion

Giftedness in its essence has two components:

1. Location to a certain area of ​​knowledge or human activity.

2. The ability for continuous self-improvement in this area.

The location can be both congenital and acquired or formed - pseudo-disposition. An example of an innate disposition is that a person from birth shows abilities in one or another type of activity, for example, has the physical inclinations for playing sports. Pseudo-disposition is formed mainly at an early age and depends on the environment in which a person grows up.

Self-improvement can also be divided into two types: self-improvement, which is based on internal motivation and interest, and self-improvement, which is based on external motivation.

Based on the foregoing, we can distinguish (we have identified) four groups:

1. Innate disposition and intrinsic motivation.

2. Innate disposition and external motivation.

3. Pseudo-disposition and intrinsic motivation.

4. Pseudo-disposition and external motivation.

At the same time, it is obvious that the mere presence of hereditary talent, even of the highest level, does not in the least guarantee the obligatory “going into practice”. Let us repeat once again that modern population genetics completely excludes the possibility of the existence of significant interethnic, interracial and interclass differences in giftedness. Let us recall once again the presence in history of "territorial" flashes of genius. It is unlikely that anyone will dispute the fact that there are peoples with a hundred-year and thousand-year history that have not given humanity a single truly brilliant discovery. No one doubts that potential geniuses in these peoples appeared thousands of times, but they did not have the conditions for development and realization.

The more obvious it becomes the need to find out what are the mechanisms for the development of genius, and this can be determined with a high degree of accuracy by studying the various conditions in which the recognized geniuses of world history and culture developed, thanks to what circumstances and how they realized their genius and how this genius was reflected on the history and development of mankind.

Modern studies also show that genius depends on upbringing and personal work by a maximum of 20-30%. 80% is innate! In other words, it is difficult to give birth to a genius, it is impossible to educate.

And yet, the most complete and holistic view of the origins of genius is the view of esoteric teachings, which assert that the phenomenon of genius has a Divine Beginning, which in genius has found an ideal vehicle for its expression. Here is what Lavater wrote about it:

“Whoever notices, perceives, contemplates, feels, thinks, speaks, acts, creates, composes, expresses, creates, compares, separates, connects, reasons, guesses, conveys, thinks as if all this is dictated to him or inspired by some spirit, an invisible being of a higher kind, he has a genius, but if he does all this as if he himself were a being of a higher kind, then he is a genius. The hallmark of genius and all his works is appearance; just as a heavenly vision does not come, but appears, does not go away, but disappears, so are the creations and deeds of a genius. What is not learned, not borrowed, inimitable, Divine - is genius, inspiration is genius, is called genius among all peoples, at all times and will be called as long as people think, feel and speak.

Bibliography

1. T. Alpatova. Tragedy of Mozart. Literature, No. 10, 1996

2. Altshuller G.S., Vertkin I.M., How to become a genius. Life strategy of a creative personality, Minsk, Belarus, 1994, 480 p.

3. O. Bogdashkina. Asperger Syndrome (Chapter 6) / Autism: Definition and Diagnosis., 2008

4. V.V. Klimenko How to raise a child prodigy // St. Petersburg, "Crystal", 1996

5. Audiobook Cesare Lombroso "Genius and insanity"

6. V. P. Efroimson. Genius. Genetics of genius // M., 2002.

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Time is a harmful and elusive thing. It always oozes through your fingers and flows away to no one knows where. What to do if all your life you wanted to write symphonies better than Mozart's, and you have two children, a wife, a mother, and a burning project in addition to everything?

We are in website We are also extremely concerned about this problem: we want to realize ourselves in life and not choke on a bone. Not to give up and do great things, we are helped by examples of famous people who certainly had enough 24 hours a day.

Leonardo da Vinci

The famous “universal man” will head our list. Recall that Leonardo is an outstanding Renaissance artist (does everyone remember Gioconda?), an inventor (all his inventions formed the basis for the construction of modern submarines), a scientist, as well as a writer and musician. And he was the first to explain why the sky is blue: "The blue of the sky is due to the thickness of the illuminated particles of air, which is located between the Earth and the blackness above." He managed all this thanks to his own developed sleep system: he slept for a total of 2 hours (lights out for 15 minutes several times a day), and in all the rest of his free time he changed the world and himself for the better.

Anton Chekhov

© Braz I.E. Portrait of A.P. Chekhov, 1898

The brilliant brother of his brother (he had such a pseudonym). The famous master of the short story, humorist and satirist, the greatest playwright and part-time doctor. He himself admitted: “Medicine is my legal wife, and literature is my mistress. When one gets bored, I spend the night at the other. Constantly torn at the crossroads of his two talents, Chekhov was engaged in medical affairs until the end of his life. He even gave his dogs names according to the name of drugs: Bromine and Hina. But he also respected his “mistress”: over the course of his life, Chekhov created more than 300 works, including short stories and impressive dramas. And the great comedian loved to collect stamps. Here was a man!

Vladimir Nabokov

© Ullstein Bild/Getty Images.com

Writer and entomologist, self-taught entomologist. In honor of Vladimir Vladimirovich, more than 20 genera of butterflies are named, one of which (that's cute!) Is called Nabokovia. Nabokov also played chess very well. They made several difficult chess problems. His love for this intellectual sport was reflected in the novel "Luzhin's Defense". Recall that Nabokov was fluent in English. "Lolita" in America is loved just as much as we do.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Goethe was known not only as a great writer and poet, but also as a scientist: he made some discoveries in the field of the theory of light. In addition, he actively collected minerals - his collection includes 18,000 copies (it is clear where Faust got such a craving for alchemy). The author of the famous drama was so lucky or well done that he slept only 5 hours a day, and he had enough strength for many, many accomplishments. Perhaps this is because Goethe adhered to strict rules and was a supporter of a healthy lifestyle: he did not drink alcohol at all and could not stand the smell of tobacco smoke. That is why he lived for 82 years and managed to create so many things.

Hugh Jackman

Not only a famous actor, but also a Broadway artist, and what a one! Within one season, he managed to get all the major theater awards. Everyone knows the third area of ​​Jackman's activity, in which he achieved success - family life. Hugh and Deborra-Lee Furness have been married for 20 years, and together they have two children. Yes, what is there! Our Hugh is generally capable of everything: he can play the piano, guitar, violin, and also ... vibrate his pupils and even juggle. Probably even Wolverine can't do that.

Salvador Dali

Everyone says that he is crazy, but they are silent about the fact that he was universal. Dali is famous not only as a painter and sculptor, but also as the director of the terrible Andalusian Dog. Dali also wrote several "works": "The Secret Life of Salvador Dali, told by himself" and "The Diary of a Genius." For the sake of his psychedelic masterpieces, the humble genius often "perverted" in terms of sleep. Let us explain: Dali hired a special servant for himself, who, seeing that the owner was starting to fall asleep in complete exhaustion, woke him up after waiting a few seconds. The disheveled Dali immediately grabbed the paper and tried to sketch what he saw in the first seconds of the superficial phase of sleep.

Mikhail Lomonosov

© Miropolsky L.S. Portrait of M.V. Lomonosov, 1787

Russian natural scientist, chemist and physicist, poet, artist... you can hardly list everything here. Lomonosov is not just an active figure - he is revered as a reformer. It was he who carried out the reform of versification. Therefore, by memorization of iambs and choreas, we, oddly enough, are obliged to an outstanding chemist. By the way, being smart does not mean being bullied. While studying in Marburg, for example, Lomonosov perfectly mastered the ability to handle a sword. Local bullies avoided this overly capable and skillful Muscovite. That's certainly a talented person is talented in everything!

Isaac Newton

Everyone should know that he is not only famous for the apple that fell on his head. Newton wrote books on theology, where he spoke about the denial of the Holy Trinity, and was also chairman of the Royal Society of Arts. Not many people know that Newton also invented two stunningly ingenious things: a means for carrying cats and a door for them (where would we be without them now?). His love for furry and mustachioed friends is to blame for this. Newton preferred vigorous activity to sleep - he took only 4 hours a day for night rest.

Benjamin Franklin

We all know him as an uncle from the dollar and politics, but Franklin is still like our Lomonosov. He was a journalist and inventor. He invented, for example, the stove (“Pennsylvania fireplace”), and also predicted the weather. The first developed a detailed map of the Gulf Stream. He founded the Philadelphia Academy, as well as the first public library in the States. Franklin also had musical talent. Uncle Ben managed to keep up with everything by strictly following the daily regimen, in which only 4 hours a day were allotted for sleep.

Alexander Borodin

© I. E. Repin. Portrait of A. P. Borodin, 1888

A man whose portrait hangs both in the music class and in the chemistry class. Do you know that the author of the famous opera "Prince Igor" was also a chemist and physician? He jokingly called himself a "Sunday musician": he had to sacrifice days off in order to create something of that kind for the world of music. The memory of Borodin's everyday life was left by his wife: "I could sit for ten hours in a row, I could not sleep at all, not have lunch." Still would! After all, as you know, one of Borodin's mottos was such a super-motivating phrase: "All that we do not have, we owe only to ourselves." Alexander Porfiryevich was also an active public figure - he was one of the initiators of the opening of Women's Medical Courses.

Flea (Michael Peter Balzary)

In his youth, Bulgakov worked as a zemstvo doctor, and he had to be a generalist: a general practitioner, a gynecologist, a surgeon, and a dentist. "Notes of a Young Doctor" owe their birth to that period of the young Bulgakov's life. It was difficult to combine healing and creativity, so I had to “plow” a shift, treat the unpretentious village people all day, and then also carve out time for writing ... Whatever you don’t sacrifice for the sake of art. Once, in a letter to his mother, he wrote: “At night I write“ Notes of a Zemstvo Doctor. It might turn out to be a solid thing." Bulgakov is also an example of the correct attitude towards criticism. He collected critical articles about his work, including 298 negative and 3 positive reviews from critics.

Well, do you still think that you do not have enough time?