Why haven’t we learned to identify and recognize our geniuses?
The Folio Publishing Company has just issued two new books: The Strategies of Male Geniuses and The Strategies of Female Geniuses by Valentyn Badrak. These books can serve as manuals for future geniuses, says the author, who does not so much dwell on the great figures of the past and present as reflect on what distinguishes a genius from an ordinary person and what character traits are helpful in bringing outstanding ideas to life.
“These two books portray 27 outstanding men and 16 outstanding women, including politicians, writers, artists, philosophers, and people from other walks of life,” Badrak says.
Studying the biographies of geniuses, the author arrived at the conclusion that every person can become a genius, and, surprisingly, this process does not require wealth or a superb education.
“All the personalities in my books had a very rough start: they had very difficult childhoods, suffered from material privations. In fact, they all had to start from nothing. Childhood stresses led them to generate an idea and then try to implement it. The next step toward success was strong willpower, which made it possible to realize the idea. For example, it was willpower that allowed Picasso to paint one picture a day and Van Gogh to paint until he was ready to drop with exhaustion. These personalities lived by Caesar’s formula ‘All or nothing.’ I came to the conclusion that everybody can be a genius, but in order to do so one must overcome indifference to oneself and believe in one’s own strength,” the author says.
In order to broaden the debate on what it takes to be a genius, The Day asked our experts the following question: “What does it mean to be a genius and what is the role of geniuses in Ukraine’s development?”
COMMENTARIES
Oleksandr FILTS, president of the European Association of Psychotherapists:
“Being a genius is a biological and psychological rather than a geographical notion, so there have always been people of genius everywhere. It is a kind of biological and psychological matrix that enables one to be a genius. In my view, being a genius is, first of all, the ability to see things from an unusual angle and, second, intuition about certain phenomena and processes before one’s time. These are the two characteristics of a genius. To become a genius, a person should have an innate talent for something, which will become the prerequisite of genius. Second, this individual should have a proper upbringing and be in a favorable social milieu in order not to be afraid of openly realizing his or her potential. Third, a genius needs proper conditions for self-realization; otherwise this kind of individual will not achieve success.
“Genius is not necessarily manifested in childhood. For example, genius in art reveals itself quite early, so these kinds of individuals can realize themselves comparatively early, whereas philosophers, thinkers, and scientists may display their genius much later, after accumulating certain knowledge about the world and nature.
“I can state quite clearly that there is no shortage of geniuses in Ukraine. But, unfortunately, Ukraine is not exactly rushing to make such a thorough analysis as identifying and recognizing its own geniuses. Ukraine is focusing on financial rather than socio-cultural values. So, in the meantime, geniuses have no place here, and because of the values that are popular in our country today, they cannot realize themselves. This is why we do not see them.”
Volodymyr SHKODA, philosopher:
“Genius is a kind of top-level assessment of the activity of extremely rare individuals who possess the faculty of prophesying and certain intuitive insights, knowledge, theories, or concepts. This is not rational or logical knowledge but truly intuitive knowledge. It is said that such people, “know not what they do.” It may be said that something divine speaks to people through a genius. I would like to draw your attention to the section in Plato’s Symposium, where the main problem of the dialogue is to understand the nature of Eros: what does this phenomenon really mean? All those who came before Socrates believed that Eros was a god, but according to Socrates, Eros was not a god but something between the divine and the mortal (earthly). He says that Eros was a great genius, and the mission of a genius is to mediate between the gods and the people, i.e., to offer people’s prayers and sacrifices to the gods and to offer the gods’ instructions, orders, and testaments to the people. There are many geniuses, Eros being one of them. He is a genius of love, who in man arouses the feeling that we call love. Thanks to this feeling and this fascination of man for man that humankind partly resolves its basic problem: thanks to the flame of love kindled by a genius, a person transfers his genes to his children and s/he continues to exist in his or her pupils owing to this transferred knowledge.
“There are talented people in Ukraine; there is no doubt whatsoever. There are in demand all over the world: for example, every seventh computer programmer in the US was educated in Kharkiv. I think the state should create proper conditions for geniuses to live in Ukraine and glorify the state throughout the world. Naturally, every country would like to have geniuses because this is a kind of national gold reserve. It is difficult for me to say who is a genius in Ukraine. This is a value-related phenomenon that should be treated with extreme caution. Genius is identified by time, and humanity will appreciate tomorrow what it cannot understand now.
“The formation of a genius is influenced primarily by conditions and very gifted people — the teachers of such people. Look at the mathematicians who train our schoolchildren for mathematics Olympiads: they are genuinely talented people; you can even say they are geniuses of training. They should be supported because sometimes they go abroad after failing to find a place for themselves here. It would be a good idea to resume the old Soviet practice of looking for talented people in villages and raion centers. The US pursues a policy of attracting people, who are then provided with very comfortable conditions and splendid opportunities. This country continues to attract future geniuses, including those from Ukraine. We are losing a lot of young people, who go to the US to continue their education and end up staying there.”
Semen GLUZMAN, head of the Association of Ukrainian Psychiatrists:
“The word ‘genius’ usually applies to someone with extraordinary abilities in a certain science or other field. Geniuses can do what none of their contemporaries can even imagine; some people just do not have it. Speaking of the exact sciences, we can somehow measure the degree of genius by saying, ‘This person must be a genius because s/he has achieved something.’ But everything is very subjective where art, linguistics, and literature are concerned. From my point of view, Thomas Mann is a 20th-century writer of genius, but from the viewpoint of the Nobel Committee, a genius may be another individual who is not at all interesting to me. There are probably geniuses in today’s Ukraine. But I do not consider Ukraine the best place for highly talented people because they do not have state support. It is said that an artist has to be poor to be a genius. This is a very handy excuse for indifference to the destiny of talented people. I do not think that people of genius can make headway in Ukraine now. Scientists cannot because the mathematics and physics school of the Soviet era — and I did not like the Soviet government — has been ruined. Today highly-gifted people are leaving our country to achieve success in prosperous countries — not because they want to be millionaires but because they want to successfully pursue their beloved professions. So far, unfortunately, Ukraine cannot give them this opportunity for a variety of reasons. I’m not just talking about the financial crunch: our research sector is still occupied by hidebound Soviet-era professors, who obtained their academic titles during the period of ‘scientific communism’ and they are keeping out young researchers.
“I think the Ukrainian theater actor Bohdan Stupka is very close to being a genius: he can absolutely fantastically do what many cannot. This is probably why our music conductor Roman Kofman is acclaimed in Europe. In literature, I consider Vasyl Stus a genius — he is on the same level as Rilke and Mandelstam.
“It is not just milieu but biological predisposition that influences the formation of a genius. Unfortunately, it often happens that children with such predispositions who are living in Ukrainian villages and small towns will not only not become geniuses but even simply talented people because free and democratic Ukraine has done nothing for these children to obtain at least a normal education and realize themselves in worldwide culture, not just at the raion level. After all, a gifted individual should make a name on the world level, not the raion level.”
