Mental meanderings of geniuses

Let’s look at the etymology (origin) of the word genius.

Late 14c., “tutelary or moral spirit” who guides and governs an individual through life, from Latin genius “guardian deity or spirit which watches over each person from birth; spirit, incarnation; wit, talent;” also “prophetic skill; the male spirit of a gens,” originally “generative power” (or “inborn nature”),The main characteristic of genius is lateral thinking. Looking at an issue from many angles, often seemingly unrelated angles, that would rarely, if ever, occur to non-geniuses. Genius mind always asks, always questions and is a nightmare for dogmas, religions and cults, becauses geniuses – even if they wanted to be fervent believers in some ideology – are extremely unlikely to fully believe in any religion or ideology. Why? Their mind is always going to question, always going to find holes in arguments and reasoning.

A recent TV show, ”The Institute,” based on Stephen King’s novel, features a 14-year-old teenager who is abducted and taken to the Mengelesque institution for gifted children with psychic powers. One of the first things the teen does is unload a barrage of questions at a woman-in-charge. This has never happened before, she tells him, not to that extent. That’s exactly what a genius would do. Question, analyze, connect the dots in all sorts of weird ways to figure out what’s going on. Other kids tell him, ”You’re smart.”

Now, if there’s injustice going on, geniuses can be fully committed to the cause, even to the point of fanaticism. And geniuses, including genius children, are a formidable force not to be trifled with.

Let’s be clear, however – genius can also be easily swayed by ideology. No intellectually functioning individual is fully immune to cult indoctrination and mind games and highly intelligent people, the seekers, can be trapped by clever ideologues. But, overall, geniuses are a nightmare for all sorts of authoritarians and control freaks. Genius can pretend to believe, of course, and be authoritarian, even enjoy it, but he or she doesn’t really believe in any ideology Belief in God might be an exception here, as a surprising number of geniuses throughout history were believers in God (or rather their understanding of God).

It’s sort of like with psychopaths who don’t really believe in anything aside from their own gratification but can wear any mask of belief to convince others they are just like them. A psychopath can be a patriot, a traitor, a religious zealot and a militant atheist, these are all masks of expediency. Geniuses usually have a conscience and are often driven by their understanding of idealism. Still, there are similarities between geniuses, psychopaths and their problems with authority.

A stellar career, then? If only. Genius comes in all shapes and sizes. Genius children sometimes die young because of the disconnect they feel. Freaks among their peers and even among adults, they really are stuck like Lisa Simpson. Russian child prodigy stories are particularly saddening. Genius mind races. Albert Einstein, or it’s rumored, watched as his watch boiled. The egg was in his hand. Yep. Sounds legit to me.

That’s why I’m no fan of organized religion where more of intellectual communism (everyone’s to be sort of mediocre-minded, it’s easier that way, after all, or God wants it so – really?) is promoted rather than cherishing intelligence. It appears the Jewish people understand this logic and intelligence plays an important part in Jewish culture and beliefs and life in general.

At the same time, geniuses are extremely valuable assets for regimes, cults, and all sorts of shady groups. Geniuses can be extremely effective propagandists. Give a genius the right tools and he or she is going to blow your mind.

To be clear, coming up with twisted ways to enhance intelligence isn’t the way. Just as the Nazis wanted to create pure Aryan babies and the terrible consequences Nazi ideology led to. When the Allies entered German towns in Bavaria, they came across Lebensborn homes. Perplexed, they found out a lot of the children born in these homes were intellectually impaired. Why? Likely due to lack of love and care. The documentation had been burned by the SS (who were supposed to be the new Nazi Aryan elite after the war) before the arrival of the Allies. It’s unclear  how many Lebensborn children or their descendants live in Germany to this day (abducted from Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Norway, and so on, while other children were born to slave laborers with ”Aryan” features). The ideological zeal of Hitler called for giving priority to trains with Jews bound for extermination camps over trains with weapons.

Same ideological zeal we see in Putin today with his obsession with Ukraine.

Doron Blake, the poster child of a genius sperm bank set up by a US millionaire to save humanity (the bank is now long gone) with an exorbitantly high IQ, warns against instrumentalization of intelligence. He is, of course, correct.

Geniuses are great at playing dumb, too. A ditzy blonde can be secretly a genius, you never know. As one of the characters in the Great Gatsby said, ”That’s the best thing a girl can be in this world. A beautiful, little fool.” Depressing? Yeah, well. Some geniuses enjoy these kinds of mind games, while others? If you want to know what hell for some geniuses looks like – it’s that. Being forced to act dumb.