

How to Get to Genius - espeed
http://jamesthornton.com/blog/how-to-get-to-genius

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hammock
This is a great read, not your typical HN amateur blogger overblown post.
Understanding intelligence to be the recognition of patterns illuminates why
and how things like perspective, experience, solitude, and creativity all play
into "genius."

Also a great quote which I had not seen from Galileo: "All truths are easy to
understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them." This
notion is something I struggle with when revealing insights to others, because
people are so often willing to say "well duh, that just makes sense" without
realizing that it's actually a novel insight to them.

~~~
espeed
You know when you're writing a proposal, an executive summary, or pitching
something it's a good idea to lead with the problem first, or lead with a
question that gets the person you're engaging to try and think of a "solution"
for what you are about to present to them?
(<http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/04/the_art_of_the_.html>)

Getting them to try and think about the problem ahead of time will help them
realize that may not have a solution for what you are about to present so they
are in better position to understand the significance of what you are about to
say.

~~~
hammock
Good tip! The problem-solution framework is a classic obviously but I will
give you all the credit because I wasn't really thinking about it in this
context! Thanks.

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solson
The article is thought provoking. I'd say genius is a habit. The habit of
thinking about things most people don't think about and thinking about them in
ways most people won't think about them. But I believe anyone can acquire the
habit with practice. The reason few people do, is that it is risky. Unless the
individual is extremely socially adept, this habit is social liability. Why,
by definition the habit makes you odd and most of us want to 'fit in.' So we
tend to think about things the same way as our peers.

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sayemm
Great read and I think it's spot-on. It reminds me of this excellent essay by
Charlie Munger (Buffett's partner in BRK), "The Art of Stockpicking":
[http://www.grahamanddoddsville.net/wordpress/Files/Gurus/Cha...](http://www.grahamanddoddsville.net/wordpress/Files/Gurus/Charlie%20Munger/Charlie%20Munger%20_%20Art%20of%20Stock%20Picking.pdf)

In there, he stresses the need for having multiple models in your head, or
different mental frameworks that coalesce to form a unique perspective in your
field.

~~~
espeed
"And the models have to come from multiple disciplines because all the wisdom
of the world is not to be found in one little academic department. That's why
poetry professors, by and large, are so unwise in a worldly sense. They don't
have enough models in their heads. So you've got to have models across a fair
array of disciplines. "

This is analogs to "Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie"
(<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2287213>)

"It can be hard to believe a true strength coach the first time he tells you
that by pressing and dead-lifting on even days, squatting and doing chin-ups
on odd days, avoiding all other exercises, and adding a little to the bar each
time, you’ll be stronger than you’ve ever been in only a month’s time. Thanks
to the fitness industry, we’re so conditioned to equate sophistication with
complexity — and to think we’ve got to “work each body part” — that our gut
just says, No way; that can’t work. But it works like magic, and the entire
body hardens up in unison."

The common principle is that you grow in balance -- if one part is deficient,
it can hinder the growth of the whole.

[http://www.mensjournal.com/everything-you-know-about-
fitness...](http://www.mensjournal.com/everything-you-know-about-fitness-is-a-
lie/print/)

------
espeed
This is interesting. Key Robinson says that we are born with more creativity,
but modern education systems are killing it:

[http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_...](http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html)

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Tycho
I've got a theory about ideas/inspiration. Basically, if you ask a question
that has no follow-up/dependent questions, then magically your brain will
supply the answer (in a short time-frame). You just need to drill down to that
terminal node. Most people stop further up the tree. In fact usually you're
not trying to find answers, just to learn something that's already documented.
Perhaps also you need the sister/cousin nodes to be in place/known, so that
when the idea comes you get that final-piece-of-the-puzzle 'chink,' the Eureka
feeling. Granted I've never worked on deep research problems but whenever I
need a good new idea to proceed, it tends to come easily. Just by identifying
where the missing link should be, you are gifted what it _is_.

~~~
espeed
Will you give us an example?

~~~
Tycho
Until I think of one from my own life - those guys that were making the phone
app for nearby people at tech events to view each others 'profiles' (with a
view to striking up conversations with the right people), but had to figure
out a way to get into these tech events/conferences and use the crowd to test
their app. Their solution was a cracker (and eventually a spin-off business):

 _Once live, we got like 5 users, since no one really knew about it. To
promote this product, we decided to target events, since we thought that
events is where people would like to meet each other. We locked ourselves in a
room and asked this question over and over: “What is something valuable we can
provide to event organizers so that they can promote our product?”

Zac finally came up with an idea. He proposed that we could build a kiosk
where attendees can type in their name, and a name badge would instantly
print._ (& while they're there, register for the phone app)

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flipside
Change in perspective: check, fundamentally even

Insight from weak associations: check, from more sources than I can easily
count

Tight mental framework: getting there as fast as I can

Hardware and software in the brain: check, dots have been connected

Thoughts are things: vision, check; reality, in progress

Path to genius: check for eureka moment from plug and play

Genius?: TBD

~~~
MarkPNeyer
good luck, sir!

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sunjain
This article provides a very good insight into what makes someone a genius
(and certainly it is not just the talent). I think perspective/vision is a key
thing here, combined with passion and hard work.

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kristofferR
Great read. Just a quick note though, you have not installed Disqus correctly.
The same two comments are showing on all pages for me.

~~~
espeed
Thank you -- brand new site and first blog post -- still working some bugs out
:)

~~~
kristofferR
Any reason why you don't use Wordpress?

~~~
espeed
I prefer Python over PHP, and I wanted to experiment with the Flask framework
-- and Flask BTW has been really nice to work with.

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tammam
very interesting article. It's good to look at the brain from a scientific,
hardware/software perspective. I think it's also important for us to observe
our thought process to improve, as some call become more aware.

