You Might Not Think So, But You Are a Genius

💭Inspired Genius (Theme)

💭You are a Genius

Genius is one of those words that society has reserved for those other people. Not you and me. But like so many societal "norms" they've got this one wrong.

Genius is in all of us.

Our societal norms make it easy to look outside ourselves for Genius. Other people have it, and yet those "other people" often feel the way you probably do right now, "I'm no genius."

I share Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences Theory which I believe we illustrate every day when we refer to perceived highly creative people in the arts as Geniuses. I believe that Genius is the root of creativity. And I can't state often enough, we all have it!

As I explain what Genius is, maybe we'll discover that it's not so much that we are a genius, but that we have a Genius within us.

If that makes you a little uncomfortable, please keep reading. Stay with me while we suss this out.

💭What exactly is Genius?

The word genius comes from the root *gene-, meaning "to give birth," in other words, to create. The same root forms the words genie*, generate, engine, among many others, and associated with the Arabic djinn and jinn, from where we get our word Genie. Etymonline says the similarity to genius is accidental but I heartily disagree, as I'll explain below.

The word Genius, itself means "tutelary or moral spirit who guides us through life," a generative power, or inborn nature. Can you see now how we all have it? Let's explore another word to expand on our Genius!

Genius is also a translation or synonym for the Greek word Daimon. It is, the same word that gives us the modern word demon. 🫨 Like so many words, it has been co-opted and polarized. Like the words genie and djinn, "daimon" was originally neutral, much like the word spirit, which is a cognate, and which is also neutral. It was controlling thought police, both religious and secular, that decided to denigrate the words with bad, even evil connotations.

American existential psychologist Rollo May said that the daimonic, is “any natural function which has the power to take over the whole person.” Like most things in our dualistic world, this function can be used for good or evil.  It can be either destructive or creative and is often both. Like the parable of the wolves, the side you feed will grow the strongest.

It is my belief that it is human nature to want to use this spirit for good. After all love creates life and hate kills.

We were created to create. We were created to love. (Yes, I wax spiritual.)

This is the root of our identities. The lesser wolf, in my opinion, gains strength when we forget who we are. We begin to make a series of choices that can lead us very far astray from our purpose as human beings on earth.

💭Multiple Intelligences

Did you know that there is a theory of multiple intelligences? In the past, intelligence has been largely determined - with IQ ratings, test scores, etc. - by an academic model, a model which has largely corroded into groupthink.

Howard Gardner has developed a widely studied and acclaimed (and criticized) theory that there are at least 8 intelligences, including an additional one recently proposed by Gardner that seems to envelop all of them.

🥜In a nutshell, they are

1.linguistic - finding the right words to express what you mean
2.logical-mathematical - quantifying things, making hypotheses and proving them
3.bodily-kinesthetic - coordinating your mind with your body
4.musical - discerning sounds, their pitch, tone, rhythm, and timbre
5.interpersonal - understanding yourself, what you feel and what you want
6.intrapersonal - sensing people's feelings and motives
7.spatial - visualizing the world in 3D
8.natural - understanding living things and reading nature
9. existential - thinking bigger picture and making meaning (Perhaps this is the Genius in us!)

🚩I would bet that you have felt like Bill Watterson, like a misunderstood Genius from time to time, even while another part of you felt conflicted with the idea of genius applied to yourself.

Intelligences are not the same as genius but are areas where we express our genius.

I hope you feel more intelligent, perhaps identifying with one or more of Gardner's other areas of intelligence. I also hope you feel the Genius awakening in you as you realize it's about SOOOO much more than IQ! It is truly about YOU!

🔅Please hit reply (email) or comment below (website) if something about this post inspired you!

To your genius,

🩵 Michele Jennae