2 ms·
Einstein's fame kinda ruined the word "genius" — people tend to think the word is just a synonym for smart. But to me (and I think the gen- root at the beginnin
by raldi 5y ago
Einstein's fame kinda ruined the word "genius" — people tend to think the word is just a synonym for smart. But to me (and I think the gen- root at the beginning supports this), the key thing about a genius is that they revolutionize a field and inspire others to think in wildly new ways.
Problem was, Einstein was both of these things, and is so associated with the word that a lot of people's brains just go from "genius" -> Einstein -> "super smart".
- asdfman123 5y agoI think the key thing that superior intelligence gives you in science is the ability to survey a large field of knowledge, quickly identify the essence of each idea, zero in on what's worth pursuing and what's worth throwing out. Research is like a crowd of people painstakingly searching through a cow pasture to find little gems buried in the dirt. If your vision is clearer and you can move 10x faster, you can run circles around other people. You can look over hundreds of leads, intuitively sense what works and what doesn't, and narrow in on promising ones.