2 ms·

> Genius minds are rare but not that rare. We only believe certain time periods had more, because of the lasting impacts of many of those people. Why did geni

• BSEdlMMldESB 3y ago
  > Why did geniuses during these periods exercise so much cultural force? because of "historical leverage". the same basic idea as a lever but instead of 'amplifying' over space, it does so over time.
• theelous3 3y ago
  When society is so imbalanced in terms of intellectual opportunity, and the fields so green for those few who have the chance, of course those few will have such a lasting impact. Furthermore, if we were to say, rate these people out of 10 on the potential-to-make-breakthroughs scale, I would expect that any time a 9 or 10 comes along, that contemporary 6, 7, and 8s who may not have made some initial leap will be at the ready to drive that progress forward. Clustering of geniuses seems natural, given we typically rate someone's genius by their contributions rather than their standalone grey wattage. It would be surprising if some Norwegian was building off greek philosophy principles back in the day. It's not at all surprising that Greek contemporaries and their students did the same, some of which are then labeled "genius".
  • sdwr 3y ago
    That's the flip side of pointless bureaucracy, wheel-spinning and busywork. When something properly important comes along, everyone is ready to make it happen.