I agree genius is overused and try to avoid it. My point was I get the impression that he might really deserve it, but his personality leaves you with a distinc

I agree genius is overused and try to avoid it. My point was I get the impression that he might really deserve it, but his personality leaves you with a distinctly bad aftertaste. I've only met maybe 2 or 3 people I really thought deserved the label, though I guess it's hard for me to judge given that I'm certainly not one. I do however mean a genius as measured purely by ability... in my mind there is a distinction between people who have the abilities of a "genius" versus someone with the achievements of a genius. Hard work by normal people most often often produces the latter, whereas the former case is much harder to identify. And I agree wholeheartedly... I once had students ask me why I put so much emphasis on lab reports in an [upper level engineering course]. My sincere belief is that at least 50% of working in a technical field is your ability to communicate. The most genius answer has little value if you can't properly articulate it. ANKOS is the exact example I have in mind when I think about this. Really I find the premise that cellular automata are somehow fundamental to computation and the universe interesting (though maybe I don't buy into it to the same degree as Wolfram), but his presentation of this thesis is so dreadfully tedious and conceited as to squash any desire I might have to investigate it.