Is there a "genius" trait in us all?

[aitm]

They think differently than we do.

No they don't.

no one could really know as the genius wouldn't know how the "average" think nor the average know how the genius thinks. Now if your talking about the actual science of thoughts being sent via neurons and such then probably.

[Titania]

the genius wouldn't know how the "average" think nor the average know how the genius thinks.

Stop it already. People with genius IQs don't think in a magically distinct way from "regular" people. They think pretty much along identical lines, they're just much better and quicker at it.

The only difference might be that geniuses draw more difficult connections and rely less on rote axioms, but even that's only a matter of degree.

You peeps keep trying to make this mystical "other" out of geniuses, but that's not the way it works!

[Seabear]

the genius wouldn't know how the "average" think nor the average know how the genius thinks.

Stop it already. People with genius IQs don't think in a magically distinct way from "regular" people. They think pretty much along identical lines, they're just much better and quicker at it.

The only difference might be that geniuses draw more difficult connections and rely less on rote axioms, but even that's only a matter of degree.

What is this based upon?

[Titania]

the genius wouldn't know how the "average" think nor the average know how the genius thinks.

Stop it already. People with genius IQs don't think in a magically distinct way from "regular" people. They think pretty much along identical lines, they're just much better and quicker at it.

The only difference might be that geniuses draw more difficult connections and rely less on rote axioms, but even that's only a matter of degree.

What is this based upon?

You're joking, right? I will politely assume that you're playing devil's advocate.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genius

[AllPurposeAtheist]

I'll claim genius status. I have magic brain cells. I got em at Walmart on sale for $12.99. ... discontinued item. :)

[aitm]

the genius wouldn't know how the "average" think nor the average know how the genius thinks.

Stop it already. People with genius IQs don't think in a magically distinct way from "regular" people. They think pretty much along identical lines, they're just much better and quicker at it.

The only difference might be that geniuses draw more difficult connections and rely less on rote axioms, but even that's only a matter of degree.

You peeps keep trying to make this mystical "other" out of geniuses, but that's not the way it works!

oh pull your hands back out of your underpants.....there are genius's and then there are those who are not..you make the claim they all think the same, I make the claim, "how can we tell, since one is one and the other is the other", you make the claim that they all must think the same because there is no magic.....ah.....whut?

[Titania]

oh pull your hands back out of your underpants.....there are genius's and then there are those who are not..you make the claim they all think the same, I make the claim, "how can we tell, since one is one and the other is the other", you make the claim that they all must think the same because there is no magic.....ah.....whut?

Hey, wait, I never said any of that. Read the whole thread and you'll see I never made any claim that geniuses are just the same as regular folk. Quite the opposite. All I said was that their brains don't work in fundamentally different ways, just better. It's like how hard liquor has more alcohol than beer and gets me drunker, but the thing getting me drunk is still the same thing, ethyl alcohol, and it's not like once the alcohol percentage of a drink climbs above a certain amount it turns into a different chemical with different psychoactive properties.

[Seabear]

You're joking, right? I will politely assume that you're playing devil's advocate.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genius

Hmm, Wikipedia... okay. Apologies, but I can't seem to find the section of the wiki link you provided that would seem support your assertion above. Can you be more specific, or is this just your opinion?

If so, that's fine, but based on my experience with some of the more brilliant people I have encountered in my life, my impression was that their thought process was indeed different from the average persons. not just the same thoughts but faster, but took different paths and abstractions.

Admittedly, this is anecdotal evidence on my part, but it would seem to contradict the assertion that geniuses think just like we do.

PS: at the risk of going back to "Wikipedia", this exerpt of about richard Feynman comes to mind as an example of wha I am trying to describe:

In high school, his IQ was determined to be 125—high, but "merely respectable" according to biographer James Gleick.[14] In 1933, when he turned 15, he taught himself trigonometry, advanced algebra, infinite series, analytic geometry, and both differential and integral calculus.[15] Before entering college, he was experimenting with and re-creating mathematical topics, such as the half-derivative, using his own notation. In high school, he was developing the mathematical intuition behind his Taylor series of mathematical operators.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman

[Titania]

You're joking, right? I will politely assume that you're playing devil's advocate.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genius

Hmm, Wikipedia... okay. Apologies, but I can't seem to find the section of the wiki link you provided that would seem support your assertion above. Can you be more specific, or is this just your opinion?

You're really making me work for it this morning, aren't you?  
You're right, it's kind of a shit article to back my premise. Here's another dubious article that's at least more on point: http://people.howstuffworks.com/genius.htm

And also, my point is partially anecdotal because I spent my youth in the gifted program with a bunch of kids with genius-level IQs and, having had innumerable conversations with them in and out of class, and also having had innumerable conversations with the kids who had gifted-level but not genius-level IQs and with kids outside the gifted program who had regular IQs, I can tell you their thought processes were essentially no different except for the fact that the genius kids were quicker and better. Anecdotal, of course. You may make what you will of it.

The whole trope of "geniuses are a whole different animal" is IMO sensationalist tripe that isn't backed by any real science. Lots of books have been written about the idea, yet there isn't a single shred of evidence to prove that it isn't pseudoscientific horsecrap like phrenology or the MBTI. At this point I'm not the one making the positive statement. You have asserted that "genius minds work along different lines than normal ones do", correct? The burden of proof is on you to back that claim. I have never seen any evidence of this. Your turn.

[Johan]

If so, that's fine, but based on my experience with some of the more brilliant people I have encountered in my life, my impression was that their thought process was indeed different from the average persons. not just the same thoughts but faster, but took different paths and abstractions.

I often find that my own thought process is different from many of the people around me. Does that mean I'm a genius? Because I can assure you I am not.

[the_antithesis]

They think differently than we do.

No they don't.

They just think more. A good deal of thinking involves making connections and what we often call genius is making a connection that others did not see, like realizing that pretzels would be good in ice cream.

[aitm]

I often find that my own thought process is different from many of the people around me. Does that mean I'm a genius?

No but it does establish that different people think "differently". Why is it so easy for me to manage million dollar construction sites and others can fail so miserably? I don't know why they don't see the process as I do, I cannot understand why they cannot see problems and find solutions as easily as I can, just by looking at it.

Why do day laborers see the same thing I do and not see obvious solutions? Why do they suggest I get a backhoe to dig a fifty foot trench in sand three foot deep instead of having two of them dig it? Why cannot they process the cost/time/value factor as obviously as you and I can? Why can I know immediately that a car with a low front tire is going to pull to that side and others not even understand why? Because we think differently. I am no genius but to some I most certainly am.

IF I can see so many things so clearly to those who cannot, even with me prodding them, then those much smarter than me can see things that I cannot, even with their prodding I will never see it. We think differently.

[Johan]

I often find that my own thought process is different from many of the people around me. Does that mean I'm a genius?

No but it does establish that different people think "differently". .

Which means that thinking differently has nothing to do with being a genius. You cannot say oh that guy thinks differently because he's a genius and then say this other guy also thinks differently even though he's not a genius.

And FWIW, my level of intellect has nothing to do with my understanding that low tire pressure on one side will cause a vehicle to pull to that side. Its my level of experience with tires and vehicles and level of experience with mechanical shit in general that enables my understanding of the concept. I would suspect that its same for most people. Put another way, I know people with genius level IQ's who would not have the first clue as to why low tire pressure on one side would make the car pull one way or the other.

[Plu]

Yeah, there's a big difference between experience and genius. The genius will be able to pick up the experience faster, usually. If you have 20 years of experience in a field, and some rookie comes in and rivals your skill after a month on the job, that's probably the sign of genius.

But just because you can do something doesn't make you a genius. It's how quickly you collect the skill, or how far you can go with it that does that.

[Colanth]

The ordinary man looks at an acorn and sees a seed.  The genius looks at it and sees an oak tree.