Photo: Courtesy- MorgueFile
Most humans always need an inspiration for survival and a reason to excel. Excellence can be classified into induced excellence and inborn excellence. Induced excellence is achieved gradually in time whereas inborn excellence comes congenitally. I believe human beings can be divided into two categories only- the average human and the excellent human or the geniuses.
The inspiration vs. perspiration quote by Edison with respect to a genius is only a consolation to the average people. Through perspiration, you can never be a genius. You might be close to one but to be classified as a genius, you need to have these qualities:-
a) Imagination
b) Innovation
c) Originality
d) Continual proof that you have qualities "a' through "c".
Imagination comes naturally to all human beings.
When I was a child, I used to think - "Why don't people dig down till the end of the earth and have a passage to space? You know, like a slide to space". Why would rockets be necessary then?. I would classify that as an imagination.
People from the field of language and related subjects like poets and authors have imagination in plenty but they are sparse in innovation.
Innovation is to think way beyond the box. This doesn't naturally come to an individual who is striving to be a genius. The psyche of a person trying to be a genius is to achieve a certain goal but he or she cannot see an "invisible" goal. When an average person tries to be a genius, he is aware through his experiences in life that he is not a "born" genius, however hard he tries. Innovation comes naturally to geniuses.
Originality comes through imagination and innovation and this is where the difference between the average and the geniuses is clearly visible. For sports persons, physical strength, endurance and raw stamina substitutes these three points. For an example, how many times have you run a marathon at school, which always had a set of guys winning it?
Now, you might cite examples of ordinary folks becoming geniuses but that that came through time. It therefore becomes a necessity to state if a person is genius through time or genius by birth. A true genius will continually exhibit imagination, innovation and originality. A genius through time is but the average human being.
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