Wired 14.07: What Kind of Genius Are You?

Conceptualist or Experimentalist?

Wired 14.07: What Kind of Genius Are You?

I’ve come to realize that as nice and simple and seductive a binary designation can be, the real world is just messy and in shades of grey. In this case, I tend to sway towards the Experimentalist with my incessant testing and breaking of things. Those experiments do build up a knowledge base in specific lines of inquiry, but can often lead to conceptual breakthroughs in tangental areas. This goes back to my experiences reading books. First, I often don’t necessarily learn a ton of new information but I do find better ways to label or organize the ideas I’m carrying around. Second, when I read after a while I realize that my brain has gone somewhere else while my eyes go through the motions of reading. This used to frustrate me since I’d have to back track and figure out where I fell off the path. Now I know that where I went when I went off the path is more important than just reading the book because my mind has already gone off and applied something it had just learned.

I’ve added Galenson’s books to my reading list.

Speaking of genius an wanting to understand how minds work, I do recommend The Gifted Adult: A Revolutionary Guide for Liberating Everyday Genius.