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I always like to mention great books I stumble upon. I know a few others out there in CP-land are also avid readers. I am always especially on the lookout for books that encourage realistic motivation.
Have any of you read the great book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance - Kindle edition by Angela Duckworth[^]?
I've only read about the first 50 pages, but it is really fantastic.
Geniuses Need Not Read 
If you're a genius then the book won't impress you, but if you're like me and you've found success in certain areas simply by being tenacious, you'll probably really like it.
Also, it's one of those books that is written so well it's like sitting down with the author.
A really fast read.
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Genius often gives the impression of being connected with laziness, because your head is constantly flying off in so many different directions; so tenacity and determination often trump it, by sticking to one idea and seeing it through to implementation.
I won't read the book, though, because I can't read.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Mark_Wallace wrote: sticking to one idea and seeing it through to implementation.
It really is the best way. Quit every day. Just never give up. 
Mark_Wallace wrote: I won't read the book, though, because I can't read.
I'm sure there's an audio version.
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raddevus wrote: I'm sure there's an audio version.
I even mentally edit the spoken word (if it's text that's been written)  .
I'm a bugger to watch movies with.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Maybe I'm getting old, but I find that often, genius is simply experiencing something enough times to recognise the pattern and anticipate the outcomes. Of course the trick is to be aware and remember what you did and what happened 
(But I do agree with the thesis: Super smarts are often trumped by super perseverance. Reminds me of my rock climbing days: some guys dyno for the big holds (and sometimes miss) and some just slowly, carefully, efficiently and safely find the right route.)
cheers
Chris Maunder
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80% 0f intelligence is the ability to associate things*, and notice repeating patterns/attributes in seemingly disparate items/events.
Those of us without enough memory sticks have to work out how things work almost every time we look at them, which is good mental exercise.
* And 93% of marketing is the ability to make up percentages.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Chris Maunder wrote: experiencing something enough times to recognise the pattern and anticipate the outcomes. Of course the trick is to be aware and remember what you did and what happened
Hmm. The irony of middle age is that you've experienced enough to 'recognize the pattern and anticipate the outcomes', but your memory is so full of bric-a-brac that you can't find it.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Chris Maunder wrote: experiencing something enough times to recognise the pattern and anticipate the outcomes. Of course the trick is to be aware and remember what you did and what happened
Definitely true.
Malcolm Gladwell touches upon this in his book, Blink, also. All of that experience builds to a point where a person can have a flash of insight, a stroke of genius.
And, it's why you have to stick with something to get to genius.
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Those contribute to genius.
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PIEBALDconsult wrote: Those contribute to genius.
Absolutely. It's just interesting that the idea stands in contrast to what a lot of marketing messages try to convey : "It's easy for some people because they're genius." In reality it's probably more true that those people just work harder.
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There are some scientific study on sports achievement on that topic...
It's partially true, You can't be a genius and found every result just like that. Anything thing worthy requires hard work.
But this is mostly false. it's a feels good message really, where people can feel vindicated in their feeling of I worked hard and I achieved.
The truth is we are unequal and hard work will only bring you so far. And as to life success luck might be a bigger factor (be there at the right time, having rich parent providing a good education and enough starting capital, having the right gene for that, etc...)
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On average, all humans have the same IQ, intelligence, etc.
Somewhat related is that Einstein considered imagination more important than intelligence, since you have to dream an idea up to even be able to begin to accomplish it.
The belief that only the super intelligent will do something great seems to create groups of haves and have-nots. You either got or not. I think the work hard ethic paired with imagination and choosing determining what is important to work on is probably most important of all.
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You will reach true tenaciousness, when you write about a book when you have finished reading it, and reflected carefully on its style, content, and theses, and what it means to you in the context of your prior knowledge.
cheers, Bill
«There is a spectrum, from "clearly desirable behaviour," to "possibly dodgy behavior that still makes some sense," to "clearly undesirable behavior." We try to make the latter into warnings or, better, errors. But stuff that is in the middle category you don’t want to restrict unless there is a clear way to work around it.» Eric Lippert, May 14, 2008
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I feel I can generally get by with only about sevenaciousness.
![Badger | [badger,badger,badger,badger...]](https://www.codeproject.com/script/Forums/Images/badger.gif)
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Well, PieBald, if neo-logorrheic rapture gives you the warm fuzzy you need, by all means ... “Lay on ... and damned be him who first cries ‘Hold! enough!’”
«There is a spectrum, from "clearly desirable behaviour," to "possibly dodgy behavior that still makes some sense," to "clearly undesirable behavior." We try to make the latter into warnings or, better, errors. But stuff that is in the middle category you don’t want to restrict unless there is a clear way to work around it.» Eric Lippert, May 14, 2008
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Yes, and i could name a certain operating-system producer that needs to take part in some XPation.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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BillWoodruff wrote: You will reach true tenaciousness, when you write about a book when you have finished reading it, and reflected carefully on its style, content, and theses, and what it means to you in the context of your prior knowledge.
That is honestly a great insight.
I agree 100%.
Writing is thinking.
W. Somerset Maugham said: How can I know what I think, until I see what I say.
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They're only greater than genius if you wish to keep doing the same things over and over again.
A few commented here that genius has to do with recognizing patterns. I won't say that's wrong, but there's another level which is higher (the real geniuses): they manage to escape from the patterns - break them - and come up with something new.
You can recast the two concepts as falling into the classes of survivors (Tenacity, etc.) and dreamers (create new solutions). You need the former attributes to survive (find some food, for example) but you need the latter to live better (plant some food so you know where to find what you want). Recast, again, perhaps as short term and long term solutions to problems.
. . . by the way, the reason you didn't think of the above explanations . . . may be found within them . . .*
(rim-shot)
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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W∴ Balboos wrote: the real geniuses): they manage to escape from the patterns - break them - and come up with something new.
That is a fantastic addition to the idea of seeing patterns. Great insight.
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One cannot know what goes on unconsciously, but the breaking of patters also include ignoring them.
It's related to why I've not expectation of real AI based upon current technologies. Creativity (for the geniuses) is not always instigated by necessity but spontaneity. That's the real trick of it all. Not reacting to (external) stimulus in order to conceive of/proceed with a 'whatever'.
Take, for example, that game show "Jeopardy" - those people are not at all smart. They've considerable amounts of material memorized (that's the kind of Q&A jeopardy uses). Essentially, its a game of Trivial Pursuit. A computer can have a bigger database and access it faster - so they can be replaced by a computer.
On the other hand, taking existing knowledge and reorganizing it into new "patterns" (not your original context), is the sign of intelligence.
A consequence of this is to remind teach people that science is as much art as writing, painting or composing music. Although all can be (and are) done by hacks, they all allow a lucky a few to express creativity.
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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That is a great post and I agree with you.
I too study creativity, insight, gestalt, etc. Very interesting.
Now, the additionally interesting thing is that when someone does make a leap of creativity, it can be quite difficult to convince others that she is not just crazy, but has hit upon something that is a true paradigm shift.
I've recently had a shift like this where I question the very idea of passwords.
I've attempted to create an implementation of that shift via Windows App, Android app and soon-coming iOS app.
It all started here with an article that actually made some people quite upset :
Destroy All Passwords: Never Memorize A Password Again[^]
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I've had a few epiphanies - actually it's how I earn my living. You can easily find better programmers - but my things is abstraction and problem solving: solutions are often so general (and thankfully, robust) that they don't know anything about the business my employer's in - they just keep on working (a bit like how XML is infinitely extensible). fortunately, the appropriate management levels know where my usefulness lies.
Essentially exploiting the usefulness of "Don't Care"
For example, I designed a database to store everything (not the first person to do so) and then created the mechanism to use it for a data-driven workflow. This expands, upon contemplation to having a work-flow who's tasks are without any order. Order is not necessary - it's a natural consequence of the data. New steps? They'll take their proper place in the workflow because they exist.
The correct time to do a task is . . . wait for it . . . when you can!
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Great stuff.
Imagining new ideas.
Working toward implementing them.
Stretching toward something that may even be impossible.
It all makes living a bit more fun. That's why I like software development.
You are the kind of people I like to work with: ones who are always thinking, always striving.
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Holy cr@p!
I was hoping it was a joke.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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