How to Think Like a Genius 40-Rails
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Rick Rosner)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2018/04/08
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Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Geniuses can run off the rails. They can get off the genius track.
Rick Rosner: We’re talking in general about what not to do if you want to be a genius, and yea the first rule we’re going to talk about is don’t close out your options, and don’t set up your life to disallow the possibility of doing genius stuff. Keep working on the stuff where you really think your genius might lie, even as you get dragged into adult responsibilities and maybe even a career track that is — I think most people, maybe not most people but a good percentage of people, who go into the sciences want to be world-changing scientists, but are discouraged by trouble they have with the subject. Maybe, not being or not thinking they are as brilliant as other people in the field.
They love science and the have been trained in it, but go down these paths that are doing regular science or doing incremental science, or doing piddly research projects or teaching, and they give up on their pursuit of big ideas in pursuit of little victories. Taking care of their family, having a career, you want to do that stuff unless you’re especially dedicated, but you don’t want to preclude or give up stuff that you think you should be best be thinking about.
I have a tattoo on my foot that says, “Born to do Math.” It reminds me of what I should be doing when I am in the middle of doing other stupid stuff. That is pushing my thinking forward. And the very best geniuses think about what they think they should be thinking about all of the time, and I don’t hit that mark, and I haven’t given up and I do return to what I should be thinking about repeatedly and I have done so for the past 40 years.
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