sammyscholar:
Topic: GENIUSES ARE BORN, NOT MADE!

School: The Polytechnic, Ibadan

Stance: Against


"Born genius vs. made genius" is a controversial phenomenon that, even, scholars from related fields are finding hard to reach a common ground on. The 'born genius' protagonists have always said that genius is a product of raw talent and intelligence culminated from birth or heredity. In lending credence to their claims, they are always swift to citing child prodigies like Leonardo da Vinci, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Michael Jordan et al; who at tender ages, began to exhibit exemplary traits.

Conversely, the 'made genius' advocates, on their own spectrum of the line, believe every man is born with innate talent, ingenuity, and with matching brain capacities. They posit that genius is what the 'carrier' made of his creator's given talent, intellectuals, skills and ingenuity. They believe every man (able or disable) is endowed with innate talent and giving such ability/talent a right platform to nurture, and a stimulating and supportive environment to grow, is what produces genius.

Hence, is genius actually culminated from birth? Or, at the opposite, made? Well, without mincing words, I make bold to say; geniuses are not born, but made!

DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

GENIUS, according to a repute professor of psychology - Keith Simonton, "is a person who have the intelligence, enthusiasm, and endurance to acquire the needed expertise in a broadly valued domain of achievement and who then make contributions to that field that are considered by peers to be both original and highly exemplary."

CHILD PRODIGY, according to wikipedia; "is a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain to the level of an adult expert performer."


"Genius is one percent inspiration; ninety-nine percent perspiration" says Thomas Alva Edison.

It is, rather, bewildering that most of the celebrated geniuses that many have taken to be super humans, created with some sort of peculiarities have attested, themselves, to the fact that 'perspiration' is the potent behind their ground breaking successes. When pressed, they have always said their successes are final products of many inputs; which include: inspiration, perspiration, hard work, commitment, vision, determination, imagination, and other virtues. One then begins to wonder why the notion; “geniuses are born,” has hitherto, persisted.

Little wonder Albert Einstein was quick to assert that; "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." That is, many have what it takes to become genius; but when told, they disbelieve. They believe ingenuity is restricted and limited to some set of persons, and thus, genius can only be attained by certain few.


Basically, every man has something in him that if discovered and well harnessed would lunch him into the society of geniuses. There is always an area of life that every man is gifted. Even the biggest dunce in one field has a specific area where he is talented and if he could discover his talent and put it to good use; only sky would be his limit.

Scott Barry Kaufman, an American pathologist, once averred; “Genius involves figuring out who you are, and owning yourself." Genius simply means discovering yourself and building on that thing that you found to be your strength.

Truly, traits are transferable from parent to child. And there is also the possibility that a child of intelligent parent would take after them; but there is no guarantee to that! Although, some children are quick to demonstrate high-level intellectual trait right at tender age, but they likely would become nothing if those trait are not well exploited, leveraged and put to good use (which is the making process).

'Make', according to wikipedia; "is to form (something) by putting parts together or combining substances; create." Therefore, it is safe to say that genius is the final product of combination of many parts, which includes: talent discovery, courage, vision, passion, insight, reasoning, practice, hard work, determination, perspiration, imagination, perseverance, et al.

startlingly, some, many a times, tend to take the fact that only few persons have attained the height of geniuses in the history of man to mean it is a special and super magical trait ascribe to few persons. "Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered - either by themselves or by others," Says Mark Twain. Just as not everybody would live to become rich; many also would not live to become genius, even when they have the endowment; because not all would be willing to do and give what it takes.


While delving into Albert Einstein’s anatomy, Dean Falk of Florida State University was quoted to have said; "both nature and nurture were probably involved in Einstein's success, pointing out that his parents were "very nurturing" and encouraged him to be independent and creative, not only in science but also in music, paying for piano and violin lessons." "Einstein programmed his own brain.” “When the field of physics was ripe for new insights, "he had the right brain in the right place at the right time."

A critique of Falk’s statement above reveals that self discovery, supportive home, nurture, practice and positioning are what played the lead role in Albert’s success; which further corroborates the fact that genius is the final product of many factors, and not just a trait inherited by birth.

Furthermore, there is also the need to place more emphasis on ‘positioning’ in the making of a genius. Come to think of it; If Albert Einstein had lived all his years in a very remote section of a village in sub-Saharan Africa, and had no equipments and facilities to explore; would he still have lived to become what he became? Or if Lionel Messi (the much touted soccer genius) had out rightly gone the academic way, would he still have achieved high impetus as he does in soccer today? Our answers, undoubtedly, are synonymous. It is a capital NO.

Also, talking about child prodigy? Truth is, every child prodigy was only lucky to have been at the right place, doing the right thing at the right time. They were fortunate enough to have discovered themselves early in life and providence so have it on them that they had a very supportive home and environment. The musical genius - Mozart, was only lucky to have had a father who himself was a musician and was able to furnish his daughter with what he thought would help her in her musical career.

Conclusively, genius is a sheer product of self discovery, positioning, hard work, perseverance among others. Thomas Edison would have become nothing had he not persevered - it takes only a determined person to try out something more than a thousand times. “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard,” says Kevin Durant. No matter the enormity of the talent of a child; it would out rightly amounts to nothing if all the virtues cited above are missing.

Before I put scribble to halt, I would like to affirm, once again, that genius are not born, but made. Thank you.


REFERENCES:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_brain

https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/facts.html

http://news.sciencemag.org/2012/11/why-einstein-was-genius

https://www.quora.com/Can-a-genius-still-be-a-genius-if-they-are-uneducated-in-the-modern-sense

http://www.google.nl/search?q=child+prodigy+meaning&client=ms-rim&hl=en&oe=UTF-8&channel=browser&gws_rd=cr&oq=child+prodigy+meaning&gs_l=mobile-heirloom-serp.3..0l2j0i22i30.78.5846.0.6407.15.13.0.1.1.0.597.597.5-1.1.0....0...1c.1.34.mobile-heirloom-serp..13.2.636. x0N7ZdFQkaQ

A person who was born with a natural gift of playing football will never I mean NEVER have the intelligence,persiverance and the concentration required to become a sucessful physcist.He can work hard at it all his life time but he will end up on an average level with inconsistent results. And vise versa.

geniuses are born but they need to be made, if you not made, you not a genius.

MuhMubRaj:
geniuses are born but they need to be made, if you not made, you not a genius.

Nice one bro

Most Nigerians really don't like intellectual activities. Imagine the few number of ppl viewing this! If it had been one irrelevant celebrity gist, the traffic would have been so much...

@Catalystic you mean we should be flogged? I don't think it is appropriate to call members of the judges panel as "amateur" (even if you think we are). You have the right to be disappointed but you have to control how you express it.

You have to understand that some of us not only spent time reading your respective presentations, we also spend time reading your references. It was a time consuming task(and it was worth the troubles).

That said, I sincerely apologise for any disappointment

Oliviaarims:
Most Nigerians really don't like intellectual activities. Imagine the few number of ppl viewing this! If it had been one irrelevant celebrity gist, the traffic would have been so much...

If it had been kitty-cat issue, guys for boku for here

still awaiting the winner.....

tosyne2much:
Catalystic, we demand you apologize to our judges for referring to them as "amateur"

Catalyst4real


If you refused to comply your team might be disqualify..

Fynestboi:





Catalyst4real


If you refused to comply your team might be disqualify..

boss, check the time for tomorrow Futminna debate on the thread you created, it's sunday that is there, please rectify...

Oliviaarims:
Most Nigerians really don't like intellectual activities. Imagine the few number of ppl viewing this! If it had been one irrelevant celebrity gist, the traffic would have been so much...

Like Tonto Dike's behind bah? You never see anything..


Nice activity, although I'm not a fan of debates..

tosyne2much:
What has ranking got to do with this ? Your earlier comment which discriminated against other students of other institutions was totally uncalled for (awon pako universities and polytechnics). If this is your way of reasoning, then I have to say that you need to apply a propriety of wisdom, intelligence and maturity when talking. With your mode of talking and using you as an example, can you now see that your institution can be ranked first in Nigeria yet you could still reason like my cousin in KG1?

Though you tried to defend yourself but your comment still does not hold water at all. There's no point arguing with someone with a myopic way of reasoning.

I'm done with this argument. You won !!!

At first I wondered if you were really that stu.pid or whether you were simply trying to be annoying. But I get it now.
You're only sticking up for your kind. That's why you would exception to a suggestion that was made purely in good faith. Anyway, I hope you show a better sense of discernment in judging the competition. Nairalanders are watching.

Fynestboi:
If you refused to comply your team might be disqualify..

It hasn't gotten to that, Pride ain't my thing.

I meant it when I indicated "No offence"
And the fact that the judges demand an apology means they've taken offence. So I Apologize

But I'd appreciate if the objective of my criticism is looked into and implemented

Judges are you sure you are not doing mistake?

Judge 1

SammySchorlar(Poly Ibadan)

i. Presentation: 3.5

ii. Logic of arguments: 4

iii. Strength of facts, examples, cases.: 3 (would have been "4" but he contradicted himself)

Iv. Persuasiveness: (3.5)

v. Demonstration of knowledge and
understanding of the subject: 4.5

Total= 18.5


[i]
AbukLaw(ABU)

i. Presentation: 2.5
ii. Logic of arguments: 3.5
iii. Strength of facts, examples, cases.: 4
iv. Persuasiveness: 3
v. Demonstration of knowledge and
understanding of the subject: 4


Total: 17





Catalystic

i. Presentation: 2.5

ii. Logic of arguments: 3.5

iii. Strength of facts, examples, cases: 3(he agreed wt opponent at some point)

iv. Persuasiveness: 3

v. Demonstration of knowledge and
understanding of the subject: 4

Total=16 [/i]





Darrytoz

i. Presentation: 2.5

ii. Logic of arguments: 2.5

iii. Strength of facts, examples, cases.: 3

iv. Persuasiveness: 2.5

v. Demonstration of knowledge and
understanding of the subject: 2.5


Total= 13

Dearpreye... You should be here, fast....

Tosyne2much be like "yoyo bitters advert"... But I didn't see any banner attachment nah...
Please and please do not disturb my imagination...

NOT AGAIN..

Sammyscholar take this down and post it on the Chatroom...



Thanks... If you don't comply I will help you sir...

Fynestboi:
NOT AGAIN..

What?

Calm down jare

francizy:

Like Tonto Dike's behind bah? You never see anything..

Nice activity, although I'm not a fan of debates..

Lol.. Yea.. Like Tonto's behind. Or perhaps Ini Edo's cooking pot.

tosyne2much:
If it had been kitty-cat issue, guys for boku for here

Lol.. And looking for vase line.

It is quite glaring that a topic or debate that should stimulate the interest of teenagers on a forum where they are in majority didn't attract them.

But it comes to rubbish topics, in seconds they will fill the pages up.

Kudos to the participants and judges.

TruthHurts1:


At first I wondered if you were really that stu.pid or whether you were simply trying to be annoying. But I get it now.
You're only sticking up for your kind. That's why you would exception to a suggestion that was made purely in good faith. Anyway, I hope you show a better sense of discernment in judging the competition. Nairalanders are watching.

Don't be an attention seeking nincompoop. Don't be pained ehn. Just work on widening your horizon


I surround myself and argue with people with wide range of intellectual capacity, not a dumb acclaimed educated reta.rd like you

Djboosting:
Dearpreye... You should be here, fast....

Tosyne2much be like "yoyo bitters advert"... But I didn't see any banner attachment nah...
Please and please do not disturb my imagination...

Don't worry bros, you would see the next yoyo bitters advert banner

rman:
It is quite glaring that a topic or debate that should stimulate the interest of teenagers on a forum where they are in majority didn't attract them.

But it comes to rubbish topics, in seconds they will fill the pages up.

Kudos to the participants and judges.

I guess you saw it generated low traffic. This is because it doesn't interest them


The larger percent of our youths are only fascinated by sexual explicit threads. Smh.

May God help our students.

Oliviaarims:


Lol.. And looking for vase line.

Pls what's vaseline used for ? *just curious*

tosyne2much:
Don't be an attention seeking nincompoop. Don't be pained ehn. Just work on widening your horizon


I surround myself and argue with people with wide range of intellectual capacity, not a dumb acclaimed educated reta.rd like you

You sorround yourself with people with a wide range of intellectual capacity and yet your statements have all the intellectual force of a sack of Garri. Please stop living in self-deception, it's the worst kind of deception. You would be honoured to have someone of my towering intellect in your sphincter narrow circle of acquaintances but it will NEVER happen. Maybe one day if fortune smiles on you, you might end up making something of your life. Till then focus all your energies on growing up.

TruthHurts1:


You sorround yourself with people with a wide range of intellectual capacity and yet your statements have all the intellectual force of a sack of Garri. Please stop living in self-deception, it's the worst kind of deception. You would be honoured to have someone of my towering intellect in your sphincter narrow circle of acquaintances but it will NEVER happen. Maybe one day if fortune smiles on you, you might end up making something of your life. Till then focus all your energies on growing up.

You need some maturing to do. Don't be a nuisance on a faceless forum. Trading aggravating words with you is not befitting to my status


Now, swerve this way ======»

tosyne2much:
You need some maturing to do. Don't be a nuisance on a faceless forum. Trading aggravating words with you is not befitting to my status


Now, swerve this way ======»

What "status"? Stop flattering yourself with such child-like talk. Being a mod on Nairaland is not a "status". Become a professor and get published in international journals and then you can talk about "status".