GENIUSES ARE MADE NOT BORN by Jegede Oluwatola

  It goes without saying that a genius is someone embodying exceptional intellectual ability, creativity or originality typically to a degree that is associated with the achievement of unprecedented insight.

Geniuses are those who fully embrace whom they are and are passionate about it, persevere amidst all odds, setbacks and do not let the expectation of others get in their way.

Having belabored the foregoing, genius involves figuring out whom you are and being in total control of yourself. It is about strengthening your best traits and compensating for the rest. A genius is one who takes the bull by the horn in life, and becomes a master of his or her profession or career.

Professor Gaga who was the one who promulgated this saying when she once said "we are just born this way". She actually did not mention the fact that heritability has very little to do with the potentials of becoming a genius. This speech of hers led to a conference being held in Venice, Italy. There a young scholar debunked her statement by raising a point that "what if you are born with some tendencies you do not want to be born with? Are you just stuck that way?". It caused a flurry of discussions and it was generally agreed upon that just because a trait is heritable, it does not mean that the trait is fixed and cannot be developed.

 It stands logic on its head that a very false myth popularly said is that we are all stuck at the intelligence level we are born with when actually Intelligence Quotient(IQ) can change and be improved upon with tremendous efforts. Many of our greatest artists, scientists and record-breakers demonstrated brilliance only after honing their craft throughly and devoting hours of practice and study on it. At this juncture, I beg to disagree with the proposed motion which states that 'Geniuses are born not made'.

The thrust of this piece is that the real meaning of success is not what others may say to you or the days of little beginning. As it is popularly said, 'better is it that ends well' also 'it is not all about how far you have gone but how well'. Success and becoming a genius is not a day's job. It is all about working on yourself to become better in what you feel you are at your best, practising to broaden your horizons, passionately becoming good at what you are doing and finally becoming a master in it.

I submit that genes   definitely play a role in intelligence level, but at the same time, genius is also the result of tremendous amount of work. Hence, the phrase 'born genius' is deceptive. I do not subscribe to it for a minute! So many people often regarded as the greatest minds of our century often had to face great obstacles, the ridicles of their peers and the animosity of the society, which mostly gears them up to become better.

I would like to cite Albert Einstein as an example, majority of us do take him synonymously with a genius, but he did not show such promise. Einstein did not speak till he was four and he did not write till he was seven, causing his parents and teachers to think he was mentally handicapped, slow and anti-social. He had an IQ test and he had a ninety which only showed that he was a dunce. He was expelled from school and he was refused admission to the Zurich Polytechnic School. Now people will ever remember him for changing the face of modern Physics and also a Nobel Prize winner.

Charles Darwin,a well-known scientist himself wrote 'I was considered by all my masters and my father a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard of an intellect'. Perhaps they judged too soon, Charles has made a name for himself.

As it is, Isaac Newton, great mathematicians will never forget this Maths guru but it suffices to say that he never did particularly well in school and he was put in charge of the family farm, he always failed miserably. His uncle gave him the benefit of the doubts and sent him off to Cambridge where he finally blossomed into the scholar we know today.

I make bold to say that Robert Stern-berg, which is a big name in Psychology received a woeful result in his first college Introductory Psychology class with his teacher saying that 'there was already a famous Stern-berg in Psychology and it was obvious there would not be another'. Stern berg was jolted and he worked harder. He graduated with exceptional distinction in Psychology and he is now the President of American Psychological Association.
Digging deep, Thomas Edison, in his early life, a teacher told Edison he was 'too stupid to learn anything'. Work was no better, he was fired in his first two jobs.


Edison made one thousand attempts at inventing the light bulb, he failed at all but all this unsuccessful attempts finally resulted in the design that worked.
In all frankness,Orville and Wilbur Wright, popularly known and referred to as the Wright brothers, battled depression. After numerous attempts at creating flying machines, several years of hardwork and tons of failed prptotypes, the brothers finally created a plane that could get air-borne and stay there.

 Firing from all cylinders, taking it away from the science and inventory world, i would like to talk about Michael Jordan. Often lauded as the best basketball player of all times, Michael once said 'I have missed more than one thousand shots in my career, I have lost almost three hundred games, on twenty-six occasions, I have been entrusted to take the game winning my shots and i missed. I have failed over and over again in my life and that is why i succeed'.

Ben Carson said' I was not a good student. No, i lie, that is not exactly true, I was the worst student in my whole fifth-grade class at Higgins Elementary School'. He had no competition for the buttom of the class, he was exposed to taunts, ridicle and teases from other kids. Yet he struggled to make headway and worked hard on himself. Behold, all this is history now because he is a Professor and Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at John Hopkins Medical Institution. He made world-wide breakthroughs in Neurosurgery that has brought life and hope to the hopeless. Am there were sure some 'born genius' in this profession before him. Why did they not make the breakthroughs with their naturally high IQ? What must habe withheld them? Manyquestions begging for answers.
 Most people do ask 'am I really good enough, talented enough?' when really the most important thing is to stick to it and with determination you work your way to becoming the best. It is either you shape up or ship out.


Worthy of mention is the fact that working memory has a lot to do more than Intelligence Quotient level to be a genius. A genius is influenced by both biological and environmental factors. Saying that a person is a dunce, he ever remains a dunce was defuted in the life of Teddy. Teddy was affected psychologically with the issues at home. His teacher, Mrs Thompson took delight in marking his paper with a broad X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his paper. The moment Mrs Thompson did the review of every student in her class and found out that Teddy was traumatized by his mum's death and how things were rough at home, the story changed. She took her time to coach him and his mind came alive, by the end of the year, Teddy became the smartes in her class. Teddy Stoddard is the Doctor at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines that has the Stoddard Cancer wings today.
       

I will like to draw up my conclusion by stating that determination and perseverance, hardwork and a die-hard spirit are the keys to becoming a well reputable and renowned genius. Believe in yourself, look deep down into what is in you, work on your flaws and i dare say the sky would not only be the limit, it is just the starting stone. Simplicita!