In our new release book GENIUS INTELLIGENCE: Secret Techniques and Technologies to Increase IQ, we draw the conclusion – based on over a decade’s research – that genius intelligence is more the result of nurture than nature.
This assertion has sparked quite a debate – in our ‘Underground Knowledge’ discussion group on Goodreads.com and elsewhere. One group member, who professes to be a genius and has the IQ (182) to confirm this, insists geniuses are born.
We (my co-writer and I) beg to differ.
Our research clearly shows that higher intelligence is not necessarily something you’re born with or genetically predisposed toward. In fact, most instances of above-the-ordinary intelligences are usually acquired thru superior learning techniques – many of which we cover in detail in our book.
Reading about the greatest minds in history, including recent history, more often than not reveals the individuals concerned (or people close to them) employed specific learning methods. The examples we cite throughout our book shatter the myth that geniuses are always born with exceptional intelligence and/or talent.
Certainly, there are those born with amazing abilities not fostered by educational methods, but our research has revealed these naturally gifted geniuses are definitely the exception, not the norm.
A classic example of this natural born genius myth is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart whom most believe was simply a wunderkind, or virtuoso, from infancy. Many brain researchers have also described the Austrian composer as someone who just had incredible musical and artistic abilities from birth.
Mozart as a child.
However, as with most geniuses, there is a significant body of evidence to support the contentious theory that Mozart’s brilliance was as much the result of nurture as it was nature, if not more so.
It is true the musical prodigy was composing by five, and by seven or so he was performing for audiences throughout Europe. And while achievements like that, at those early ages, are certainly extraordinary, the key point is that Mozart came from a musical family and was pushed to excel musically. As soon as he could walk and talk, in fact, or even earlier if you stop to consider he was exposed to classical compositions while still in his mother’s womb.
The young Mozart’s father Leopold was a renowned composer in his own right and an ambitious musical teacher who wanted his son to achieve greatness. History tells us that Leopold forced Mozart Junior to practice for many hours a day even before he had reached school age.
It has been estimated that by the time Mozart was six he had already spent about 4000 hours studying music.
Perhaps a modern-day equivalent to Mozart’s father would be someone like Richard Williams, father of legendary American tennis champions Serena and Venus Williams. Upon deciding tennis was the way out of the ‘ghetto’, Williams Sr. pushed his daughters day after day from a young age in his relentless quest for them to become world champions.
Classical music experts have noted that many of Mozart’s childhood compositions are mostly rearrangements of other (older) composers’ works. Not being experts in classical music – or any music for that matter – we can’t comment, but if true that would further undermine the enduring myth about the great composer being an innate genius who could rely solely on his natural talent and who hardly needed to practice.
We found that nine out of ten biographies of geniuses reveal forgotten or previously unmentioned examples of intelligence-enhancing techniques and/or technologies these individuals employed on their path to greatness.
Traditionally, IQ has been perceived as a genetic trait in much the same way an individual’s height or body type is perceived – in other words a fixed trait, or state, and therefore (thought to be) something that could never be altered.
In recent years, however, there has been an explosion of new scientific studies, which make a mockery of that assumption. These show that cognitive training, whether by mental techniques or brain enhancement technologies, can definitely deliver intelligence-boosting effects.
Certainly, you need some natural aptitude to excel in most facets of life – be it mental, physical or artistic – but if genius was simply a matter of inheriting good genes, then many more of us would be geniuses.
To see what the critics are saying about GENIUS INTELLIGENCE, or to check the book out, go to: http://www.amazon.com/GENIUS-INTELLIGENCE-Techniques-Technologies-Underground-ebook/dp/B00QXQQWXO/
To view the discussion thread on genius intelligence (the phenomenon) check out our ‘Underground Knowledge’ group at: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/142309-29-conspiracy-theories—a-discussion-group Everyone’s welcome!
***************************************
Morcan Books & Films 