There is no female Mozart because there is no female Jack the Ripper

[denuseri]

provided that genius involves then some sence of creativity as opposed to the ability to erudite knowledge for a test(IQ)

and that obsession also has nothing to do with taking the same test (unless your obsession of course was the test)

obsession does not equal creativity, for the obsessed may not indeed be creative, nor conversly the creative be obsessed

or perhaps what makes genius is a far more complex ideal than what we can define

perhaps its more a combination of disipline and cunning?

[TomOfSweden]

obsession does not equal creativity, for the obsessed may not indeed be creative, nor conversly the creative be obsessed

Obsessed people get more work done. Coming up with an idea is not the heavy lifting. I'm convinced that all those who we label as geniuses in virtually none of the cases came up with the ideas themselves. Their genius lies in seeing how other peoples ideas could be applied to something practical. And that mostly requires hard work. We admire them for having the energy and clarity of thought to know that faith in something other people think is wonky... is in fact a good idea.

But testosterone doesn't do this. Testosterone doesn't give men more energy or clarity of thought. It just makes us, (men) make rash decisions and think that dominating others is a very important thing. If anything its counter productive because it takes away focus from the actual problem. I guess that it can help men defend their ideas when they're attacked before bearing fruit. Which might be a factor. he he. I don't hang around enough geniuses to know.

[fetishdj]

But testosterone doesn't do this. Testosterone doesn't give men more energy or clarity of thought. It just makes us, (men) make rash decisions and think that dominating others is a very important thing. If anything its counter productive because it takes away focus from the actual problem. I guess that it can help men defend their ideas when they're attacked before bearing fruit. Which might be a factor. he he. I don't hang around enough geniuses to know.

I was not talking about testosterone in the body of the individual. I was referring to testosterone present in the womb when the individual's brain is developing. It has been shown that in utero factors such as hormone levels in maternal blood can have an effect on the development of the child and testosterone in particular has been shown to have an effect on which side of the brain becomes dominant. Since brain dominance can influence how you think (intuitive/creative as opposed to logical/spatial reasoning to really over simplify things) it is likely that this can affect how much of a genius you are.

Maybe a genius is someone who has a higher level of creative/intuitive reasoning. If they also have a good level of logical/spatial reasoning and have the right training then you get a scientist who has that creative insight which often leads to good ideas and being called a genius?

Because, really, genius is a title which is conferred by society not necessarily by inherent traits. Intelligence is an inherent, measurable quality. Genius is not. Generally, someone is called a genius because they do something that gets noticed which overturns the previous paradigm.

You make a good point about obsessives working harder... more to the point, they work more efficiently and try more things. I say this because you also have to realise that for every good idea that works, there are hundreds that don't (the intellectual jungle is a rough one and some of the tigers use bazookas) so the obsessive also needs to power through many ideas before one gets recognition.

Elizabeth made an interesting point about autism. I think there is also a high correlation between genius ideas and psychological disorders (as already mentioned). Again, autists have a different brain chemsitry which is likely to give them different perceptions of the world.

In fact, different perceptions is what inspiration is based on. For millenia humanity has tried many different ways to change their perception - drugs, meditation, fasting, pain endurance trials and so on. These methods change the way your brain chemistry is balanced ands can lead to insights which may or may not make sense when you come out of the faint. Many tribalres, for example, have a ritual where the shaman goes into a trance (often drug induced) while meditating on a problem the tribe is having. This trance gives him alternative insights into how the problem may be solved. I have had similar experiences myself - not drug induced but during diabetic 'episodes' - where thoughts become crystal clear and I think in a totally different way.

I do sometimes wonder if all the records of oracles and visions of saints and other 'mystical and spiritual phenomena' were not in fact due to someone having undiagnosed autism or some other psychological disorder....