Genius

We all know what a genius is: people with super brains who answer the big questions of the cosmos, life, music, or consumption solely through the power of their thoughts. In our imagination, they are not easy personalities, ranging from being rather overwhelmed in interpersonal situations to being unable to pull two matching socks out of the drawer in the morning. That's only fair, because such a great brain must have some disadvantage.

But it's not that simple. Einstein, for example, solved the problem of clothing by reportedly owning only two suits – identical suits – so that he could use his brain for more important questions. And where exactly did Steve Jobs' genius lie? Not in development, that was someone else's job. In his vision of future markets? Even he got it wrong from time to time. In marketing? Self-marketing? In his demand for maximum perfection?

In fact, we don't really know what constitutes genius or where it comes from. Perfection is certainly one aspect, creativity another. Persistence, because true skill requires a lot of practice – generally estimated at 10,000 hours. Appropriately, it appears that greater skill requires less brain activity: thoughts that lead in the wrong direction are not even considered. Which brings us back to Einstein's suits.

And so Christian Wolf starts off by asking the important question: What makes a genius?