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1 !"#$%&'(#)'*+"(,$-$,.' Stephen Kinsella, Ph.D Department of Economics, University of Limerick, Ireland Today!"#$%&'(#)'*+"(,$-$,. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 0! 0/'1#,+2)%3,$2# //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 0! 4/'56(789"&'2:'!"#$%&////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 4! #$"!%&'()!'*+,!*-./'!01'$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$#! #$#!%&'()!'*+,!*-./'!2*'3&4*'56)$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$7! #$8$!%&'()!'*+,!*-./'!2/)56 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$9! #$:!%&'()!'*+,!*-./'!;<=5<&&15<= $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$9! #$>!%&'()!'*+,!*-./'!)?.1' ;/'<="+"')2',="'$)"(&'327"':+27>'57%9(,$#?'?"#$%& //////////////////////////////////////////////// A/'B27"C2+D///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 00! 0/'1#,+2)%3,$2#' This lecture introduces students to the notion of creativity in the very gifted, through stories and examples of those gifted individuals who have come before. Their life stories are sifted for examples, and one guiding principle is extracted, one common thread is found, that each of these geniuses had. We shall see that, in each case, the genius had the intellectual courage to be radically different. Often, though not always, the individual had to fight against the status quo of the day for their ideas to be taken seriously. Sometimes they died before seeing their work come to fruition. Not all were hard workers, or good in school, or even extraordinary in their fields. But all show a marked difference between themselves and other people. That difference, when we look back at the lives of these luminaries, is called! "!

2 genius. The concept of genius has changed over time. A genius in 1800 was someone who distinguished themselves in a particular field. A genis today is someone known for their work alone, for seemingly superhuman feats of calculation, speed, depth of thought, artistic ability, or another trait we find in ourselves but see in them to a remarkable degree. 4/'56(789"&'2:'!"#$%&'!"#$%&'()$'*+,$*-./'$01'$ Let s begin with Art. Can you name 3 genius artists? What makes their work genial, what sets is apart from other artists? What qualities do you think they exhibit that push them apart? Would you say Pablo Picasso was a genius?! #!

3 Door Mar Au Chat, 1941 ( Is Banksy a genius?! 8!

4 Naked Man image by Banksy, in Park Street, Bristol, on the wall of a sexual health clinic 1in Park Street, Bristol, England. Following popular support, the City Council have decided it will be allowed to remain - ( What about this?! :!

5 ! >!

6 What if I told you this picture above was made by a four year old? What if I told you it sold last week for $250,000? Is Marla Olmstead a genius? Marla Olmstead is four. She is an artist whose paintings sell for million-dollar fees. She began painting at two, and has had major exhibitions in New York and London of her work. More on Marla here: ( "When I am in Marla's presence, there's a weird feeling 'cause I know there's something inside this girl that many artists look for their whole lives and never have." Anthony Brunelli! A!

7 What is the nature of genius? Is there a quality of separateness that defines them?!"!$%&'()$'*+,$*-./'$2*'3&4*'56)$ We all know that mathematics is a supremely creative science, where people with huge cognitive ability create relationships between abstract and perhaps unknowable objects. Here are a few great mathematicians and what they did. Each invention changed the world and what we can know about the world. What do you think it was in their stories that allowed these mean and women to realise their genius?! 7!

8 Isaac Newton: Invented Calculus (aged 21) Richard Feynman: Quantum Electrodynamics (aged 29) 20) Srinivas RamanujanL Invented most of modern number theory, (aged Carl Riemann (Invented the Riemann integral and the Riemann hypothesis (aged 22-25) Benjamin Franklin, discovered electricity, invented the eye glasses, (aged 30 50) Bobby fisher, world chess champion at 16. Terrence Tao, Fields medal at 32 There are many more, and we can talk about them all today.! B!

9 !"7"$%&'()$'*+,$*-./'$2/)56$ Ludvig Van Beethoven (Listen to Beethoven s Furelise.mp3) Is the video of the child playing Furelise genius? If not, why not? Can you think of other musical geniuses? Is Britney Spears a musical genius?!"8$%&'()$'*+,$*-./'$9:;5:&&15:;$ Is Theo Jansen a genius? What about his creations? Are they works of genius? Try to write down the qualities they have above and beyond normal people.! 9!

10 !"<$%&'()$'*+,$*-./'$)=.1'$ Is Wayne Rooney a sporting genius? Are there differences between sporting and intellectual genius? ;/'<="+"')2',="'$)"(&'327"':+27>'57%9(,$#?'?"#$%&' One way to have ideas is called Conceptual Blockbusting. It!s a book that was written in the!70s on creativity. The idea is, you just start with a concept that!s immediate to you. I mean immediate in that you have some kind of direct emotional connection to it in that moment. And it can be as simple as a word. Maybe somebody pissed you off in! "@

11 line, or you!re worried that your toe is broken. And you just start with that and begin to associate things with it. It!s not really free association, so it!s not just anything that comes to mind. But you tell little stories to yourself that move you away from that initial concept. So if it!s your toe being broken, you start thinking to yourself, well, what would happen if something else was broken and you tried to drive a car? Then you move away from that and you think about the worst car race ever. Now you!ve moved into a demolition derby. And you just sort of work in circles. At different points you stop and relate wherever you are back to the original concept. And just play. Sometimes I write these things down on paper, and sometimes I just sit there and do them in my head. But for me, it!s a nice little play zone where you can find very weird and silly things. So, let!s play "makes me think of!. C.1!4.1&!5<D.14*'5.<E!)&&!0F*4)E!G*4&)!%$E!!"#$%&'()*+,*"$-.(/'0#12+3+4(05%+'"+,%''%6+75%)/E!H$I$!C1&&4*<F!*<F!J.4?*<KL!M*<!C1*<65)6.E!"97:! A/'B27"C2+D' For next week, write half a page on someone you think is a genius. Try to pick someone who is not obvious (Einstein, for example). It can be someone from your personal life, or some one from your reading, or someone you heard about. Write half a page for Elke and she ll grade them next week.! ""