Publish at September 28 2022 Updated September 28 2022
"I am young, it is true ; but to well-born souls, value does not wait for the number of years"
(II, 2, 405-406) The Cid, Corneille
Talent is the one who knows how to handle his or her art marvelously, genius is the one who radically and creatively transforms his or her discipline, or even creates it specifically to his or her own measure.
The image of a juvenile Mozart capable of producing incredible melodies, but more importantly, of composing his first minuets at the age of 6 is the archetype of precocious genius. History is full of them. Thus, Evariste Galois, at the age of 20, theorized the conditions for an equation to be solvable by radicals, i.e. for its solutions to be found using only the four basic operations. Blaise Pascal mastered at twelve years old, the foundations of Euclid's geometry, at 19 years old, Gauss wrote the regular polygons that can be built with the ruler and the compass only. Rimbaud was 17 years old when he wrote "Le bateau Ivre". Thomas Edison is a self-taught man who at the age of 10 already had a chemistry laboratory in the basement of his parents' house. We then know of his sparkling passion for electricity.
These young people who defy the laws of learning by moving so fast fascinate us. The young talents even argue for the existence of reincarnation so sudden does their gift seem, even though behind each precocity lies a lot of passion, family support, supportive environment, training, work and multiple trials before reaching the flash of genius. These young talents belong to history, but others are taking on the challenges of a world in transition that is coming to us. They are imagining technological solutions, they are creative or standing in our consciousness to break the rules.
The net giants try to detect scientific talents and geniuses through competitions. For example, Intel identifies off-the-charts performance by scientific geniuses.
Scientific precociousness applies to all disciplines and is not bothered by the heaviness of prevailing scientific protocols or beliefs. It is probably this lack of prevention that allows them to ignore the roadblocks that the scientific community puts up. In computer science, Nick d'Aloisio recently created Summly, an app that can summarize news articles. His code appealed to Yahoo! who acquired it for $30 million.
In space research, Neil Ibata identified the organization of dwarf galaxies around the constellation Andromeda. He was then an intern at the Strasbourg Observatory. The discovery is a major one for the world of astronomy; Arjun Nair, a 16-year-old high school student, on the other hand, improved a cancer therapy through the simple use of an antibiotic.
When Eesha Khare, 18, has invented a system that allows a phone battery to be charged in less than 30 minutes, a real user benefit for billions of mobinauts around the world.
Among the young creative talent, there are many writers, singers and artists. Not all of them will become outstanding; geniuses revolutionizing their discipline is rarer. There is probably Martin who works with wood and metal 7 days a week in pursuit of an ideal of the beautiful and the just in the objects he makes, without electricity, in memory and honor of community of American artisans. Marie-Ange Nguci is a pianist and performs difficult works with virtuosity at age 20. His musical genius is as astounding as his simplicity, his humility almost bordering on shyness.
It would also be possible to name many poet or creative writers from the city, the countryside or the big cities. Everywhere one looks, one sees young talents who are active and are hatching; the networks are their stage.
It is possible to be young and engaged. Probably the young talents who are changing the world are in tune with the thinking of eco-activist Greta Thunberg who says
"So we cannot save the world by following the rules. Because the rules need to be changed. Everything needs to change and it needs to start today.".
These young talents are doing what they feel is right which is why the established rules do not concern them. They are guided by higher instincts where the common good comes first. They rarely know each other but each in their own way militates in the same direction of a search for a peaceful life, fulfilled and making a place for everyone. They remind us of the evidence of generosity sometimes at the risk of their lives.
The young people who face the Taliban's vindictiveness head on like Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Prize winner. The ones who fight for independence and freedom of thought in their cities like Joshua Wong in Hong Kong. The one like Emma Gonzáles who stands up to the American gun lobby. The ones who fight for the rights of Memory Banda's daughters or Muzoon Almellehan. The growing number who are fighting in the service of biodiversity by planting millions of trees like Felix Finkbeiner and Victor Noël . Ahed Tamimi and Karolina Farská who fight for peace and against corruption.
The examples offered have been in three narrow but key areas of societal transition, there are of course talents in many other fields and practices such as sports, politics or the various humanities and they should also be honored. Not all will become geniuses. But, let the more mature readers be reassured creativity also comes to old masters not only to young geniuses, because there are cycles of creativity and sometimes age has its good side. The path of experience is even sometimes favored for certain practices such as education where acquiring experience remains an interesting option .
If the cases cited are insufficient, Thélot's book, (2017) traces the origin of 350 geniuses over a period of 450 years. There is much to learn here about how singularities manage to flourish.
If we are to believe Thélot's conclusions:
"Half of the geniuses come from a superior background, a quarter from a popular family.
The genius is urban, very rarely peasant.
Artists and inventors are frequently of popular origin, intellectuals sometimes, action geniuses never.
Sometimes genius "makes itself". And four times out of five, it asserts itself in a field new to the family heritage."
Sources
Huffingtonpost High School Student Invents Revolutionary Charger https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/life/article/une-lyceenne-invente-un-chargeur-revolutionnaire-et-alors_19842.html
Lorient Day Arjun Nair a 16-year-old Canadian in search of a better cancer therapy https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/809356/arjun-nair-un-canadien-de-16-ans-en-quete-dune-meilleure-therapie-contre-le-cancer.html
Answers to all. Unusual. Neil Ibata little genius of atronomy. https://reponseatout.com/insolite-neil-ibata-15-ans-petit-genie-de-lastronomie/
Madame Figaro Young people and geniuses, these twentysomethings who are shaping the world of tomorrow. https://madame.lefigaro.fr/societe/jeunes-et-genies-ces-vingtenaires-qui-faconnent-le-monde-de-demain-121020-182994
Influx. The little geniuses. Value does not wait for the number of years https://www.linflux.com/sciences/les-petits-genies-la-valeur-nattend-pas-le-nombre-des-annees/
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=148687447230553&id=356609184482177&_rdr
Precocious geniuses. Working Your Scales Like Mozart https://photo.caminteresse.fr/les-genies-precoces-33986#9-travailler-ses-gammes-comme-mozart-586850
Old Masters and Young Geniuses - Nathalie Heinich - https://journals.openedition.org/temporalites/1711
Thot Curriculum. Do you have to be old to innovate in pedagogy? https://cursus.edu/fr/11404/faut-il-etre-age-pour-innover-en-pedagogie
Thélot, C. (2017). The origin of geniuses. Média Diffusion.
https://www.decitre.fr/ebooks/l-origine-des-genies-9782021376517_9782021376517_1.html
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