I heard Tony Buzan’s take on genius recently. He said that beyond talent, the essence of genius was persistence. He said it was persistence in the pursuit of some goal or vision.

I find it interesting that this definition makes a more general point: that genius has more to do with context than with content, more so than with the specific gift associated with a particular skill, whether that skill be art, sport, intellect or whatever. Buzan is saying it is to do with an attitude of mind, the thing that separates the genius from the ordinarily talented person.

I have known from my own experience persistence to be put down as a dubious trait. I was often branded stubborn, tenacious or single-minded, probably with a roll of the eyes. Then there is a whole army of subscribers to the therapeutic community who have it that extreme persistence probably indicates some psychological flaw, possibly a perfectionist complex that should be ironed out. A sound definition of madness I’ve heard it said is to keep doing the same thing expecting a different outcome.

I imagine Buzan too evangelical to take such negatives seriously. But they are genuine conflicts for anyone seeking to be exceptional. Persistence is just as likely to be shunned by friend and therapist alike. Buzan might respond that how one then deals with that is a further measure of the genius he describes. I think he would be right there.