The Nature of Genius
Published: September 15, 2022
Description
Today "genius" is all around us. Celebrities, athletes, child prodigies, even your local Apple employees, all are referred to as geniuses. But are they? And if not these individuals then who? In this course, Henry L. and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Music Emeritus and author of The Hidden Habits of Genius, Craig Wright, will begin by giving you his definition and prerequisites for true genius and challenge you to come up with your own.
From there we'll look at examples of geniuses both historical and modern to try to identify the threads that bind them together and understand what separates the true genius from the wannabe... We’ll explore where creativity, curiosity and passion originate and how geniuses are able to discover, cultivate and apply their prodigious stores of each so as to fashion world changing ideas and inventions.
Specific topics covered in the course include:
Genius and Gender
Genius and Money
Whether or not celebrities and athletes can be considered geniuses
Where and when genius happen
The morality of genius
Genius and inequality
And dozens more
While this course almost assuredly will not turn anyone into a genius, we hope it will serve to inspire you to cultivate your own creativity, explore your own curiosity, and pursue your own passion.
Course Takeaways
- Understand the common threads, both environmental and innate, that bind geniuses together
- Learn what factors encourage and/or discourage the development of genius
- Study historical figures, widely considered to possess genius, from different eras and regions
Meet the Instructors
Craig Wright Studied piano and music history at the Eastman School of Music (1962-1966) and went on to earn an M.A. and Ph.D. in musicology at Harvard (1966-1972). After a pleasant year teaching at the University of Kentucky in Lexington (1972-1973), Wright moved to Yale, serving as chair of the Department of Music from 1986-1992 and becoming the Henry L. and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Music in 2006. At the undergraduate level he teaches a basic music appreciation course (one of Yale’s largest) and the music history course required of majors in Medieval and Renaissance music.
Full biography
