Genius is an innate trait that cannot be cultivated through training. This conclusion has been drawn by Russian scientists. Dr. Sergey Savelyev, a professor and expert in the personal characteristics of the brain, is a prominent figure in this field. Throughout his life, he has studied geniuses, striving to understand how they are born and where their talents originate. As the head of the Neurobiology Laboratory at the Institute of Human Morphology, part of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Professor Savelyev shared his observations with journalists:
“The brains of different individuals are remarkably distinct. Even when we do not speak of geniuses but simply consider ordinary people, various structures found in the cortex—the large structures that facilitate our thinking—are not the same across individuals.”
Intelligence is dependent on the state of gray matter, the scientist noted. He has researched the brain organization of several dozen exceptional individuals, including Nobel laureates, poets, artists, and musicians. Typically, in talented individuals, the areas of the brain responsible for auditory, visual, or other functions differ from those of ordinary people.
“What changes in the personal structure of the brain? This refers to the number of neurons involved in various functions. An average person’s cortex contains about 11 billion neurons. For instance, approximately 3 billion neurons are dedicated to vision. However, some individuals may have not three billion, but nine billion neurons allocated for vision.”
Genius is innate. (Photo: shadyoaklearning.com)
The more neurons there are, the greater the connections between them, leading to greater success in specific fields. Great painters may possess a larger visual field, enabling them to perceive what ordinary individuals cannot.
“Talented individuals possess similar structures related to vision. And they do not just have a single structure but dozens of such structures. The likelihood of similar capabilities in ordinary individuals is very low. Hence, there are very few geniuses.”
The unique organization of the brain is solely dependent on genetics. It is not possible to train or educate an ordinary person to become a genius if their brain does not have the necessary developed structures.
Another point is that the brain of a genius can weigh one and a half times more than that of an ordinary person. Therefore, from the outset, humans are not alike.
“Humans differ more from a panda compared to a dog, or a fox compared to a wolf. Thus, it is not surprising that we cannot come to an agreement with one another.”
A genius is someone who has the ability to create something that did not previously exist in nature. However, it is common for geniuses to go unrecognized during their lifetime. Professor Savelyev stated that in the coming decades, technology will change this situation.
“We need to increase the resolution of modern medical scanners by about 5 to 10 times. That would be sufficient to detect some innate abilities of individuals. Furthermore, this detection should occur while the individual is still alive.”
Current medical scanners are not capable of achieving this. On the screens of these devices, the gray matter of an ordinary human brain and that of a famous composer appear identical. Only traumatic lesions are clearly visible.
