Unraveling Genius: Nature, Nurture, and Prodigy

Today it’s great to have Dean Keith Simonton on the podcast. Dean is distinguished professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California Davis. His well over 500 single author publications focus on topics such as genius, creativity, aesthetics, and leadership. In 2018, MIT Press published his book The Genius Checklist but he has also published many other books on these various topics of genius, leadership, and aesthetics. I just want to personally say his book, Greatness: Who Makes History and Why, is one of the major books that inspired me to go into the field that I’m in today.

Topics:

· Dean’s interest in genius, creativity, and leadership

· The historiometic approach

· Child prodigies and the savant syndrome

· Dean’s schooling years

· Can late bloomers become geniuses?

· Fame and creativity in the age of social media

· Using the equal odds rule to create a masterpiece

· Grit and openness to experience predict genius

· Dean’s solo publications and collaborations

· Re-analysis of Cox’s data on geniuses

· The IQs of Mozart, Cervantes, and Shakespeare

· Scientific genius vs. artistic genius

· The mad-genius paradox

· US Presidents’ IQ scores and leadership

· Variability and the role of talent in mastery

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