A definition of genius I really like is “talent hits the target others can’t hit, genius hits the target others can’t see”. Partly because it is based on actions rather than personality (do something over be someone) and partly because my actions occasionally qualify. 😎
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The definition is I think the same as Elizabeth Gilbert’s definition of a genius as an external entity, a daemon, that visits some of your actions if you show up everyday. It’s an extrinsic, situationist definition of genius rather than a vanity one. ted.com/talks/elizabet
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On days your genius visits you can hit what others can’t see. On other days you can expect to work at showing off your talent at best. And talent is neither necessary, nor sufficient for genius generally. Mediocrities might get higher frequency genius visits by being more open.
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One reason I’ve been in a bit of a funk for the last few years is that I haven’t felt like I’m hitting targets others can’t see for a while. I don’t think I’ve hit one since Premium Mediocre (note: once you hit it, everybody has always-already seen it).
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I thought you had some good ones last year. I liked the bicycle metaphor. breakingsmart.substack.com/p/how-to-ride-
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GUTS feels like an always-already-seen-it one, at least for me. I looked up the date, and it was a little over a year ago, but it feels like longer.
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Thanks, some of these though are more like flushing out stuff from files from long ago. Fossil fuel.
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I think some of your posts lately have been on topics that deal with more uncertainty. That makes them more relevant to me. I get the impression you are spending more time and words on the "searching for a cheap trick" phase of the double freytag.
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Looking for targets rather than hitting them. It's kind of fun to watch. (Not as much fun to live, probably.) A different kind of value.
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