" ...above all do as an illustrious man did, who took as an exemplar one who had been praised and famous before him, and whose achievements and deeds he always kept in his mind...", wrote Nicolo Machiavelli in The Prince, circa 1505.
A simple thought really... examine the experience of the greats before us and heed their advice and their warnings. And yet...
..."human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others", noted Douglas Adams, "are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so".
Not so Machiavelli. He revealed later in a letter to Francesco Vettori: "On the coming of evening, I return to my house and enter my study; and at the door I take off the day's clothing, covered with mud and dust, and put on garments regal and courtly; and reclothed appropriately, I enter the ancient courts of ancient men, where, received by them with affection, I feed on that food which only is mine and which I was born for, where I am not ashamed to speak with them and to ask them the reason for their actions; and they in their kindness answer me; and for four hours of time I do not feel boredom, I forget every trouble, I do not dread poverty, I am not frightened by death; entirely I give myself over to them.
"And because Dante says it does not produce knowledge when we hear but do not remember, I have noted everything in their conversation which has profited me..."
The annals of history contain spatters of men who stand above their counterparts in intellect, influence and effect.
These were conceived in a variety of places... raised under divergences of ideologies, influenced by a melange of world views, religions, governances and facing a multiplicity of different struggles and challenges... but each stood out from the crowd for their extraordinary minds.
The question is this: Can we learn from these great figures and emulate their successes?
Why in a world of more than 6 billion people do we have such a lack of standout geniuses? Personally I believe the answer is found in the way that we are taught... or more specifically, the way we perceive learning... but that is for another post.
Several authors have tackled the question. One of the more poignant answers was found in an exploration of traits corresponding to history's mental giants.
Several characteristics were found. I won't look at all them and if you've bothered to read this far then it's likely you've guessed one of them - Geniuses have long seen the value in emulating other geniuses.
Albert Einstein kept a portrait of Isaac Newton on the wall above his bed. Newton in turn advised that "we can see further if we stand on the shoulders of giants". It is a hallmark of great minds to both identify and assimilate the thoughts and examples of previous great thinkers.
I know this makes sense to all of us... and I've long given the thought lip service. But where we appreciate their successes and their gifts, we fail to look deeper...
How did they become the thinkers that they did? How did they approach learning? How did they approach life? These are the important questions... not their discoveries.
If you've not done so already, please, make the time to read How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci by Michael J. Gelb.
There has been no greater polymath than da Vinci. Artist, inventor, astronomer, geologist, mathematician, botanist, engineer, architect, musician etcetera...
Gelb examines seven aspects of da Vinci's approach to life... all of them imitable... all of them powerful.
(Incidentally, yes... I do know that I'm all over the place in this blog... when I started writing it I didn't have a main point... and I still don't know where I'm going!)
Anyone with more than a cursory knowledge of da Vinci will be familiar with his notebooks. Here lies another staple of the genius... the writing down of thoughts. Machiavelli mentioned it above... Leonardo took the practice to a height few will reach... Xanga affords an even greater opportunity.
But how often do we take notes except by necessity?
Wow this is getting long...
but a few more thoughts.
The majority of information we consume is in our youth. Children raised in a multi-lingual family reach fluency in several languages with ease... but how hard it becomes for the older to learn a new language.
but why?.... children play around with what they hear in their heads... children ask questions incessantly.. children daydream...
It seems silly, but by assuming the mind of a child can we truly re-inspire our learning process.
"I roamed the countryside searching for answer to things I did not understand. Why shells existed on the tops of mountains along with the imprints of coral and plants and seaweed usually found in the sea. Why the thunder lasts a longer time than that which causes it, and why immediately on its creation the lightning becomes visible to the eye while thunder requires time to travel. How the various cycles of water form around the spot which has been struck by a stone, and why a bird sustains itself in the air. These questions and other strange phenomena engage my thought throughout my life," wrote da Vinci.
In similar fashion Einstein developed the Special Theory of Relativity after imagining what it would be like to run beside a light beam, at the speed of light.
It's a fun challenge really... It was always a regular habit of mine to pass by that which I didn't understand. I'm trying to form a habit of simply recording something that I don't understand or some area that I am unfamiliar with... then when time presents itself, to do some simple research and write down what I learn.
I want to write more.. I haven't time.... a future post though.
Ask yourself this.... what was I taught about my brain and about the most succesful techniques for learning and retaining information?
More on that later... if I'm getting boring, just tell me to shut up in the comment box!
In the meantime... if you are interested in similar books on the topic of genius... I would recommend the following :
Discover your Genius - Michael J. Gelb, The Book of Genius - Tony Buzan and Raymond Keene and The Einstein Factor - Dr Win Winger.
 
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