Is Elon Musk a genius? Does business success even count towards genius?
Well, it’s complicated. Musk is certainly very smart, and he has enjoyed genius-like success in business. He’s the world’s wealthiest man.
Some kind of IQ threshold is usually used to define genius. That makes sense simply because the attributes measured by a standardized IQ test – speed, memory, puzzle-solving ability – are often associated with genius-types. I’m sure Elon Musk’s IQ meets that standard.
But that seems a narrow definition. Consider for a minute just the sheer number of people passing an IQ threshold test: with 8 billion people worldwide, that means 80,000,000 people are in the top 1%. Are there 80 million geniuses? It is hard to see strong evidence of that! Even if you go with the top 1% of the 1%, you are still talking about 800,000 people!
So then, I would probably combine some qualitative characteristics. That’s where it gets sticky. Einstein? Sure. Mozart? Yes. Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Georgia O’Keefe? Yes, yes, yes. What about Steve Jobs? Mostly, yes. Warren Buffett or Bill Gates or Elon Musk? All of those last four probably make most lists. Interesting, though, isn’t it, that they excel in business, capitalism, no less. I am not sure their inclusion would be universal.
And what do you say about Taylor Swift or Michael Jackson or Paul McCartney? Does pop music fall into the genius category? Or does it have to be something substantive like physics or mathematics or “serious” art? Was John Lennon more genius than Paul McCartney? I once watched a brief television interview with Eminem, and I swear I found his wordplay to be genius. Or – again - does genius require serious material? Personally, I would need to add Carole King and Jackson Browne to my genius word craft list.
What was the defining factor for Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln? Was it also evident in Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr.? What about Churchill? Nixon? Thatcher? Either Clinton? Well, you get the point … perhaps part of true genius is situational? Are they true geniuses when most of us never heard of them?
Frankly, I do not know for sure. My guess is that there are people who are genius at certain things, but that might not define them in your mind as a “true” genius. At the same time, other people have high IQ and intellect without ever achieving universal genius stature.
As I said, it’s complicated.