Apparently the jury is still out on this issue but the links below provide some encouragement:
- Terence Tao: Does one have to be a genius to do maths?
- The Cult of Genius at the Cosmic Variance blog
Update: I have just found an interesting follow-up on the Cult of Genius post, The Cult of Theory, at Chad Orzel’s blog.
Update 2: an interesting recent discussion at the Backreaction blog.
Update 3: see this post by Peter Turney and this article
Stumble!
Advertisements
I also think that some people don’t have the kind of personality required to do well in math. In order to do well in math and other sciences, you have to be able to sort of sit down, shut yourself off from the world, and solve a problem. Most people just don’t have that kind of concentration or the “warrior” spirit to keep solving things.