Let us begin by stating right from the outset that there is a big difference between genius and technical intelligence. In our culture we tend to call very intelligent technical people; nerds. A nerd is usually someone that either through choice or through natural ability has focused most of his life to academic pursuits of one kind or another. This is usually a derogatory term because nerds are seen as people that have very little social aptitude.

This article is not about how to become a better nerd. It’s also not an article that will allow you to input large sums of knowledge in a really small amount of time. This article is a small tidbit on how to acquire true genius; which is the ability to tap into a deeper part of yourself. This inner genius has the ability to take you into mental scapes that can greatly expand your mental perspective and your overall intellect.
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All the great minds of the past, from Davinci to Einstein and beyond, have been able to tap into this inner resource. They have been able to channel this inner knowing in themselves and as a result, they have expanded human thought and knowledge beyond all past limits.

Technical knowledge, or book knowledge if you prefer, won’t allow you to make these giant leaps in mental ability. The best way to see this is to realize that most of the really smart people that you know or deal with, are really just very good a memorization and application. Smart people are able to take a concept, learn it, and apply this to whatever task demands that knowledge. No small feat to be certain but it is one that has limitations.

Please understand that I don’t want to downplay intelligence as we understand it. What I do wish to point out is the fact that smarts will maintain a system and will allow you to thrive by using all of the tools at your disposal in that system, but they are seldom responsible for creative invention. True genius creates by breaking the rules, not by memorizing and applying them.

Therefore, to be able to allow your inner genius to come out, you have to be able to empty your cup. This is like the Zen monk that admonished his new pupil to let go of all that he had learnt and empty his cup or else he will never be able to understand the enlightened truth. To be able to find your inner genius you have to also be able to forget all those things that you have learnt or else you will never be able to find a different and better way. In order to think outside the box, you have to get out of the box. This is the catch 22 of true genius.

To do this you will have to be able to unlearn, at least for a while, what you have learnt. We will explore in a future article how you can get out of that box both figuratively and mentally and hopefully these methods will allow you to unleash your inner genius.  For now what you need to understand is that true genius is found by first letting go of preconceived notions. True genius means breaking the rules.