Who is that Genius I admire?

"A Genius is a person of extraordinary mental powers whose original works or insights [plural] change society in some significant way for good or for ill across cultures and across time." 

                                                                        Professor Craig White

                                                                        Henry L & Lucy G Moses Prof Emeritus of Music

                                                                         Yale University

                                                                                

As part of doing the course 'The Nature of Genius' offered by Yale University on Coursera.org, this was a question I had to think about and respond to and my answer is shared below - 

Can you think of a person, not mentioned in the lectures who meets all of Craig's criteria? If so, name them here and provide evidence of their genius as it relates to originality, significance, and lasting societal impact.

Nelson Mandela

Originality - He stood out specially timelessly and as someone very relatable to above everything all people. 

Significance - He brought an end to apartheid. Made way for South Africa to become a democracy and have equal rights for all the people. Taking away significantly the discrimination based on race allowed the country to try to become a rainbow nation. 

Societal impact - Mandela is an inspiration to people through not just being the builder of South Africa after ending apartheid but also bringing groups of people together through nonviolent means using forgiveness and compassion.

                                                                        

On Education and the Schooling Experience

 

Education according to me

Education is the opportunity to learn new things in a safe and happy environment. To naturally learn, highly important is having powerful teachers.

 

About my schooling experience

The schooling experience mostly all children look to with eagerness wasn't in my life the loveliest of ones. Perhaps lot of good people made it much better than most other boys of my capacity but still not perfect. My capacity to learn was often ignored or not good enough.

 

Aspects of schooling I liked the most

I loved my classmates and nice teachers the most. They brought many melodious little moments into my life. Personally, both meeting my friends and the opportunity to learn were the happiest.

 

About the support I received in school

Yes, there was good support for certain things not for others. Most academic things had the total freedom that only necessary things I wanted or felt had that capacity to do I could choose to do. However, the help that I needed to build nice friendships was not enough. Since I completely speak in typing, answering questions together with the slow pace of typing can make it really difficult.

 

 

About my Classmates

I had classmates who supported me significantly, so my experiences were quite nice.

 

 

C - concerned for me.

L - light hearted conversation.

A - affectionate.

S - simple happiness shown only, very important.

S - special.

M - missed.

A - amazing cool people.

T - talk jovially

E - enthusiastic

S - stand by me.

 

 

About my Teachers

 

Yes, many believed that my abilities did not match how most people saw me. Including me understandably took a lot of patience and caring for me and the teachers gave their thought and time for my participation fully.

 

Opportunities where I could share my abilities with my school and classmates

Yes, some good opportunities.

Annual day - Participating in the annual day programs.

Science exhibition - I presented PowerPoint on connection between math and music. I put up a little galaxy in a bottle model.

Class assembly – Playing the song, 'We shall overcome' on the keyboard to contribute in my class's school assembly program.

 

 

Did I ever feel looked down upon?

Many situations I was looked at as having below age intelligence, failing to understand simple things.

 

 

Changes you feel are necessary based on your schooling experience

 

Much more support on writing tests. More breaks would be better. Lot more getting personal help. Bring more specific help as needed by the student and not using a standard method for all students.

That thought of freedom

 Do you know what is the significance of today?

Yes

What is it?

Today only India gained freedom.

When did India gain freedom?

15 august 1947

Do you think freedom is a good thing to have?

Yes

Why do you say so?

It forces you to have that say in decisions from family about the path of your life, talking possibly how you go specifically following goals you care for.

What about freedom for the country? What does it mean for us as citizens?

You matter and you are looked as having value to choose the path for the country.

What does freedom mean to you personally?

To matter 

To be looked as having value

To behave responsibly

To think without that fear

To live a life I enjoy