WHERE DO GENIUSES COME FROM? WHY DO THEY HAVE SO FEW DESCENDANTS?

Renaissance men like Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo, Copernicus, Bacon, Goethe, Franklin, and Newton had almost limitless capacities for world changing accomplishments. How did these supermen evolve into existence? And why did they not have descendents who became as talented and famous?  I wonder about these two questions. I also wonder about today’s polymaths: Nathan Myhrvold, Richard Posner, Jared Diamond, Noam Chomsky, Syed al-Attas, and Nassim Nichols Taleb. Will these geniuses have as much influence on the world as the Renaissance men? Only time will tell.

I think we should be trying to figure out how to have more geniuses so that the world will be a better place for ordinary guys like me!

 Leonardo da Vinci's self portrait