What comes to your head when you hear the word "genius"? Perhaps you think of man dressed in a white laboratory coat looking through a microscope and suddenly exclaiming: "Eureka!!! I found the cure for cancer!" However, the scientific findings and creativity are often not the results of an inspiration, but of arduous and exhausting work. Does one become a genius by nature or nurture? The answer to this question is based upon a theological and psychological belief. According to the biblical principle found in the Declaration of Independence and in Lincoln's Gettysburg address, "All men are created equal." Such belief, in essence, validates the idea that all humans are born with an equal level of intellectual capacity, aside from the willingness each individual acquires as to whether they desire to enhance their degree of intellect or not. Similarly, many psychologists believe that intelligence is something that is earned not inherited. .
Who would ever say that the Beatles were not a gifted musical group? Who would believe that Bill Gates is not a guy with a superior brain? Or that Roger Federer and Venus and Serena Williams are tennis players of anthology, like Tiger Woods in golf? Isn't it logical that people like them, who were born with so much talent, have achieved excellence? Apparently not. The issue is that talent itself is not enough and that those who think that genius is a matter of birth are constituting to the belief that genius are born rather than created. In utter disagreement, I dare to say that the secret to reach the top is within the hours of practice and dedication devoted. So says a book published this year in the United States, which has become a bestselling phenomenon. It is called Bounce-Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham and the Science of Success. Its author is the British Matthew Syed, a former Olympic champion in table tennis, who graduated from Oxford University and a magazine columnist for the BBC and the Times of London.