Who is a genius? This question has greatly interested humankind for centuries.

谁是天才？几个世纪以来，这个问题一直激发着人类极大的兴趣。

Let's state clearly: Einstein was a genius. His face is almost the international symbol for genius. But we want to go beyond one man and explore the nature of genius itself. Why is it that some people are so much more intelligent or creative than the rest of us? And who are they?

让我们明确指出：爱因斯坦是一个天才。他的脸几乎是天才的国际象征。但我们想要超越一个人，去探索天才本身的性质。为什么有些人比我们其他人更聪明或更有创造力？他们是谁呢？

In the sciences and arts, those praised as geniuses were most often white men, of European origin. Perhaps this is not a surprise. It's said that history is written by the victors, and those victors set the standards for admission to the genius club. When contributions were made by geniuses outside the club-- women, or people of a different color or belief-- they were unacknowledged and rejected by others.

在科学和艺术领域，那些被誉为天才的人大多是欧洲血统的白人男性。也许这并不奇怪。据说历史是由胜利者书写的，而这些胜利者为天才俱乐部设定了准入标准。当俱乐部之外的天才做出贡献时——女性、不同肤色或信仰的人——他们会被拒之门外、得不到认可。

A study recently published by Science found that as young as age six, girls are less likely than boys to say that members of their gender (性别)are "really, really smart." Even worse, the study found that girls act on that belief: Around age six they start to avoid activities said to be for children who are "really, really smart." Can our planet afford to have any great thinkers become discouraged and give up? It doesn't take a genius to know the answer: absolutely not.

《科学》杂志最近发表的一项研究发现，早在六岁时，女孩就比男孩更不可能说她们同性成员“非常非常聪明”。更糟糕的是，该研究发现女孩会根据这种信念行事：在六岁左右，她们就开始避免那些据说是“非常非常聪明”的孩子才会进行的活动。我们的星球能承受任何伟大的思想家变得灰心丧气而放弃吗？不需要天才就能知道答案：绝对不能。

Here's the good news. In a wired world with constant global communication, we're all positioned to see flashes of genius wherever they appear. And the more we look, the more we will see that social factors (因素)like gender, race, and class do not determine the appearance of genius. As a writer says, future geniuses come from those with "intelligence, creativity, perseverance (毅力),and simple good fortune, who are able to change the world."

也有一个好消息。在一个不断进行全球交流的有线世界中，我们随时随地都能看到天才的闪光。并且，我们看得越多，就越会发现诸如性别、种族和阶级这样的社会因素并不能决定天才的出现。正如一位作家所言，未来的天才出自那些具有“智慧、创造力、毅力、和单纯好运，能够改变世界的人。”

词汇积累：

perseverance：noun

今日思考话题：

Do you agree with the above standard of “genius”？Why？

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