A \u201cgenius\u201d is someone with extraordinarily high creativity. Today, we cannot say there are no geniuses, but they are exceedingly rare. For example, the greatest living philosophers today might be Habermas, \u017di\u017eek, and Agamben\u2014but compared with Kant, Fichte, and Hegel, who lived in roughly the same historical period, the difference is like night and day. If we compiled a list of the greatest living writers today, it would also disappoint when compared to eras overflowing with genius. This is true for almost every human field\u2014except perhaps the business world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are living in an age of mediocrity. Although mediocrity may have occupied much of human history (think of early medieval Europe), today we must take special note: humanity, as a species, has amassed the greatest wealth of artistic and intellectual achievements in history, and yet our age has produced only a handful of geniuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many have asked \u201cwhy,\u201d and many answers have been given. The most important reason, it seems, is that today\u2019s educational and research systems are fundamentally designed for the majority\u2014not for the rare genius. A look at the life stories of many geniuses shows a recurring theme: they often struggled in school and grew through a process of resisting the educational system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In recent years, some educators and psychologists around the world have noticed this problem. Reforms have been proposed at every level, from kindergarten to the PhD, though only a few have been implemented to any meaningful degree. These reforms may have had some minor effect, but the overall results are underwhelming. Worse still, education systems in general seem to be moving in the opposite direction. In the United States, for example \u2014 Let us be frank \u2014 DEI offices, various campus activism trends, and the culture of political correctness all run counter to the spirit of respecting exceptional talent. These trends suggest that current education mechanisms are incapable of creating an atmosphere that truly honors genius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, how do we escape the age of mediocrity? Should we wait for the hand of fate\u2014or even divine favor\u2014or should we take matters into our own hands? Since resisting mediocrity and cultivating genius depends on preserving and enhancing creativity, what can we do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By now, we must entertain the possibility that formal education and scientific institutions have already reached the limits of what they can offer\u2014and this is highly likely. If so, then we have no choice but to seek another path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe we urgently need to establish a completely different set of institutions for education, art, and science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Existing education and research institutions are essentially plebeian in nature, not genius-oriented. This makes them, in effect, the primary culprits in stifling genius. A mechanism designed for the majority simply cannot also fulfill the mission of nurturing geniuses. Even many elite institutions, with their tiered systems offering more resources and freedom to select students, have failed to produce geniuses\u2014they produce only capable professionals. Genius requires an entirely different environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The main mission of this new institution would be to identify geniuses and support their free learning to the fullest extent possible. I call it the \u201cAcademy of Genius.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ideally, applicants to the Academy of Genius would mostly be young people, though all ages could apply. Most would have already completed basic formal education; those who have not must finish it first (basic education here means all schooling up to and including junior high). The Academy itself would not provide any formal courses akin to high school or university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why no courses? Because for geniuses, all knowledge beyond basic education can be self-taught\u2014there is no need to sit in a classroom. In fact, most talented individuals can also self-learn high school and university-level material. If they feel they need formal instruction, they can take online courses or attend classes at partner schools or universities. Therefore, such an Academy should ideally be located near rich traditional educational resources, especially close to at least one good university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once admitted, applicants become Genius Candidates. They spend most of their time freely exploring their interests. The Academy\u2019s role is to provide support, occasional guidance, a fully open environment for intellectual exchange, to organize social events, invite guest speakers, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the Academy should minimize its own interference\u2014stepping in only when candidates request support or guidance. Some guidance, however, would be mandatory\u2014such as legal literacy and, in certain cases, psychological counseling, particularly for candidates with antisocial traits, to avoid cultivating \u201cevil geniuses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Academy should deliberately foster a healthy sense of elite consciousness while firmly resisting the influence of political correctness. Political correctness is unquestionably harmful to creativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There would be no fixed length of study. Cases would vary greatly, but generally would not exceed fifteen years. When a Genius Candidate achieves a major breakthrough in a domain of human intellectual life, they can graduate. Such breakthroughs might take the form of scholarly papers, a major book, music albums, visual art works, long novels, a promising startup, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Academy would not award traditional degrees. Successful graduates would receive a certificate. Some candidates might fail to meet the standard or choose to conclude their time without a breakthrough\u2014these individuals could be referred back into the formal education system or recommended to employers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether candidates pay tuition\u2014and how much\u2014would depend on local conditions. In the U.S., tuition could be comparable to or lower than that of undergraduate colleges. In many German states, it would be free. The Academy would also seek government funding\u2014which it should rightfully receive\u2014but more importantly, it would need donations from corporations and wealthy individuals, building an endowment to sustain operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Academy of Genius must attract worldwide attention, raising public awareness of its existence. Once it exists and operates successfully, a cultural shift toward respecting individual genius will naturally take root. People will gradually recognize that formal education suits the general public, not geniuses\u2014and that genius growth does not require formal schooling. Society will come to accept that geniuses are fundamentally a different kind of human group. The future of humanity\u2019s most advanced intellectual frontiers may depend on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, the Academy will not compete with existing education institutions for resources; it is not meant to replace them, but to run alongside them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Founding such an Academy may be the only way for humanity to escape the age of mediocrity. I myself am not a genius in any sense, but I am willing to dedicate my life to the cause of cultivating genius. I am willing to be one of the founders of such an institution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A \u201cgenius\u201d is someone with extraordinarily high creativity. Today, we cannot say there are no geniuses, but they are exceedingly rare. For example, the greatest living philosophers today might be Habermas, \u017di\u017eek, and Agamben\u2014but compared with Kant, Fichte, and Hegel, who lived in roughly the same historical period, the difference is like night and day. If we compiled a list of the greatest living writers today, it would also disappoint when compared to eras overflowing with genius. This is true for almost every human field\u2014except perhaps the business world. We are living in an age of mediocrity. Although mediocrity may have occupied much of human history (think of early medieval […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/creativity.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultural-criticism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/creativity.webp?w=1920&resize=1920,1080&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":109,"url":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/the-rise-of-artificial-intelligence-and-the-great-stagnation-of-the-human-spirit-how-ai-will-destroy-creativity-and-genius\/","url_meta":{"origin":114,"position":0},"title":"The Rise of Artificial Intelligence and the Great Stagnation of the Human Spirit: How AI Will Destroy Creativity and Genius","author":"Stephen Leng","date":"05\/29\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, major tech companies around the world are engaged in an arms race over AI products, releasing new iterations of their generative AI tools every few months. A few months ago, China's Deepseek caused a brief panic in Silicon Valley and Washington by achieving performance close to ChatGPT at a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Philosophy"","block_context":{"text":"Philosophy","link":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/category\/philosophy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/DALL\u00b7E-2025-04-09-12.01.13.png?w=1536&resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/DALL\u00b7E-2025-04-09-12.01.13.png?w=1536&resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/DALL\u00b7E-2025-04-09-12.01.13.png?w=1536&resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/DALL\u00b7E-2025-04-09-12.01.13.png?w=1536&resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/DALL\u00b7E-2025-04-09-12.01.13.png?w=1536&resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/DALL\u00b7E-2025-04-09-12.01.13.png?w=1536&resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7,"url":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/the-philosophy-of-world-history-the-modern-age-a-hegelian-sequel\/","url_meta":{"origin":114,"position":1},"title":"The Philosophy of World History: The Modern Age \u2014 A Hegelian Sequel","author":"Stephen Leng","date":"08\/25\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"If Hegel lived today, how would he tell the story of world history in the last two hundred years? How do we use the basic principles of his philosophy of world history to write modern history? Here is my initial idea: The Contents: Introduction: Reason in the Modern History First\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Philosophy"","block_context":{"text":"Philosophy","link":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/category\/philosophy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":174,"url":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/the-economic-factors-behind-the-conservative-turn-in-the-mindset-of-chinese-youth\/","url_meta":{"origin":114,"position":2},"title":"The Economic Factors Behind the Conservative Turn in the Mindset of Chinese Youth","author":"Stephen Leng","date":"03\/29\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"As is well known, in the 1990s, a hypothesis became popular among Western politicians and social scientists: if the West supported China\u2019s Reform and Opening-up policies and bolstered China\u2019s economic growth through expanded economic ties, the resulting expansion of the middle class would lead to demands for greater civil rights.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cultural Criticism"","block_context":{"text":"Cultural Criticism","link":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/category\/cultural-criticism\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/the-economic-factors-behind-the-conservative-turn-in-the-mindset-of-chinese-youth.png?w=1536&resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/the-economic-factors-behind-the-conservative-turn-in-the-mindset-of-chinese-youth.png?w=1536&resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/the-economic-factors-behind-the-conservative-turn-in-the-mindset-of-chinese-youth.png?w=1536&resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/the-economic-factors-behind-the-conservative-turn-in-the-mindset-of-chinese-youth.png?w=1536&resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/the-economic-factors-behind-the-conservative-turn-in-the-mindset-of-chinese-youth.png?w=1536&resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/the-economic-factors-behind-the-conservative-turn-in-the-mindset-of-chinese-youth.png?w=1536&resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":163,"url":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/trialogue-is-romantic-love-unique\/","url_meta":{"origin":114,"position":3},"title":"Trialogue: Is Romantic Love Unique?","author":"Stephen Leng","date":"03\/22\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Editor\u2019s Note: This dialogue brings together two enthusiastic discussants of this blog, Orcan\u00e8te and ImageNoise, and the blogger Stephen Leng to discuss the topic of uniqueness in romantic love. The main text was completed independently and sequentially by the three participants, while the comment section is expected to host further\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Philosophy"","block_context":{"text":"Philosophy","link":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/category\/philosophy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/A-Three-Way-Conversation-Is-Romantic-Love-Unique.png?w=1920&resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/A-Three-Way-Conversation-Is-Romantic-Love-Unique.png?w=1920&resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/A-Three-Way-Conversation-Is-Romantic-Love-Unique.png?w=1920&resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/A-Three-Way-Conversation-Is-Romantic-Love-Unique.png?w=1920&resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/A-Three-Way-Conversation-Is-Romantic-Love-Unique.png?w=1920&resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/A-Three-Way-Conversation-Is-Romantic-Love-Unique.png?w=1920&resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":150,"url":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/raising-children-can-be-seen-as-humanitys-most-common-selfless-act\/","url_meta":{"origin":114,"position":4},"title":"Raising Children Can Be Seen as Humanity\u2019s Most Common Selfless Act","author":"Stephen Leng","date":"10\/25\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Ever since there have been human beings, we have, like other animals, reproduced without pause. In most cultures, raising children functions almost like an auto-program installed in the brain. Genuine reflection on parenting itself may be largely a modern development, and a scientific understanding of it has only really emerged\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Philosophy"","block_context":{"text":"Philosophy","link":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/category\/philosophy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/parenthood-images.jpg?w=1200&resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/parenthood-images.jpg?w=1200&resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/parenthood-images.jpg?w=1200&resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/parenthood-images.jpg?w=1200&resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/parenthood-images.jpg?w=1200&resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":154,"url":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/why-the-right-to-privacy-matters\/","url_meta":{"origin":114,"position":5},"title":"Why the Right to Privacy Matters","author":"Stephen Leng","date":"11\/02\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"In China, \u201crights\u201d are not, for many people, a particularly important idea\u2014let alone the right to privacy. Even when people realize their privacy has been violated, it\u2019s hard for them to think, \u201cone of my rights is being infringed,\u201d rather than merely, \u201cmy feelings are hurt.\u201d In my view, there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cultural Criticism"","block_context":{"text":"Cultural Criticism","link":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/category\/cultural-criticism\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/right-to-privacy.png?w=1600&resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/right-to-privacy.png?w=1600&resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/right-to-privacy.png?w=1600&resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/right-to-privacy.png?w=1600&resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/right-to-privacy.png?w=1600&resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/my-img.stephenleng.com\/right-to-privacy.png?w=1600&resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenleng.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}