Producing Genius - Nature or Nurture?

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1879593,00.html

What is genius? It is 'those who "have the intelligence, enthusiasm, and endurance to acquire the needed expertise in a broadly valued domain of achievement" and who then make contributions to that field that are considered by peers to be both "original and highly exemplary." '

How can we quantify genius? Possible methods are to '...add up the number of times an individual's publications are cited in professional literature — or, say, the number of times a composer's work is performed and recorded.' Or 'count encyclopedia references instead. Such methods may not be terribly sophisticated, but the answer they yield is at least a hard quantity.'

And then there is the old 10 year rule, 'the notion that it takes at least 10 years (or 10,000 hours) of dedicated practice for people to master most complex endeavors.' This concept was suggested early as 1899 but Anders Ercisson, a professor of psychology from Florida State University, has conducted numerous studies proving the 10 year rule.

While this article leans more towards the nurture side of the debate, it is important to remember that "you need to be smart enough for practice to teach you something."