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A Study of British Genius is a 1904 book by Havelock Ellis published by Hurst and Blackett.
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A Study of British Genius is a 1904 book by Havelock Ellis published by Hurst and Blackett.
After an introduction, the book delves into chapters on race and nationality, social class, heredity, childhood, marriage, life, pathology, stature, pigments, other miscellaneous things, and a conclusion. [1] Ellis began by saying people had not been able to have an efficient comprehensive study of men and women before him. The Dictionary of National Biography had a large collection of descriptions of people, but it had been too unwieldy and large to be useful. Ellis then analyzed people and their natural tendencies to contribute successfully to society, but people born into royalty were excluded. They couldn't be included with the rest of the population because they were given advantages at a young age that others were not. The term genius is used to describe intelligence every time the word is mentioned throughout the text. He examined the concept of tracking down the origin of intelligence to a specific region of the world. In order to do this, each person was asked about their birthplace to create an accurate record. The best way of asking was to ask each grandparent from where they came. In the chapter on social class, to determine the social class of people most precisely, the fathers were asked what was their occupation. The occupation had to be the one at the time of the child's birth. [2]
The upper class was separated from the other occupations as its own group, and then underneath this, Ellis put the following: yeoman and farmers, church, law, army, navy, medicine, miscellaneous professions, officials, commercial, crafts, and then artisans and unskilled. So, based on the categories, Ellis did not consider any of these other professions in the upper class. He also suggested that the order of the professions may actually be considered a hierarchical relationship that others could use. When observing professions that are primarily in farms or in rural areas, Ellis decided that these places provided a much larger potential for intellectual development than urban cities. The predictions for the future were that he did not believe the cities would ever catch up to the rural growth. Dividing this further, he felt that individuals in rural areas of the lowest classes were able to achieve greater intellectual contributions than those in urban areas. In the section talking about heredity, it seems that Ellis supported the idea that it is a large part of people's natural intelligence. He also said that it was not the only concept that mattered. Ellis then considered childhood and youth. He pointed out that most of the people who grew up to be prominent people, such as Charles Dickens, had very delicate childhoods. Some of them were not expected to live past infancy, and some almost died. Many of these people also had parents who had died before or after the birth of their children. Ellis argued that this also showed the inherited frailty of families. [3]
There was a comparison showing that people who were regarded as significantly intelligent were educated in the UK, Scotland, Ireland, and were at the most notable universities. Ellis pointed out that his studies were not the only ones to include these universities and regions in their results. He suggested that this wasn't a sweeping generalization that did not take exceptions into account; that it was instead more of a predisposition. Those who went to college or attained some sort of level of higher education were far more likely than others to be intelligent, prominent people of society. Marriage was not seen in most of the prominent men that he studied. However, he pressed the idea that men who did not marry, did not necessarily do so because of intellectual absorption. Many of the men had actually considered marriage, or did not live to the age where they would be likely to marry, or had certain problems that hindered it. He was very careful to show that this category was not quite so clear. For those who did marry, they married at much later ages than the rest of the men Ellis had studied, and they married even later than their fathers, who Ellis also thought married much later than other men. This later year was an average of 31.1 years of age. [4]
In examining how others viewed Ellis's work, some scholars suppose that Robert Knox, a professor at Edinburgh, was influenced by many of the topics discussed in this book, such as the characterization of mental and Emotional qualities in people all over Britain. [5] The book has also been credited as one of a few influential works examining how creativity is inherited. It is trusted as a book that observes individuals who are related and unrelated and the differences between creativity amongst them. [6]
Since Ellis, many researchers in psychology have looked at sibling studies, especially when considering order of childbirth. Many of these researchers still see Ellis as someone who found substantial support to back up findings from others, such as the statistician Francis Galton. The idea he specifically supported was that people who were first born were more likely to be gifted and represented more than people who were not first born. In modern times, this theory has been contested by other studies, but his ideas are still being considered and debated, with both support and criticism. [7]
Another idea he professed that has since been studied extensively by other researchers was the link between mental illness and intelligent people. Ellis himself found no link between the two when compared to the general population. He said that there were indeed people with mental illness who were intelligent as well, but it was not significant. Since then, multiple studies have shown links between schizophrenia and manic-depressive disorder, directly combating Ellis' idea that the link does not exist. There is still room for debate as more research is created concerning mental illness. [8]
Ellis also made attempts in his work to show that people who were white with Nordic features were the ones who would be most likely to be geniuses, and those with darker features were highly unlikely to be as intelligent. This was shown through the data he collected, where most people he described that had contributed significantly to math and science had these characteristics. Another book, written by R. Ochse, titled Before the Gates of Excellence questioned these findings, claiming that these trends are quite different today. Ochse said that as of 1990 at least, Jewish people are the ones who have been most successful in the field of science. [9]
The author appears to regard intellect as the essential characteristic of genius, and to assume it was by virtue of intellect that all of his subjects won distinction. But the matter surely is far more complex than this ... Mr. Ellis has endeavoured to carry a stage further an inquiry which is very interesting and may become one day very important. And those who care sufficiently about the ultimate problems of society to care that they be treated scientifically will feel that they owe him a debt of gratitute. [10]
His material is limited from the first by the caprice or by the knowledge of one set of biographers. Graver still as a defect in most of his general conclusions is the absence of "control" information with regard to normal persons for comparison with his class of "genius," and this defect becomes more glaring when it is considered that the bulk of his statistics is derived from centuries earlier than the last, to which even our general impression of the normal at the present time are probably inapplicable. [11]
Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabilities of competitors. Genius is associated with intellectual ability and creative productivity. The term genius can also be used to refer to people characterised by genius, and/or to polymaths who excel across many subjects.
A polymath is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems.
Creativity is a characteristic of someone or some process that forms something new and valuable. The created item may be intangible or a physical object.
Cesare Lombroso was an Italian eugenicist, criminologist, phrenologist, physician, and founder of the Italian school of criminology. He is considered the founder of modern criminal anthropology by changing the Western notions of individual responsibility.
Henry Havelock Ellis was an English-French physician, eugenicist, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He co-wrote the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in 1897, and also published works on a variety of sexual practices and inclinations, as well as on transgender psychology. He developed the notions of narcissism and autoeroticism, later adopted by psychoanalysis.
Links between creativity and mental health have been extensively discussed and studied by psychologists and other researchers for centuries. Parallels can be drawn to connect creativity to major mental disorders including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, OCD and ADHD. For example, studies have demonstrated correlations between creative occupations and people living with mental illness. There are cases that support the idea that mental illness can aid in creativity, but it is also generally agreed that mental illness does not have to be present for creativity to exist.
Art therapy is a distinct discipline that incorporates creative methods of expression through visual art media. Art therapy, as a creative arts therapy profession, originated in the fields of art and psychotherapy and may vary in definition. Art therapy encourages creative expression through painting, drawing, or modelling. It may work by providing a person with a safe space to express their feelings and allow them to feel more in control over their life.
Eccentricity is an unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual. This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive. Eccentricity is contrasted with normal behavior, the nearly universal means by which individuals in society solve given problems and pursue certain priorities in everyday life. People who consistently display benignly eccentric behavior are labeled as "eccentrics".
The Fellowship of the New Life was a British organisation in the 19th century, most famous for a splinter group, the Fabian Society.
The Sylvia Plath effect is the phenomenon that poets are more susceptible to mental illness than other creative writers. The term was coined in 2001 by psychologist James C. Kaufman, and implications and possibilities for future research are discussed. The effect is named after Sylvia Plath, who died by suicide at the age of 30.
Eric Alfred Havelock was a British classicist who spent most of his life in Canada and the United States. He was a professor at the University of Toronto and was active in the Canadian socialist movement during the 1930s. In the 1960s and 1970s, he served as chair of the classics departments at both Harvard and Yale. Although he was trained in the turn-of-the-20th-century Oxbridge tradition of classical studies, which saw Greek intellectual history as an unbroken chain of related ideas, Havelock broke radically with his own teachers and proposed an entirely new model for understanding the classical world, based on a sharp division between literature of the 6th and 5th centuries BC on the one hand, and that of the 4th on the other.
A tortured artist is a stock character and stereotype who is in constant torment due to frustrations with art, other people, or the world in general. The trope is often associated with mental illness.
Drift hypothesis, concerning the relationship between mental illness and social class, is the argument that illness causes one to have a downward shift in social class. The circumstances of one's social class do not cause the onset of a mental disorder, but rather, an individual's deteriorating mental health occurs first, resulting in low social class attainment. The drift hypothesis is the opposing theory of the social causation thesis, which says being in a lower social class is a contributor to the development of a mental illness.
Cognitive epidemiology is a field of research that examines the associations between intelligence test scores and health, more specifically morbidity and mortality. Typically, test scores are obtained at an early age, and compared to later morbidity and mortality. In addition to exploring and establishing these associations, cognitive epidemiology seeks to understand causal relationships between intelligence and health outcomes. Researchers in the field argue that intelligence measured at an early age is an important predictor of later health and mortality differences.
The history of eugenics is the study of development and advocacy of ideas related to eugenics around the world. Early eugenic ideas were discussed in Ancient Greece and Rome. The height of the modern eugenics movement came in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Richard Kogan is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical Center, in New York City; Co-Director of the Medical Center's Human Sexuality Program; and Artistic Director of the Weill Cornell Music and Medicine Program.
Studies in the Psychology of Sex Vol. 2 is a book published in 1900 written by Havelock Ellis (1859–1939), an English physician, writer and social reformer. The book deals with the phenomenon of sexual inversion, an outdated term for homosexuality. It is part of Ellis' seven-volume series Studies in the psychology of sex. The book has seven chapters describing the prevalence, nature and theories in the 19th century about sexual inversion in men and women. Various case studies are presented and discussed. Ellis recognised a need to address the topic of sexual inversion especially in England:
... in England, more than in any other country, the law and public opinion combine to place a heavy penal burden and a severe social stigma on the manifestations of an instinct which to these persons who possess it frequently appears natural and normal.
Medical sociology is the sociological analysis of medical organizations and institutions; the production of knowledge and selection of methods, the actions and interactions of healthcare professionals, and the social or cultural effects of medical practice. The field commonly interacts with the sociology of knowledge, science and technology studies, and social epistemology. Medical sociologists are also interested in the qualitative experiences of patients, often working at the boundaries of public health, social work, demography and gerontology to explore phenomena at the intersection of the social and clinical sciences. Health disparities commonly relate to typical categories such as class and race. Objective sociological research findings quickly become a normative and political issue.
Studies in the Psychology of Sex: Volume 7 is a book published in 1928 by the English physician and writer Havelock Ellis (1859–1939). Ellis was an expert of human sexuality but was impotent until the age of 60 and married to an open lesbian for much of his life. He later discovered that he could be aroused by the sight of a woman urinating. Terming this sexual deviation undinism, it is one of several topics covered in the seventh and final volume of his studies in the psychology of sex.
The Criminal is a book by Havelock Ellis published in 1890. A third revised and enlarged edition was subsequently published in 1901. The book is a comprehensive English summary of the main results of criminal anthropology, a field of study which was scarcely known at the time of the publication of the volume. The criminal is the first book published by the author and helped establish his reputation in the scientific world.
A Study of British Genius public domain audiobook at LibriVox