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Psychological Characteristics of the Literary Genius

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Literary genius is a multi-layered aptitude that consists of many unique cognitive, affective, perceptual, motivational, interpersonal, and state-dependent attributes, including the challenging of orthodox thinking, fertility of ideas, compulsive discipline and hard work, tolerance of ambiguity, innocence of perception, immersion in the present moment, intellectual diversity, an internal locus of evaluation, and sensitivity to nuances. The primary role of the creative genius in society is to hasten the development of authentic human values, which often requires these men and women to partially or completely withdraw from mainstream society. The extreme individualism of these people allows them to discover human values that are then used to revivify eroding or procrustean social structures. Creative writers provide the covert foundation for social change and spiritual transformation, which requires that they remain loners who are totally dedicated to their creative work.

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