What is the definition of "genius"? Is it someone who does great work in one field, or is it someone who does some work in every field? Of all the geniuses in the world, Leonardo da Vinci is the only one to fit both definitions. He was a great artist, sculptor, architect, inventor, engineer, athlete, musician, and scientist. He is unique, one-of-a-kind among geniuses. How can we be like him? The simpler answer is we can't. But by striving to be like him and learning from his life, we can better ourselves and learn to do one thing da Vinci never could: soar.
In his work and throughout his life, da Vinci followed seven principles of genius: Curiositá(curiosity), Dimostrazione(persistence and willingness to learn), Sensazione(refinement of the senses), Sfumato(willingness to embrace ambiguity), Arte/Scienza(balance of art and science), Corporalita(fitness), and Connessione(appreciation for the "one-ness" of all things. Some of these principles are straightforward; others are counterintuitive; all of them are useful. We must first have a thirst for knowledge, for without the desire to learn you cannot be a genius. You must be willing to persist, even in the face of brutal hardship, but also be willing to accept that your are sometimes wrong. You ust learn to notice, for then you will see the truth and beauty in all things. You must be willing to embrace the fact that some things are locked to you forever. You must work in many places, for one field often provides solutions for another. You must always be fit, for mind and body are not separate, but the same. And finally, you must appreciate the similarity of all things, and realize that we share this universe together and thus must work only in harmony. Only then, by abiding by all of these principles, can we learn... to think like Leonardo da Vinci.
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