Genius vs. Talent

I came across a blog post by Daniel Pink that referenced an article he wrote delineating between genius and talent. The most interesting part was his selection of two quotes. From the post:

Two quotations in the stories stuck with me. The first comes from Mihaly Csikszentmilhalyi, who wrote:

“The unifying similarity among geniuses and innovators is not cognitive or affective but motivational.  What is common among them is the unwillingness or inability to strive for goals everyone else accepts.”

The other is from Arthur Schopenhauer:

“Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see.”

Very interesting point and one we as educators often misconstrue as defiance or day dreaming. Perhaps in the 21st Century world we need to orient ourselves to talent and genius.