- Episode 1 of Decoding Genius, a podcast series that asks what is a genius and how do you become one, available now for download from decodinggenius.com.au or via iTunes
Can we flip a switch and create a genius? Or is genius something humans are born with, that can't be bred?
![Kelcie Miller-Anderson.](/web/20161029124821im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/b/f/h/g/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsaope.png/1477541104895.jpg)
A gifted child is one whose ability is in the top 10 per cent of the population. This giftedness is a potential of promise, that when translated into performance becomes talent. And when it goes beyond just talent, into an entirely different way of looking at things, it enters genius territory.
So how can you make a genius? A new podcast series Decoding Genius aims to answer this question by focusing on the lives and journeys of six young geniuses from around the world, interviewing experts in intelligence, and examining whether genius is born or bred.
![Lily Serna and Kelcie Miller-Anderson.](/web/20161029124821im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/b/f/k/n/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gsaope.png/1477541104895.jpg)
In the first episode, it looks at 22-year-old Canadian environmental scientist Kelcie Miller-Anderson and her groundbreaking discovery, which can bring polluted soils back to life.
Miller-Anderson's parents first realised she was different when she potty-trained herself, with no encouragement - at only 18 months old.
That early benchmark demonstrated her exceptionalism, and her capacity for learning and willingness to work harder, individually.
Miller-Anderson's real journey into genius began at the age of 15 when she stopped to look at something the majority of people ignore every day: a weed growing in a crack in the concrete.
"I'd seen a dandelion growing in the pavement in the alley behind our home, and I'd never really stopped to think before, 'why do we see dandelions everywhere, and why do they grow places that other plants can't?'," she says.
This simple question of "why?" now looks to translate into a potential billion-dollar technology, after she discovered a way to re-purpose the natural chemical process that lets weeds grow in harsh, polluted ground, allowing for the remediation of hydrocarbon — or oil — filled soil.
World-leading experts were consulted for the Decoding Genius podcast. Otto Siegel, who coaches geniuses around the world, believes there is genius in everyone. "My deepest desire," he says, "is that genius is heard, that genius is understood and is magnified and people can benefit in masses from genius. Otherwise it's lost. And I care about bringing that out in people. That's why I do what I do. I'm born to do this. I couldn't do anything else."
Although it required the steady support of parents who were willing to allow her to run fungus experiments on the kitchen table, it hasn't always been smooth sailing for Miller-Anderson. She feared being a genius, and her revolutionary research, would make her an outcast.
"When I was going through high school, not a lot of people knew about what I was doing," Miller-Anderson says.
"I kept that part a little bit hidden. I was always a little worried about how my friends or all the kids in high school would think of me, or would they think of me differently if I was all of a sudden working at a university and doing all this research."
However, her decision not to go to university was about dedicating herself to her discovery and work, rather than outside pressures.
Ultimately, it is this hard work – combined with curiosity – that Miller-Anderson believes is at the heart of genius.
"Everybody thinks that those 'aha' moments are a really remarkable thing, that they're really theatric and that there's so much behind them; but most of the great discoveries come from these little everyday observations and just from somebody taking the time to think about it a little deeper, a little differently."
Listen to it now
Decoding Genius starts on October 27. Download or subscribe here.
The Decoding Genius podcast was produced by Made by Fairfax in partnership with GE.