Want to be an Evil Genius?

The first step towards becoming an evil genius is not always about having an ominous genesis. Contrary to popular belief, being the best at being the worst requires significant dedication and ambition.

You have to be intelligent to the point the word "intelligent" sounds like a disgusting understatement. A recent study theorizing about the increasing intellectual growth in birds suggests a few trappings that correlate with intellectually evolved human beings. And I happen to know the most underhanded method of becoming a genius - not that I consider myself one by any means.

Not the novels you're used to.

First off, I need to explain what an evolutionary novel is. Bigthink has a great article on this study and about novel (no, not the story-book kind). In short, though, evolutionary novel is about human beings wanting to do things our ancestors didn't do or need. HOWEVER, this isn't about consumerism or any other result of narcissism. It's about adaptation. 

See, we human beings decided to urbanize, if you will, which means we had to survive in cities, whereas rural areas are a little less complicated. Ultimately, this means we had to reproduce in cities. Now consider this: It's expensive to live even by yourself these days. It's a bit more expensive if you get married and decide to purchase a home. It goes without saying, rural areas are lot less expensive since the desire is to be in cities where there are more opportunities, more jobs, and more things to do.

You have to learn how to afford up to an infinite amount more to live in urban areas. This requires more work, a better career, or both. It means finding staples through different means. It requires creativity. 

Creativity, in this example, means thinking from multiple perspectives. It doesn't necessarily mean to act irrationally. People tend to confuse creative and emotional. 

Such a creative yet rational person, who is presumed more intelligent by my definitions and somewhat here, have larger brains. What they teach you in grade school is that the size of a brain has nothing to do with intellect, or they say that smaller brains belong to those who are smarter. 

Well, that's because they compare the human brain to animals and irrelevant history. (Remember how some European history showed politicians emphasizing their foreheads with dreadful haircuts?) First off, we see animals such as birds to be less intellectually inclined than us grandiose human beings. However, birds actually reflect the very same neurological and neuroscientific research.

Click for source material.

The figure above depicts how avian families that are more adaptive and hold evolutionary novel have larger brains. Although a larger human brain does not necessarily mean you have more intellectual capacity, strong similarities that link intelligence to evolutionary novel also show a larger brain size in most cases. So, we have bigger brains than birds. Yes. But like us, birds that show more evolutionary novel - thus intellect - also have larger brains than others.

All right take a quick smoke break because there's just a little bit more.

Not only the intelligent evolve. The real difference maker is our similar instincts. Even those who do not consider themselves smart will hold certain desires to urbanize and/or flourish further at the price of a more arduous lifestyle. However, trends reveal less intelligent creatures cannot relate to wants and needs if they were not the same as their ancestors. We adapt. It's just that. To survive, you must know how to evolve and adapt. It's no offense to anyone. We all want to see the human race improve and thrive, right? It's only  . . . human.

All the aforementioned is an example of what kind of a mental capacity is required to achieve the genius side of "evil genius". While I'm not going to illustrate how to be evil, I will show you one of the greatest tricks towards becoming said genius. 

Everything known to man is somewhere in print.

Want to know one of the most villainous methods of increasing your intelligence? Here and here are some decent techniques. But reading is your golden egg. 

I've said it before, but here it goes: If there's anything you want to know, it's written down. With so many experiences, ideologies, and stories out there, anything you're experiencing, thinking, or wondering is written down. 

If you read a ton of books, you consume a ton of perspectives. The more perspectives and answers you read, the more knowledge you'll have, and you'll become annoyingly intelligent (through creative yet rational thinking ;) ). Therefore, you'll become more apt to adapt and survive, which is the core of evolutionary novel. Furthermore, you'll raise children who are more likely to hold the same survival preferences, and thus the human race survives and our close family members will not be those left in dust by progress. 

Now you can save the world with this hypothesis, or you could selfishly use it for personal gain and become one of the greatest evil geniuses Earth has ever seen. It's your choice. What would you do with such power?

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