G is for Geniuses Who Know Everything
I know a lot of overachievers. They're impressive people, but absolutely none of them are at 'TV Genius' level. It's not from any failures on their part-- it's just not possible to be a world-class expert on literally everything, while also speaking five languages fluently and knowing three martial arts.
As a society, we are so fixated on the idea of 'talent' and general innate special-ness that we forget that everything we consciously do-- from feeding ourselves soup to calculating the paths of subatomic particles-- are learned skills. Becoming an expert at a complex skill usually takes between 5,000 and 10,000 hours of focused, deliberate practice. It takes about 14,000 hours of intent practice to become a chess grandmaster. For perspective, there are 8,760 hours in a year, and the typical human being needs to spend about 2,600 of those asleep in order to be healthy. It would take three and a half to five years of practicing the skill 8 hours a day to become an international-level expert or competitor.
This is especially true once you get into extremely specialist fields, particularly the sciences. While all scientists share some basic background knowledge, a heart surgeon has been far too busy studying the human heart to have expert-level knowledge of the human brain, or about microsurgery to reattach hands. If your character has multiple areas of expertise, you need to explain it in their backstory, rather than just assuming they know it due to 'being smart' or 'being a scientist'.
Realistically, your character will not have the sum of human knowledge stored in their brain, especially not by the age of 16. And that's okay. Your character can still have in-depth expertise in several fields due to their diligent practice and study, and be an exceptionally clever on-the-fly problem solver. Honestly, I think it's important to have characters who are clever, but still essentially human and aspirational, rather than a superhuman pinnacle far beyond our grasp.
As a society, we are so fixated on the idea of 'talent' and general innate special-ness that we forget that everything we consciously do-- from feeding ourselves soup to calculating the paths of subatomic particles-- are learned skills. Becoming an expert at a complex skill usually takes between 5,000 and 10,000 hours of focused, deliberate practice. It takes about 14,000 hours of intent practice to become a chess grandmaster. For perspective, there are 8,760 hours in a year, and the typical human being needs to spend about 2,600 of those asleep in order to be healthy. It would take three and a half to five years of practicing the skill 8 hours a day to become an international-level expert or competitor.
This is especially true once you get into extremely specialist fields, particularly the sciences. While all scientists share some basic background knowledge, a heart surgeon has been far too busy studying the human heart to have expert-level knowledge of the human brain, or about microsurgery to reattach hands. If your character has multiple areas of expertise, you need to explain it in their backstory, rather than just assuming they know it due to 'being smart' or 'being a scientist'.
Realistically, your character will not have the sum of human knowledge stored in their brain, especially not by the age of 16. And that's okay. Your character can still have in-depth expertise in several fields due to their diligent practice and study, and be an exceptionally clever on-the-fly problem solver. Honestly, I think it's important to have characters who are clever, but still essentially human and aspirational, rather than a superhuman pinnacle far beyond our grasp.
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