Age of the Genius: Dead or Delayed?

Most of us are 23 and figuring out which PDF to read first.

Heisenberg, at 23, published the paper that would birth quantum mechanics.

This post isn’t about glorifying the past. It’s about understanding why genius now takes longer and how to live like it still matters.

This July 25 marks 100 years of a paper that turned ou to be the advent of Quantum Mechanics. 23 years old Werner Heisenberg had returned from his Helgoland trip and published his paper on the quantum theoretical reinterpretation of kinematical and mechanical relationships. This paper contributed in revolutionizing the field of quantum mechanics. 1925 was already a big big year for quantum science. I emphasized on mentioning Heisenberg's age at that time because I see myself and majority of mu current peers in the same age group as he was in back then. He was able to think, imagine, theorize, and contribute to science at that age, and here we are struggling even to grasp one concept and explain it in comprehensive manner. 

Evariste Galois created group theory which is the basis of modern algebra at the age of 20. Before reaching 21, Gauss had proven the fundamental theorem of algebra and had discovered the construction of a 17-gon with a compass and straightedge. During 22 to 24 years of age, Newton had developed Laws of Motion, Theory of Gravitation, and calculus while he was locked in house because of plague. Most of us had those 2-3 years of COVID-19 too. Madame Curie had begun her work on radioactivity when she was 24 that eventually won her the Nobel. Rosalind Franklin was already a PhD at 23 and soon after, captured the X-ray crystallography image that helped decipher DNA's structure. 

In these time frames, science was a wilderness limitedly explored with limited established framework, no detailed textbooks, but just raw ideas. One genius with deep focus could shift the entire field, as the mentioned did. Today science is like a dense jungle of specialized knowledge. One may require years to understand the current state before they could contribute something that's truly original. Breakthroughs today require teams, techs, simulations, and experimental validation to a sharp extent. The mentioned were obviously also not buried under piles of coursework, exams, publications, or grant proposals. Now by 23, most of us are just finishing our master's or starting a PhD, somehow constrained by advisors, funding, peer review, and institutional pressure to publish safe work. 

In a way, the genius is still born, but now it's just bureaucratically delayed. 

Today even a genius needs access to labs, novel tech, collabs across continents, and institutional support. One just can't discover Higg's Boson from their bedroom. In 1800s and early 1900s, mind was the lab. In modern times, the lab is the mind's extension. In a way, the low hanging fruit of science is long gone now. Now what's left are edge cases, refinements, and ultra-complex intersections. I've observed the most researchers have become hyper-specialised. Interdisciplinary thinking (the cradle of new theories) is rare and undervalued. A molecular biologist many not talk to a cognitive scientist, an AI researcher may noy cross paths with a microbiologist. Einstein thought like a philosopher. Today he'd be told to "stay in his lane." Even a new Newton would be buried under the citations of the older one, as the new thories are often treated as crackpot or fringe unless they perfectly align with known results. Academia rewards incremental progess, not paradigm shifts. 

Also, how can we forget about the distractions of the modern minds? Notifications, emails, metrics, keep inturrupting the modern minds where deep uninterrupted thought is a must for inception of newer theories. Historically, theories emerged from deep philosophical thought and consequent inquiry. Such as "What is Reality?", "What does it mean to Observe?" Science today is often reduced to engineering and technicalities. There are very few minds that raise weird, abstract, raw, existential questions that bend reality. Theories come from wonder, not data alone. 

Let's not this article become the whining of a 23 years old against established bureaucracy and difficulties in thinking and discovery.

Modern minds can master the foundations faster, but deeper. Studying enough until the world starts looking different is the amount of study just enough to raise innovative queries. Understanding science beyond facts and towards philosophical inquiry could help fuel obsession-driven curiosity. This is only possible by (as Newton would put it) "standing on the shoulders of giants." Read the legendary works of Darwin, Einstein, Heisenberg, Feynman, Turing, and everyone that enlightenes you. Don't fill every gap with content, let the mind wander instead. It's the mind that wanders that breeds wonders. Sit alone with an idea. Pen, paper, you and the question. It's painful, but that's the forge. Re-discover known things as if they were never known. PLAY NEWTON. PLAY DARWIN. Create your own explanations. Then text them. One query: If I know nothing, how'd I explain this? Imagine how Darwin would've convinced people that all of us and apes had a common ancestor! Some folks still don't believe in it, how'd you convince them? If you can explain the idea simply, then you own it for sure! Yup, we're swallowing immense amount of knowledge that it has started choking us, but don't just consume, assimilate, create. 

All this may make you feel lonely, obsessed, odd, misunderstood, don't fight it. Let the burn be your belonging if it really matters to you. 

Find that one paradox today that takes your sleep away from you, and don't let go until the universe bends. 

We might not make history at 23, but if we live like this we'll be closer than most ever dare.

(Written by a 23-year-old postgrad aspiring researcher and science communicator, trying these ways with curiosity and a little help from Richard Feynman.)

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