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Genius
LETTERS
GENIUS Dear Editor: I really enjoyed Stephan Schwartz’s genius! Thanks for the article in EXPLORE (2009;5(1):16 –19). It inspired me. One thing I think about is opportunity. There may be more genii out there, but they lack the opportunity to manifest their ideas. In your experience, how does a genius gain support and collaboration (nonlocal and local) to be fruitful? I appreciate your thoughts . . . Erica Koch, ND, EdM, FABNO Philadelphia, PA
IN RESPONSE Thank you very much for your generous sentiments. I am glad you find my writing useful. The point you raise is of enormous importance. Genius is a singular experience,
but it really only becomes meaningful when it finds social context. While dredging the San Marco Canal in 1492, at a time when “science” thought of fossils as stone-frozen faeries or “seminal gusts” (whose never seems to have been a concern) in 1492, Leonardo grasped the essential point that fossils were the remains of creatures from the distant past. As brilliant as he was, however, no one could hear what he was saying. Prematurity is the dark curse of genius. Genius is perceived because it falls, like the tares of the Bible, on fertile ground. The answer to your question then must be that we each—as individuals and as a culture—must do our best to create an environment where genius can be heard, even if not yet fully understood. I think you will find much of interest in our upcoming issue, which centers on the mind-body linkage, and speaking for everyone on the EXPLORE staff, I want to say how pleased we are that you read and enjoy the journal.
194 EXPLORE July/August 2009, Vol. 5, No. 4
Stephan Schwartz
HEALING RESEARCH Dear Editor: I want to thank Larry Dossey for his excellent article, “Healing Research: What We Know and Don’t Know,” in the Nov/Dec 2008 issue of EXPLORE. I cannot applaud loudly enough for his statement, “Experiments involving prayer should replicate, not subvert, how prayer is employed in the daily lives of ordinary people.” Field research that focuses on actual people, individually or in a group, doing healing prayer in their own style is so needed. Individual case histories are valuable because they illustrate the uniqueness of each healing. I hope that some future studies might reflect his perspective. Francis Geddes, DMin Santa Rosa, CA 95409
Letters
GENIUS Dear Editor: I really enjoyed Stephan Schwartz’s genius! Thanks for the article in EXPLORE (2009;5(1):16 –19). It inspired me. One thing I think about is opportunity. There may be more genii out there, but they lack the opportunity to manifest their ideas. In your experience, how does a genius gain support and collaboration (nonlocal and local) to be fruitful? I appreciate your thoughts . . . Erica Koch, ND, EdM, FABNO Philadelphia, PA
IN RESPONSE Thank you very much for your generous sentiments. I am glad you find my writing useful. The point you raise is of enormous importance. Genius is a singular experience,
but it really only becomes meaningful when it finds social context. While dredging the San Marco Canal in 1492, at a time when “science” thought of fossils as stone-frozen faeries or “seminal gusts” (whose never seems to have been a concern) in 1492, Leonardo grasped the essential point that fossils were the remains of creatures from the distant past. As brilliant as he was, however, no one could hear what he was saying. Prematurity is the dark curse of genius. Genius is perceived because it falls, like the tares of the Bible, on fertile ground. The answer to your question then must be that we each—as individuals and as a culture—must do our best to create an environment where genius can be heard, even if not yet fully understood. I think you will find much of interest in our upcoming issue, which centers on the mind-body linkage, and speaking for everyone on the EXPLORE staff, I want to say how pleased we are that you read and enjoy the journal.
194 EXPLORE July/August 2009, Vol. 5, No. 4
Stephan Schwartz
HEALING RESEARCH Dear Editor: I want to thank Larry Dossey for his excellent article, “Healing Research: What We Know and Don’t Know,” in the Nov/Dec 2008 issue of EXPLORE. I cannot applaud loudly enough for his statement, “Experiments involving prayer should replicate, not subvert, how prayer is employed in the daily lives of ordinary people.” Field research that focuses on actual people, individually or in a group, doing healing prayer in their own style is so needed. Individual case histories are valuable because they illustrate the uniqueness of each healing. I hope that some future studies might reflect his perspective. Francis Geddes, DMin Santa Rosa, CA 95409
Letters