牛顿曾说过：“如果我看得比别人更远些，那是因为我站在巨人的肩膀上。”因为站在更高处，所以有超乎寻常的眼界，同时也身处孤独。
美国作家詹姆斯·格雷克（James Gleick）是一位科技史家，也是《混沌》、《费曼传》、《牛顿传》以及《信息简史》的作者。他探索费曼、牛顿等科学家的人生轨迹，发现了他们的共同点：
I tried to get in their heads, understand their minds, the nature of their genius. I sort of felt I was seeing things that they had in common, and there were things that had to do with aloneness. They all had the ability to concentrate with a sort of intensity that is hard for mortals like me to grasp.我希望能够潜入他们的内心，了解天才的思想和本质，我感觉我发现了他们的共同点，他们的个性中带有一种“孤独感”。他们都能全神贯注于一件事，这种专注度是我们常人难以企及的。

美国商业内幕网（Business Insider）曾总结了高智商人群的八个性格特征：
?Intelligent people are flexible and able to thrive in different settings.聪明的人具有灵活性，能够适应不同的环境。
?They understand how much they don't know.他们知道自己所了解的还远远不够。
?Intelligent people let themselves become fascinated by things others take for granted.高智商的人会对别人认为理所当然的事物着迷。
?They're open-minded. Smart people don't close themselves off to new ideas or opportunities.他们保持开放的心态。聪明的人不会拒绝新的想法和机会。
?They like their own company.他们喜欢独处。
?They have high self-control.他们高度自律。
?Highly intelligent people tend to have a great sense of humor.高智商的人往往都有很强的幽默感。
?Smart people can almost feel what someone is thinking or feeling.聪明人与别人的想法/感受高度共情。
成为万众瞩目的天才不是一蹴而就的。他们要经受漫长的孤独，不断打磨自己的心性，也就是“天才的共性”。艰难困苦，玉汝于成。