"The essence of genius is to know what to overlook"

This quote by William James speaks with the concept that genius is not necessarily about having a vast knowledge of whatever, but rather having the ability to recognize what is essential and what is not. It is about having the wisdom to recognize what is important and what can be ignored. This is a skill that is often neglected in the pursuit of understanding, however it is an essential one. It is the capability to acknowledge the core of a concept or principle and to be able to focus on that, while overlooking the extraneous information. It is the ability to acknowledge the big photo and to be able to see the connections between different concepts. It is the capability to recognize the patterns and to be able to draw conclusions from them. In essence, it is the capability to believe critically and to be able to make sense of the world around us.