What if "genius" is merely an expression of personal opinion? What if everyone is a "genius" in their own way? What if there are no "geniuses" at all, but instead a world full of critics expressing their need for recognition by proxy?
The Two Geniuses
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I think the concepts of 'genius' (derives from within) and the 'critic' (questions what is known) are well known. So, if Carlsen has evolved some way of pushing almost any game to a favorable end game config, that is what makes him a genius because he's derived it from within - seen patterns no one saw before him or took them to fruition - a bit like Leibniz and calculus I suppose.
Okay this is gonna be a lengthy post so sit tight. This is not about any particular chess player per se. I have a problem with the established view around here, which is that the definition of genius is someone with a high iq.
One could say that a genius is someone who does something amazing or has some talent that no one else has. I don't think this necessarily revolves around iq. Let's say I have an IQ of 157. I may never succeed as much as someone who has an IQ of 110, as long as my IQ isn't low, it doesn't necessarily have to be high.
Unless they find that Intelligence quotient and the factor which really leads to geniusness are correlated, then I think that IQ cannot necessarily prove genius, and vice versa. But what is this mysterious factor which leads to achievement then? In my opinion, that factor is not IQ but motivation. IQ makes it easier for someone to grasp at the idea but everyone will get what they want eventually, but in the end its all about time and effort. In other words, you CAN be a GM and though its gonna take a LOT of work, but you WILL GET IT EVENTUALLY. However you have to stay motivated, and if someone on this forum is demotivating you, by all means PROVE THEM WRONG.
But back to genius. If genius does not necessarily correlate to motivation and vice versa, I think there has to be some definition confusion that has perpetrated our minds. What if there are two different kinds of genius? Now this is sounding really wierd right? I know it does, but hear me out. One type of genius relates to the idea that someone can be really smart, so smart they exceed the boundaries of others. In this person's case, they are a genius, rather than having a genius. A creative genius will excel creatively, a math genius will excel at math. They won't necessarily do something groundbreaking but they have potential. If you are smart enough to play chess on any level then I think you have the fundamental potential required to play chess at a high level - though you are going to need to learn discipline, confidence, and motivation, and how to remove your anxiety over whether it will happen if you want to get anywhere - but I truly believe that if you see yourself as an 2400 you will become a 2400, no more no less. This is the power of perception at work.
However, there is also the ability to do something genius. The doer and thinker are two sides of the same coin. Confuscious talked about this. You need to meditate and you need to work, this is a fundamental part of being human. However, to do something great, you don't need to have intrinsic intelligence, you just need to have a desire to do this something great. When bobby fischer lost a chess game, he would sometimes break into tears. He cared deeply about chess and it hurt him when he lost and felt that his passions would go nowhere. He was considered the greatest chess player that ever lived, even though he sacrificed everything to do something great. The problem with Bobby Fischer is that he idolized Paul Morphy. Morphy was considered a genius in the victorian era. Like the romantic era, the victorians believed that being a genius meant you were insane. Bobby Fischer is a modern example of this strange paradox, if only because he was a throwback to that era.
In any case, its very important that we understand that there are two types of geniuses. Geniuses that have, and geniuses that do. These are two sides of the same coin, I hope you understand what I am talking about.