What do we mean by “genius”? A commonsense definition might be, “mental ability beyond the ordinary, a higher mode of mental functioning.” But much confusion seems to result when we try to define what that higher functioning might be. The author of this discussion is not a genius, but I hope there will some value in simply trying to clarify the issue. My mentor, Northrop Frye, was generally regarded as an authentic genius, and I have always thought that part—not all—of his genius was simple clear-sightedness. He was remarkably free of neuroses, ideological obsessions, egocentric ambitions, and specialist narrowness.