I know a few people I'd consider geniuses. Actual credentialed geniuses, as in Physics PhD from an ivy. They're pretty much perpetually in a shitty mood and have the most antisocial, night-time oriented schedules possible.
If that’s your definition of genius you have to raise your standards.
”The world is filled with educated fools and uneducated genuises.” – Richard Feynman
Agreed that credentials aren't required for a pass to the genius club, but I didn't read that in the post above either.
Then later I had the pleasure of spending some time with true outliers, who usually also studied at top universities. Some of them would be obsessed with their field of study, and seriously work 80 hours a week on papers and projects. Some of them seem like completely normal people, with social lives and hobbies, and then you see the work they do and are just blown away at the genius they put in there somehow.
And then there are the behemoths; you can throw any topic at them, and they will say something interesting. There are few things more mindboggling and intimidating than introducing someone to a topic you are intimately familiar with, and they basically immediately answer one of your open questions, while asking a much more interesting and deep question regarding the topic.
You can find geniuses anywhere, but in my limited experience, there's a much higher density of these kinds of people at these places. But, because of how the top universities are structured, the inverse isn't true: Going to a top university does not make you better.
I mean, how can the rest of this thing even be taken seriously?
He has a masters degree in molecular biology, another in computer science, a doctoral degree, and has spent 39 years working on learning and cognition, has been one of the main promoters of spaced repetition learning. Surely he deserves more than an "I mean, lol, right guys" dismissal?