Instead of just listening to music, try learning to play it. Learning music is like learning a new language. It opens new pathways in the brain. Allowing more diverse states of mind.
A genius is a person who excels at connecting various patterns into one. All things are interconnected by various ways. Music can be said to capture the spirit of this idea in that music is so often a blend of various sounds that combine to form a greater whole. Mozart was all over the spectrum which is why I think his work is hailed as great (I don't care for most of it myself. I prefer the darker, brooding Beethoven. I did like that operatic piece they used in Shawshank Redemption, what was that one?)
Here's a question, can posting in forums contribute to genius? Forums are centered about the concept of threads that follow a topic. Now, there is certain leeway allowed in diverging from the subject, but eventually the original topic is lost and someone must bring it back on topic. A genius may begin a line of inquiry by thinking about something as mundane as scooby doo (as an example) and end up, by various leaps of logic, at something that seems wholely unrelated and off-topic. But, if one puts an effort, the chain of causality might be traced back, step by step, back to the original thought. In this way, new thoughts are formed that are variations on older thoughts. Many times the thoughts themselves aren't important, it's the interconnectedness of the whole that speaks to some type of pattern underlying basic concepts.
A genius can't be made. The harder you try to be a "genius," the farther you get from your goal. It's more a statement of someone's character than a product of knowledge. Knowledge certainly adds more fuel to the leaps of logic, but can also hinder the process by miring one down in what is known to be "true."
