When Franklin uses the word “genius”, he means “intelligence” or “intellect” or “a clever mind”. What he means is that a person might be blessed with a natural ability for cleverness or a quick or capable mind, but without development through learning the gift is wasted. Cognitive science, psychology, and other fields are proving that despite great potential, the human mind in its natural, undeveloped state is primitive and requires education to reason well and think critically. Without this we are easily tricked from buying items we don’t need in the grocery store to voting for inexperienced, psychopathic, immature, or amoral politicians. Another way to think about it is that a knife may be made of the best quality steel, but it is wasted unless the knife is sharpened.
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It refers to wasted potential. If you are a natural born genius but don't get an education to showcase your smarts then they are wasted in the same way as silver in the mine is no good until you take it out of the mine.
