It's a charming anecdote, but don't take this as a story of individual brilliance. Read it as faith and perseverance triumphing over doubt, and conquering probl

It's a charming anecdote, but don't take this as a story of individual brilliance. Read it as faith and perseverance triumphing over doubt, and conquering problems with appropriately applied work. Note the crucial elements. He talked to a lot of experts in field Y. This is not a "lone genius"! He had the freedom and incentives to work on this almost uninterrupted. He would have spent at least 100 hours, which is worth at least as much as two undergraduate courses. Also, he was an expert in related field X, which must have helped. Furthermore, he because he knew the practical problem, he could cut down the search space. He didn't have to investigate everything about field Y, just stuff applicable to him. If you consider all that, the solution doesn't look so miraculous. What's more interesting to me is that I think even ordinary people could be achieving that kind of result all the time if they had the right background, incentives, and support.