The thing is Von Neumann is an extreme outlier in terms of human mental ability and achievement. - liked to read books whilst driving - on his death-bed, reci

The thing is Von Neumann is an extreme outlier in terms of human mental ability and achievement. - liked to read books whilst driving - on his death-bed, reciting, by heart and word-for-word, the first few lines of each page of Goethe's Faust - always had a stack of books next to his bed that he was reading It seems plausible that if he could retain everything he read he would want to read as much as possible. I haven't come across any first-hand account of people explicitly saying this was bullshit, other than skepticism from people who never knew him. There's always going to be skepticism on outlier events. Here's an interesting post about this memory: http://overweeninggeneralist.blogspot.co.za/2011/11/john-von-neumann-hungarianmartian.html http://overweeninggeneralist.blogspot.co.za/2011/11/john-von...