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I find this very inspiring, because it seems like he's not necessarily a genius but just worked really hard and didn't give up. Also, he was in his late fifties
by mherrmann 10y ago
I find this very inspiring, because it seems like he's not necessarily a genius but just worked really hard and didn't give up. Also, he was in his late fifties when he published his proof, going against the commonly held belief that mathematicians do their best work before 40.
[edit:] Peter Sarnak from Princeton does call him a genius. When you read about him online, you actually find several other people who have known/worked with him to call him that as well. So I guess I was wrong.
> Why did you solve this problem and not somebody else?
> I think the important reason is that I persisted for several years. I didn’t give up.
> How long did you work on your conjecture?
> I worked on my conjecture for four years. I worked on it seven days a week. I didn’t take any breaks almost. If we count the time I spent thinking about the problem, then it was more than 10 hours a day. If you count sitting in front of a desk or using a computer, then it was five or six hours a day.
- muddyrivers 10y agoI have different interpretation of being a genius. Being a genius doesn't mean she or he can solve really hard problems easily. One is a genius if he or she does solve really hard problems, especially in the fields like math, physics, etc. where all low-hanging fruits were way gone. Both Zhang and Perelman are genius, in my eyes. It doesn't matter how long it takes one to solve the hard problems. It sounds a fairy tale to me that someone wakes up one day with a genius thought, and two weeks later, complete a solution for a really hard problem in math, physics, etc. in nowadays.
- rifung 10y agoOne thing I think you will notice both with him and others who are successful was that they never were interested in fame or success. He seems to do mathematics merely because he enjoys it. What I'm trying to say is that perhaps you shouldn't worry too much about whether you are a genius or smart enough but just try to be happy by doing something you enjoy.
- argonaut 10y agoYeah, also it's worth pointing out that he finished a PhD in math. That is already genius level mathematics as far as most people are concerned; certainly relative to your average undergraduate STEM student.