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"Von Neumann would carry on a conversation with my 3-year-old son, and the two of them would talk as equals, and I sometimes wondered if he used the same princi
by lqet 7y ago
"Von Neumann would carry on a conversation with my 3-year-old son, and the two of them would talk as equals, and I sometimes wondered if he used the same principle when he talked to the rest of us." - Edward Teller
See [0] for a demonstration.
I watched a documentary from the 80ies a long time ago. A mathematician (can't remember his name) who worked with von Neumann in Los Alamanos was interviewed. He described von Neumann's last weeks in the hospital - the cancer had already metastasized into his brain. The mathematician said something along this lines (I am citing from memory): "von Neumann was constantly visited by colleagues, who wanted to discuss their latest work with him. He tried to keep up, struggling, like in old times. But he couldn't. Try to imagine having one of the greatest minds maybe in the history of mankind. And then try to imagine losing this gift. I was terrible. I have never seen a man experience greater suffering."
Marina von Neumann (his daughter) later wrote this about his final weeks:
"After only a few minutes, my father made what seemed to be a very peculiar and frightening request from a man who was widely regarded as one of the greatest - if not the greatest - mathematician of the 20th century. He wanted me to give him two numbers, like 7 and 6 or 10 and 3, and ask him to tell me their sum. For as long as I can remember, I had always known that my father's major source of self-regard, what he felt to be the very essence of his being, was his incredible mental capacity. In this late stage of his illness, he must have been aware that this capacity was deteriorating rapidly, and the panic that caused was worse than any physical pain. In demanding that I test him on these elementary sums, he was seeking reassurance that at least a small fragment of this intellectual powers remained." [1]
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLbllFHBQM4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLbllFHBQM4
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Martians-Daughter-Memoir-Marina-Whitman/dp/0472118420 https://www.amazon.com/Martians-Daughter-Memoir-Marina-Whitm...
- mvf0 7y agoHere is that exact documentary you were thinking of [0]. It's really a fantastic documentary on the incredible feats of von Neumann and worth a watch by everyone here. That person you quoted was Edward Teller and the interview can be found at 54:58 [1]. I read somewhere that the young boy asking von Neumann a question at 6:13 [2] is actually Bill Clinton. Can anyone verify this? [0] https://youtu.be/Y2jiQXI6nrE https://youtu.be/Y2jiQXI6nrE [1] https://youtu.be/Y2jiQXI6nrE?t=3299 https://youtu.be/Y2jiQXI6nrE?t=3299 [2] https://youtu.be/Y2jiQXI6nrE?t=371 https://youtu.be/Y2jiQXI6nrE?t=371
- chrisco255 7y agoCan't verify it 100% but the boy in the video looks similar to Bill's boyhood photos: https://images.app.goo.gl/WT6GygVPiTiKgkuY7 https://images.app.goo.gl/WT6GygVPiTiKgkuY7 However, Clinton was born in 1946, and this video is from 1955, so he would have been 9. The boy in the video looks older than 9 to me.
- lancebeet 7y ago>I read somewhere that the young boy asking von Neumann a question at 6:13 [2] is actually Bill Clinton. Can anyone verify this? The top comment poster on the other video says it's his father, Bill Walters.
- freyr 7y agoBill Clinton would have been nine years old when this was filmed. The boy in the clip looks a bit too young to have a nine year old kid.
- lqet 7y agoHa, that is indeed the exact documentary I was talking about, thanks!
- mixmastamyk 7y agoNo, it’s not Clinton.
- mark_l_watson 7y agoThanks, interesting story that I will pass on to my Dad (who worked with John von Neumann at the Institute for Advanced Study when he was young, and Edward Teller hired my Dad at Berkeley and they were life long friends). My Dad says that von Neumann liked to play his music loud and work late at night with no interruptions. I remember Edward Teller coming to a costume party at our house and my Mom and one of her friends had a white bird costume for him to wear. He refused to wear the bird’s head, just wore the white wings. The next day in Herb Cain’s newspaper column he incorrectly talked about Edward Teller wearing an angel of peace costume.
- x220 7y agoI've taken a medication that occasionally makes me feel stupid. For a day I might be unable to continue reading a book without re-reading each sentence a few times. I might not be able to talk to people about a complicated or technical subject without stumbling over my words. I will find it difficult to think in the abstract terms, and when I listen to others who talk about abstract values and concepts I have to continually relate it back to a concrete example otherwise I'm lost. My IQ is normally between 140-155. When I go through these brain-fog days I estimate it's at around 90. It feels terrible. When I first experienced it, I was terrified that it would be permanent because that would keep me from doing my job and keeping up with my interests and hobbies. Now I only get this brain-fog every so often. I think it helps me communicate with people better and has helped me learn patience. I finally understand how some people might be genuinely, earnestly trying to understand what I'm trying to say or teach, but can't understand it because I'm communicating it at the right level of analysis. If you're intellectually gifted (many programmers are), you shouldn't take that for granted. You got lucky, and if you weren't lucky enough to be intelligent, it might have been impossible to do the same kind of work you do today. Please appreciate that.
- failrate 7y agoThe sad reality is that cognitive decline over age is more likely than not. I have prebuilt a set of habits that I hope will serve me for when I need to rely on them to get me through the day.
- monktastic1 7y agoThis is terribly sad. It's also a good lesson in why not to tie your well-being to your identity (or anything else that's impermanent -- which, actually, includes everything). It's a lesson I'm still learning.
- hacknat 7y agoYeah, you can't not tie your identity to your work to at least some degree, but you can invest in other things, like family and friends, that will soften the blow of losing it.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- ellyagg 7y agoAnything you tie your well-being to can be taken from you. And will be in the end.
- rcoveson 7y agoIt’s a lesson in the inevitable consequences of loving something fiercely, be that your own intellect, your spouse, or a child. You may lose any of these things before you die, and the pain will probably be proportional to the love you felt. I don’t think that’s a lesson in why not to allow yourself to love that way at all. There may be mental pathways that allow for love without attachment. I personally don’t see them yet; perhaps I need to learn more about Zen or Daoism or something. In my unenlightened state, the only way I see to avoid the pain of loss is avoiding love in the first place, which doesn’t look like a good idea.
- monktastic1 7y agoI'm far from enlightened myself, but meditation certainly has helped me a great deal in this regard. It's not that I don't grieve loss, but it's no longer such a terrifying and identity-destroying affair.
- john-radio 7y agoI enjoyed your video [0], also yeesh. 90 seconds in or so, "For the moment we'll leave the General Dynamics exhibit and come over here to an exhibit we have here; this is the electronics exhibit, whereby, as you see, they have a number of, uh, gadgets, I guess you might call them that... Or is that the wrong word?" That young man who wants to be a lawyer was actually a lot better prepared for this interview than the guy with the microphone!