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The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann

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Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann

#21

Post by keiferski »

Can anyone recommend readings on von Neumann that highlight his non-mathematical achievements? Obviously he was primarily a physicist and mathematician, but for a non-mathematician, the long list of academic publications is hard to interpret and appreciate. For example, more in the vein of these:

- Reportedly, von Neumann possessed an eidetic memory, and so was able to recall complete novels and pages of the phone directory on command. This enabled him to accumulate an almost encyclopedic knowledge of what ever he read, such as the history of the Peloponnesian Wars, the Trial Joan of Arc and Byzantine history (Leonard, 2010). A Princeton professor of the latter topic once stated that by the time he was in his thirties, Johnny had greater expertise in Byzantine history than he did (Blair, 1957).

- ...conversing in Ancient Greek at age six...

- On his deathbed, he reportedly entertained his brother by reciting the first few lines of each page from Goethe’s Faust, word-for-word, by heart (Blair, 1957).

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann

#22

Post by anongraddebt »

danieltillett wrote: post #10

I have always wondered how close von Neumann was to the maximum human potential. Does he sit close the outer edge of possible human potential, or can greater geniuses be created? Is there anyone alive who even comes close to Johnny?

My guess is that each relatively difficult field (fields that require substantial thought... I guess you know it when you see it) has its freaks of nature: genetic anomalies that, for at least a brief moment, seem to transcend the other participants.

In the 20th century, philosophy had Saul Kripke. Among other things, he published one of the seminal papers in the (at that time) nascent area of modal logic when he was 17. I have it on good authority from a professor friend that many - who know Kripke in a professional setting - regard him as having a sort of alien intelligence.

Not to take away from Von Neumann, but there are at least a couple people each century who have these sorts of alien cognitive skills.

Also, while there is probably some truth to them having a sort of alien intelligence, we can't disregard the contexual factors of their success. Von Neumann lived in a unique academic-historical period. A period where one could make lasting, foundational contributions to a variety of disciplines.

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann

#23

Post by roca »

biolurker1 wrote: post #7

Wouldn't einstein qualify as the most intelligent human ever lived?

A real comparison is of course impossible, but of that coterie, Kurt Gödel is a strong contender. As the original post mentions, he singlehandedly destroyed Hilbert's formalist program (which von Neumann was also working on) and von Neumann is quoted as saying he was "in a class by himself". There is the famous letter from Gödel to von Neumann which anticipates the P=NP problem by decades.

In a different era, I think Blaise Pascal is also a contender. At age 19 he invented a working mechanical calculator with a functional carry mechanism, which somehow his contemporaries failed to achieve for the next sixty years.

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann

#24

Post by ElFitz »

arethuza wrote: post #20
roca wrote: post #9

Awww, I was hoping they'd mention how Neumann was keen on launching a preemptive nuclear strike against the USSR.

"“If you say why not bomb them tomorrow, I say why not today? If you say today at 5 o’clock, I say why not one o’clock?” Hardly surprising that he was one of the influences on the character of Dr Strangelove. Was he a remarkable genius, absolutely - was he right about everything, definitely not.

This quote perfectly illustrates the unparalleled absurdity of contemplating nuclear warfare.

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann

#25

Post by mikorym »

In an answer to the question of why there is no evidence of intelligent life beyond earth despite the high probability of it existing, Szilárd responded: "They are already here among us – they just call themselves Hungarians." [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martians_(scientists)

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann

#26

Post by keiferski »

biolurker1 wrote: post #7

Wouldn't einstein qualify as the most intelligent human ever lived?

Intelligence is a word, a messy abstract concept. If you treat it as an existent quality like height or weight, you end up with absurd questions that have no answers, like "Who was smarter, Picasso or Einstein?"

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann

#27

Post by arethuza »

ElFitz wrote: post #24
arethuza wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"“If you say why not bomb them tomorrow, I say why not today? If you say today at 5 o’clock, I say why not one o’clock?” Hardly surprising that he was one of the influences on the character of Dr Strangelove. Was he a remarkable genius, absolutely - was he right about everything, definitely not.

This quote perfectly illustrates the unparalleled absurdity of contemplating nuclear warfare.

He was hardly alone if favouring a "preventative war" - Curtis LeMay was another advocate - they thought it was the rational thing to do.

How someone can rationally advocate the cold blooded killing of millions is, frankly, completely beyond me.

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann

#28

Post by yannis7 »

von Neumann, Oppenheimer, Bohr, Einstein, Rutherford, Turing, Teller, Szilard, Wigner, Meitner... the list goes on... -- how did that time produce so many people of colossal intellect? War certainly can't be the primary factor, given that many of them were brilliant/productive even before WWI

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann

#29

Post by dr_dshiv »

Von Neumann invented a novel paradigm for computing using harmonic integration of analog oscillations. The patent was granted after his death.

While there were a few prototypes in the 50s, the transistor killed it. A fully functional version of this computational architecture has never been built, to my knowledge:

https://patents.google.com/patent/US2815488A/en

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann

#30

Post by ksec »

keiferski wrote: post #21

Can anyone recommend readings on von Neumann that highlight his non-mathematical achievements? Obviously he was primarily a physicist and mathematician, but for a non-mathematician, the long list of academic publications is hard to interpret and appreciate. For example, more in the vein of these: - Reportedly, von Neumann possessed an eidetic memory, and so was able to recall complete novels and pages of the phone di…

So he has what's called Photographic Memory ?
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