The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann (2019) • Hacker News Board

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann (2019)

#11

Post by ZephyrBlu » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 1:22 AM UTC

deviation wrote: post #8

It staggers me that in an age of incredible innovation and technology- we still have no idea what biologically separates a man like this from the rest of us. I'd like to take the idyllic position of (somewhat irresponsibly) hoping that some level of genius can be fostered and created in anyone from a young age.. But when I read articles like this I feel the compulsive need to sit back in my chair and ponder just how…

Do we actually have no idea what the biological/genetic differences between geniuses and average people are? That's interesting.

> I'd like to take the idyllic position of (somewhat irresponsibly) hoping that some level of genius can be fostered and created in anyone from a young age

So you believe that genius is environmental and not genetic? Or maybe we are thinking about different definitions of genius.

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann (2019)

#12

Post by ekianjo » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 1:25 AM UTC

wombatmobile wrote: post #9

"Anybody who looks at living organisms knows perfectly well that they can produce other organisms like themselves. This is their normal function, they wouldn’t exist if they didn’t do this, and it’s not plausible that this is the reason why they abound in the world. In other words, living organisms are very complicated aggregations of elementary parts, and by any reasonable theory of probability or thermodynamics hig…

> Therefore, if by any peculiar accident there should ever be one of them, from there on the rules of probability do not apply, and there will be many of them, at least if the milieu is reasonable.

This is the line of arguments in favor of the "simulation theory": "If in a distance future a civilization ever manages to create a simulation, who says we are not already into one of them?"

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann (2019)

#13

Post by Rochus » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 1:25 AM UTC

> von Neumann proposed a description for a computer architecture now known as the von Neumann architecture

Well, he actually described an already existing design by Eckert and Mauchly under his name and this paper was illegally disclosed. For the ones interested in this and other fascinating stories about ENIAC, here is a good book: https://www.amazon.com/Eniac-Triumphs-Tragedies-Worlds-Compu...; worth reading is also the review by Jean Bartik (here https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3K2DSB6UE1X7H/re...) who was there and witnessed everything firsthand.

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann (2019)

#14

Post by ZephyrBlu » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 1:25 AM UTC

hintymad wrote: post #3

I often use von Neumann's quote, "Young man, in mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them.", to console myself when I have to read a math book multiple times to really understand something. The quote also has truth in it. I had no problem accepting that 0! = 1 only because I learnt that fact early in school. However, I struggled quite a bit to accept that span({}) = {0}, even though it is not…

I've never seen that quote before, but it feels very human.

I feel like there's an intuition which comes along with learning things. Or maybe learning is simply developing intuition.

At some point things somehow just make sense in your mind because you've built up an intuition of how it works.

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann (2019)

#15

Post by inasio » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 1:26 AM UTC

aeontech wrote: post #6

And he was only -51-, correction, 53 when he passed… One has to wonder what more he would have accomplished had he lived another 30 years or more. As an aside, are there many pure research institutes left? It seems like academic life is now mostly spent chasing grants and managing teaching load, and very very few people get to do pure research.

I heard or read a story from Freeman Dyson about a somewhat legendary conference where von Neumann was to present his version of Hilbert's problems, presumably about the new computing age, I think at the IAS. It was highly anticipated, but Dyson and everybody else present were shocked because von Neumann was in a state of advanced mental decline when he presented it, and people there agreed to pretend it hadn't happened. Sorry that I can't find a reference to it, the memory of it is vague.

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann (2019)

#16

Post by djmips » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 1:26 AM UTC

Rochus wrote: post #13

> von Neumann proposed a description for a computer architecture now known as the von Neumann architecture Well, he actually described an already existing design by Eckert and Mauchly under his name and this paper was illegally disclosed. For the ones interested in this and other fascinating stories about ENIAC, here is a good book: https://www.amazon.com/Eniac-Triumphs-Tragedies-Worlds-Compu... ; worth reading is al…

True but on the other hand, he kind of made computers 'open source'

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann (2019)

#17

Post by wslh » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 1:27 AM UTC

aeontech wrote: post #6

And he was only -51-, correction, 53 when he passed… One has to wonder what more he would have accomplished had he lived another 30 years or more. As an aside, are there many pure research institutes left? It seems like academic life is now mostly spent chasing grants and managing teaching load, and very very few people get to do pure research.

53 years old when he died: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann?wprov=sfla1

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann (2019)

#18

Post by smnplk » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 1:28 AM UTC

ZephyrBlu wrote: post #11

deviation wrote: post #8

It staggers me that in an age of incredible innovation and technology- we still have no idea what biologically separates a man like this from the rest of us. I'd like to take the idyllic position of (somewhat irresponsibly) hoping that some level of genius can be fostered and created in anyone from a young age.. But when I read articles like this I feel the compulsive need to sit back in my chair and ponder just how…

Do we actually have no idea what the biological/genetic differences between geniuses and average people are? That's interesting. > I'd like to take the idyllic position of (somewhat irresponsibly) hoping that some level of genius can be fostered and created in anyone from a young age So you believe that genius is environmental and not genetic? Or maybe we are thinking about different definitions of genius.

I believe the foundations have to be genetic. There are multitude of factors involved and one of them is having a strong memory. But there also needs to be a drive and thirst for knowledge.

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann (2019)

#19

Post by djmips » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 1:28 AM UTC

hintymad wrote: post #3

I often use von Neumann's quote, "Young man, in mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them.", to console myself when I have to read a math book multiple times to really understand something. The quote also has truth in it. I had no problem accepting that 0! = 1 only because I learnt that fact early in school. However, I struggled quite a bit to accept that span({}) = {0}, even though it is not…

I agree, negative numbers learned early are used with aplomb but imaginary numbers learned later are initially met with suspicion.

Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann (2019)

#20

Post by stephc_int13 » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 1:28 AM UTC

ZephyrBlu wrote: post #11

deviation wrote: post #8

It staggers me that in an age of incredible innovation and technology- we still have no idea what biologically separates a man like this from the rest of us. I'd like to take the idyllic position of (somewhat irresponsibly) hoping that some level of genius can be fostered and created in anyone from a young age.. But when I read articles like this I feel the compulsive need to sit back in my chair and ponder just how…

Do we actually have no idea what the biological/genetic differences between geniuses and average people are? That's interesting. > I'd like to take the idyllic position of (somewhat irresponsibly) hoping that some level of genius can be fostered and created in anyone from a young age So you believe that genius is environmental and not genetic? Or maybe we are thinking about different definitions of genius.

From a genetic standpoint, all humans are 99.9% identical beasts.

There is of course some genetic components in potential abilities.

But I strongly believe that most of the differences we are seeing are built on compounded interest of environmental factors, starting from a very young age.