61–70 of 76 posts
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> I think it is understandable to feel inadequate. that is motivation to be better. I don't see the sense in this. No amount of work would turn the average mind into the next von Neumann.
being better does mean being a copy of the guy
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"Focus on the math, not the mathematician." Do you think von Neumann's education might have had anything to do with what he was able to achieve? How about how he was raised by his parents? Or how about his work ethic, motivation, and attitude towards discovery? How about the people that he admired and that influenced him? Learning these things might help us to raise future extraordinary achievers, or might even help…
99.9% genes in his case. Look how hard parents push their kids these days, yet few even come close to his genius.
You think if he was raised in a third-world country without access to education he would have achieved just as much?
He was raised in the intellectual hothouse of turn of the century Hungary, which also produced many other eminent mathematicians.
His parents were wealthy nobility, who could afford the best education for their children, and believed strongly in its value.
"When they were young, governesses taught von Neumann, his brothers and his cousins. Max believed that knowledge of languages in addition to Hungarian was essential, so the children were tutored in English, French, German and Italian."
He attended "one of the best schools in Budapest and was part of a brilliant education system designed for the elite."
"The Hungarian school system produced a generation noted for intellectual achievement, which included Theodore von Kármán (born 1881), George de Hevesy (born 1885), Michael Polanyi (born 1891), Leó Szilárd (born 1898), Dennis Gabor (born 1900), Eugene Wigner (born 1902), Edward Teller (born 1908), and Paul Erdős (born 1913)."
"At the age of 15, he began to study advanced calculus under the renowned analyst Gábor Szegő... He then went to the University of Göttingen on a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to study mathematics under David Hilbert."
Most people don't get opportunities to study at one of the most elite educational institutions in the world, with world-class academics.
That is not genetics, that's opportunity.
"Look how hard parents push their kids these days, yet few even come close to his genius."
Maybe they're "pushing" in the wrong way. And is pushing what needs to be done?
What was von Neumann's parents' approach exactly? How did they interact with him and what values about learning did they instill in him when he was young?
These questions are important to answer.
> In fact, von Neumann claimed to do some of his best work in noisy, chaotic environments such as in the living room of his house with the television blaring. I often think of this when people claim it is impossible to conceive of any advanced thought in an open office or noisy environment. In fact, it is just a personal preference and one environment isn't necessarily any better than another.
The environment is still under his control. Not at all like an open office.
How much of our global technological progress can be attributed to a handful of geniuses who happened to be at the right time and place? How much more backward would the world be if the likes of Newton and Von Neumann hadn't existed? I unironically believe that the government should dig up his body, retrieve DNA samples, and clone him. Populate federal labs and agencies with Von Neumann clones. Sell a few to FAAMNG t…
"I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." - Stephen Jay Gould
Equal potential maybe. But it's nonsense to equate potential with talent. Talent is observed based on demonstrable execution.
A pithy quote is all that is.
> In fact, von Neumann claimed to do some of his best work in noisy, chaotic environments such as in the living room of his house with the television blaring. I often think of this when people claim it is impossible to conceive of any advanced thought in an open office or noisy environment. In fact, it is just a personal preference and one environment isn't necessarily any better than another.
Not impossible, just impossible for them. First, the difference between the television blaring and my office talking is that in office chatter I'm constantly picking up bits of sound that make my brain think I should be paying attention to them. The sounds of a Simpsons rerun I've seen 90 times don't distract my brain in the same way. Second, we're talking about what works for MOST people, Peopleware has actual data…
Agree. I found that hearing my boss on one side of a phone call where they referenced me or my work in some way was very distracting. What had happened? What was going to happen? What was I potentially being committed to?
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Gould wrote a controversial book attacking whole swathes of science done in the past. The existence of a senior lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire who has written a criticism of it doesn't seem that surprising and certainly doesn't seem sufficient evidence that we should disregard what he has to say.
> certainly doesn't seem sufficient evidence that we should disregard what he has to say. No, we should disregard what he has to say because even his arguments against the century-old studies he attacks (while carefully avoiding modern work) were shown to be faulty. It's like (poorly) debunking phlogiston in the modern day, and expecting to be taken seriously.
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99.9% genes in his case. Look how hard parents push their kids these days, yet few even come close to his genius.
"99.9% genes in his case" You think if he was raised in a third-world country without access to education he would have achieved just as much? He was raised in the intellectual hothouse of turn of the century Hungary, which also produced many other eminent mathematicians. His parents were wealthy nobility, who could afford the best education for their children, and believed strongly in its value. "When they were youn…
Most don't. Many do. And Vom Neumann was still massively ahead of them, and the rest of the world.
Trying to write off his raw brain power as mostly a consequence of his socio-economic standing and upbringing is intellectually bankrupt but populist-pandering poppycock.
How much of our global technological progress can be attributed to a handful of geniuses who happened to be at the right time and place? How much more backward would the world be if the likes of Newton and Von Neumann hadn't existed? I unironically believe that the government should dig up his body, retrieve DNA samples, and clone him. Populate federal labs and agencies with Von Neumann clones. Sell a few to FAAMNG t…
"I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." - Stephen Jay Gould
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At least in hindsight I can say with confidence that John von Neumann was wrong in this matter. Or do you really think things could have turned out better if the US had began a nuclear war?
It is one thing to say that in hindsight he held a wrong belief, and another thing entirely (especially without knowing his exact arguments and priors) to say that he held a wrong belief at the time and was not only wrong, but also therefore morally defective.
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"99.9% genes in his case" You think if he was raised in a third-world country without access to education he would have achieved just as much? He was raised in the intellectual hothouse of turn of the century Hungary, which also produced many other eminent mathematicians. His parents were wealthy nobility, who could afford the best education for their children, and believed strongly in its value. "When they were youn…
> Most people don't get opportunities to study at one of the most elite educational institutions in the world, with world-class academics Most don't. Many do. And Vom Neumann was still massively ahead of them, and the rest of the world. Trying to write off his raw brain power as mostly a consequence of his socio-economic standing and upbringing is intellectually bankrupt but populist-pandering poppycock.
We should not discard the importance of pedagogy and mentorship.
Polgar chess prodigies is an interesting experiment on upbringing and crystallizing genius abilities in gifted children though.