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redditor1101 t1_ixjbm2k wrote

JvN is such an interesting person. My favorite anecdote about him is this one:

> “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

This is particularly impressive when you consider that the "rest of us" were the scientists of the Manhattan Project, in other words the greatest collection of genius in one place the world has ever seen.

John seemed special because he was not only one of the greatest intellects in history, but also personable, well adjusted, and the life of the party. His genius didn't come at the cost of social skills. Do you think he was unique in that way?

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simplicissimusrex OP t1_ixjl2ia wrote

Yes! This is what struck me about him too! When you think about other mathematical geniuses they were often quite strange characters (Paul Erdős springs effortlessly to mind). Some said that this was a facade and I suppose to an extent it was--with a brain like that, von Neumann was often quite isolated from other humans. But he genuinely did seem to enjoy parties and loud music, bad jokes and naughty limericks. I think his upbringing had a hand in this--but it's also key to his interest in applying maths to problems in the real world. He wasn't ever going to be happy in an ivory tower.

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Socal_ftw t1_ixo1l16 wrote

When my dad met Edward Teller, he said the saddest day in his life was when he went to visit John in the hospital when he had late onset dementia and he couldn't remember how to do basic math

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OsamaBinFuckin t1_ixk0y0w wrote

Norm Mcdonald is no genius of the caliber of this convo, but he was a smart guy and when he's being genuine about his friendship and people he loves, I think it shows a sign of what true appreciation can be. It's easy to become nihilistic if you are even slightly above average...

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ttak82 t1_ixl6dm8 wrote

Odd example but I miss Norm.

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marcyhidesinphotos t1_ixnhsby wrote

Are you seriously comparing a comedian to actual geniuses? Norm was above average in entertainment value but not in intelligence. Not really a legitimate comparison.

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OsamaBinFuckin t1_ixooc69 wrote

He was def above average in intellect :p

Your optimism/ expectation of how intelligent the average person is, is too high, but ya I did kinda say he's not of that caliber but hey understanding things is through context and he was my context.

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