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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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