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[shockthrill]

If you don't know much about the history of mathematics, Johnny Von Neumann was an hungarian mathematician, an extremely brilliant polymath, one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. He is the founder of Game Theory and also was one of the first mathematicians to write a rigorous mathematical treatment of quantum mechanics, among many other accomplishments

I have trouble believing such a human being actually existed, I honestly do

here are some of the anecdotes people have said about him, usually from brilliant intellectuals

Hans Bethe: " "I have sometimes wondered whether a brain like von Neumann's does not indicate a species superior to that of man".

Eugene Wigner , "one had the impression of a perfect instrument whose gears were machined to mesh accurately to a thousandth of an inch." and also said "only he was fully awake"

Paul Halmos " "von Neumann's speed was awe-inspiring"

Israel Halperin ""Keeping up with him was ... impossible. The feeling was you were on a tricycle chasing a racing car."

Edward Teller said "he could never keep up with him"

he also said ""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..

Lothar Wolfgang Nordheim " "fastest mind I ever met"

Jacob Bronowski ""He was the cleverest man I ever knew, without exception. He was a genius."

George Polya " "Johnny was the only student I was ever afraid of. If in the course of a lecture I stated an unsolved problem, the chances were he'd come to me at the end of the lecture with the complete solution scribbled on a slip of paper."

Jean Diudonne " "may have been the last representative of a once-flourishing and numerous group, the great mathematicians who were equally at home in pure and applied mathematics and who throughout their careers maintained a steady production in both directions"

Peter Lax "most scintillating intellect of this century"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann

 

[Ingeniero]

Wow, impressive.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

I'm pretty sure I'm smarter than Invader Zim

But that is incredible.

 

[Stinkles]

If he is so smart why did he invent planet devouring machines that are going to destroy us?

 

[Fireblend]

As a computer engineer I know what VonNeumann did, and I know you included a Wikipedia link at the end of the OP, but in the interest of brevity (and people not reading long OPs before commenting) you might want to add a short blurb about who he was at the top of the page.

That said I agree, he was a genius.

 

[shockthrill]

another important quote about the dinstinction between someone like Johnny and say Einstein, how they almost had different ways of solving problems, by Wigner again



I have known a great many intelligent people in my life. I knew Planck, von Laue and Heisenberg. Paul Dirac was my brother in law; Leo Szilard and Edward Teller have been among my closest friends; and Albert Einstein was a good friend, too. But none of them had a mind as quick and acute as Jansci [John] von Neumann. I have often remarked this in the presence of those men and no one ever disputed me.

... But Einstein's understanding was deeper even than von Neumann's. His mind was both more penetrating and more original than von Neumann's. And that is a very remarkable statement. Einstein took an extraordinary pleasure in invention. Two of his greatest inventions are the Special and General Theories of Relativity; and for all of Jansci's brilliance, he never produced anything as original.

 

[Lightning_Roller]

Impressive anecdotes. Dude sounded crazy smart. Wonder if we'll ever get a mind as incredible as his in our time.....time will tell.

 

[ErasureAcer]

He's the 3 of Hearts the Mercury-Mercury card. Mercury being thinking, communication and quickness. Not surprised with those comments.

 

[Ether_Snake]

I'm like Einstein, 160 times magnified. Nicola Tesla, John Von Neumann, all wrapped in the body of one human. I rhyme the tightest, shine the brightest, I blind the optic fibres of anybody's iris.

 

[shockthrill]

here's the only video on youtube of Johnny speaking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLbllFHBQM4

 

[Antiwhippy]

Ehhhh....

 

[ZeroX03]

He kind of has the eyes too.

 

[Shanlei91]

On his deathbed, Von Neumann entertained his brother by reciting, by heart and word-for-word, the first few lines of each page of Goethe's Faust.

 

[frontovik]

Impressive would be an understatement .. I can only gape and marvel at his phenomenal cognitive ability and achievements.

 

[cyborgnumberblue]

if he's so smart why is he dead

 

[shockthrill]

another anecdote is that Johnny used to play German marching music very loud at Princeton to the annoyance of Einstein

he was also super sociable, and wasn't the "awkward genius" cliche, he used to party alot

 

[ExVicis]

another anecdote is that Johnny used to play German marching music very loud at Princeton to the annoyance of Einstein

he was also super sociable, and wasn't the "awkward genius" cliche, he used to party alot

.

 

[SpaceWolf]

doessnt sound that smrt

 

[Unbounded]

Impressive anecdotes. Dude sounded crazy smart. Wonder if we'll ever get a mind as incredible as his in our time.....time will tell.

Realistically we probably have several already. Standards generally rise over time.

 

[Raxus]

if he's so smart why is he dead

He calculated a Trump presidency and was like "Nope".

 

[zero_suit]

if he's so smart why is he dead

Good question.

 

[shockthrill]

the greatest mathematicians tend to also have the greatest eidetic memory

Euler used to be able to recite the Aeneid in latin word for word

 

[djplaeskool]

if he's so smart why is he dead

I know we're joking but...

In 1955, von Neumann was diagnosed with what was either bone or pancreatic cancer

When your prognosis is one of two of the most lethal variants of cancer, there ain't much you can calculate to get out of that.

 

[shockthrill]

Now he wasn't the greatest pure mathematician of the 20th century

I would put Hilbert or Grothendieck in front of him

but he is no doubt the greatest applied mathematician to ever live, i don't think that can really be disputed

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Ehhhh....

what ehh? Even Alfred Nobel prophesized his

"The day when two army corps can annihilate each other in one second, all civilized nations, it is to be hoped, will recoil from war and discharge their troops."

we're not exactly there yet though

 

[Shanlei91]

he was also super sociable, and wasn't the "awkward genius" cliche, he used to party alot

In regards to mathematicians I've met, the more sociable ones tend to be the most impressive as they hold a level of self-awareness that I think is necessary for genius.

I liked these two bits from the wiki:

Hilbert is reported to have asked at von Neumann's 1926 doctoral exam: "Pray, who is the candidate's tailor?" as he had never seen such beautiful evening clothes.

Von Neumann liked to eat and drink; his wife, Klara, said that he could count everything except calories. He enjoyed Yiddish and "off-color" humor (especially limericks).

 

[shockthrill]

In regards to mathematicians I've met, the more sociable ones tend to be the most impressive as they hold a level of self-awareness that I think is necessary for genius.

I liked these two bits from the wiki:

I agree Kanik, one of the greatest examples would be Einstein himself

 

[Xe4]

Now he wasn't the greatest pure mathematician of the 20th century

I would put Hilbert or Grothendieck in front of him

but he is no doubt the greatest applied mathematician to ever live, i don't think that can really be disputed

Neither Hilbert nor Von Neumann I would classify as "pure mathematicians". Both applied their mathematical concepts generously to the physical world. All three were geniuses, however.

 

[shockthrill]

Neither Hilbert nor Von Neumann I would classify as "pure mathematicians". Both applied their mathematical concepts generously to the physical world. All three were geniuses, however.

that's true, Grothendieck was probably the "purest" of the 3 since he was always thinking about the abstract

 

[Antiwhippy]

what ehh? Even Alfred Nobel prophesized his

"The day when two army corps can annihilate each other in one second, all civilized nations, it is to be hoped, will recoil from war and discharge their troops."

we're not exactly there yet though

The fact that he was actively trying to bring MAD about.

And also that he was a willing participant in the manhattan project.

 

[shockthrill]

The fact that he was actively trying to bring MAD about.

And also that he was a willing participant in the manhattan project.

well, Von Neumann had a deep hatred for Communism and the Soviet Union

(which is understandable since they treated his home country, Hungary like crap)

 

[Jigorath]

Yeah but I bet I could take him in Street Fighter

 

[cr0w]

He calculated a Trump presidency and was like "Nope".

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

He calculated a Trump presidency

He most likely did.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

The fact that he was actively trying to bring MAD about.

And also that he was a willing participant in the manhattan project.

If you are convinced of the effectiveness of the theory then working to bring MAD about is the logical consequence. The issue with MAD is really the showcasing that was done to present it to the world at large.

 

[rec0ded1]

Ok but how much could he bench and deadlift?

 

[Imperfected]

Yeah, well, he probably had shit taste in art...

On his deathbed, Von Neumann entertained his brother by reciting, by heart and word-for-word, the first few lines of each page of Goethe's Faust.

... Neumann.

 

[smokeandmirrors]

he also helped develop the von Neumann architecture which is what computers use today

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_architecture

dude is an unsung genius and definitely does not get nearly enough recognition

 

[Jarrod38]

Was he smarter than the average bear?

 

[shockthrill]

he also helped develop the von Neumann architecture which is what computers use today

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_architecture

dude is an unsung genius and definitely does not get nearly enough recognition

despite Johnny's brilliance

It should be noted that Johnny actually didn't have much to do with the computer architecture

that was the work of mainly Mauchley and Eckert....Johnny just wrote the paper/report about it

however, this doesn't take away from the mass contributions Johnny did in Computer Science and other mathematical fields

 

[santi_yo]

here's the only video on youtube of Johnny speaking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLbllFHBQM4

Is that kid in the video Bill Clinton? Serious question.

 

[shockthrill]

Is that kid in the video Bill Clinton? Serious question.

OH SNAP

is it, i just noticed that

 

[Prez]

"When you control the mail...you control information." - Neumann

 

[Frozenprince]

In regards to mathematicians I've met, the more sociable ones tend to be the most impressive as they hold a level of self-awareness that I think is necessary for genius.

I liked these two bits from the wiki:

Yep, I've only met a few people that I would qualify as "genius" but the ones I have all are the most social people you'll ever meet.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

The fact that he was actively trying to bring MAD about.

And also that he was a willing participant in the manhattan project.

I mean, he was right.

There's a reason we stopped having world wars (at least to the scale of WWI/WWII) right about the time nukes came about.

 

[shockthrill]

another great anecdote

Two bicyclists start 20 miles apart and head toward each other, each going at a steady rate of 10 mph. At the same time a fly that travels at a steady 15 mph starts from the front wheel of the southbound bicycle and flies to the front wheel of the northbound one, then turns around and flies to the front wheel of the southbound one again, and continues in this manner till he is crushed between the two front wheels. Question: what total distance did the fly cover? The slow way to find the answer is to calculate what distance the fly covers on the first, northbound, leg of the trip, then on the second, southbound, leg, then on the third, etc., etc., and, finally, to sum the infinite series so obtained. The quick way is to observe that the bicycles meet exactly one hour after their start, so that the fly had just an hour for his travels; the answer must therefore be 15 miles. When the question was put to von Neumann, he solved it in an instant, and thereby disappointed the questioner: "Oh, you must have heard the trick before!" "What trick?" asked von Neumann, "All I did was sum the geometric series."[16]

 

[besada]

If he is so smart why did he invent planet devouring machines that are going to destroy us?

He could foresee what we would become.

 

[Mumei]

I read The Computer and the Brain a few years ago. I can't say that I understood more than a fraction of it, but what I thought I got was a good read.

Interesting thread. What inspired it?

 

[Epsilon-delta]

Impressive anecdotes. Dude sounded crazy smart. Wonder if we'll ever get a mind as incredible as his in our time.....time will tell.

We had plenty. Just on mathematics alone:

Andrew Wiles - Proved Fermat's Last Theorem that had stumped mathematicians for over 300 years.

Grigori Perelman - Proved the Poincare conjecture, one of seven of the Millennium Prize problems and so far, the only one to be solved.

Edward Witten - The only physicist to be awarded the Fields Medal for his breakthroughs in the structure of quantum fields

Shinichi Mochizuki - A mathematician who released four papers claiming to prove the abc conjecture. In order to do so, he invented new mathematics that was so abstract that most of the mathematical community cannot verify. Only four mathematicians have come out to say that his proof his correct.

 

[shockthrill]

We had plenty. Just on mathematics alone:

Andrew Wiles - Proved Fermat's Last Theorem that had stumped mathematicians for over 200 years.

Grigori Perelman - Proved the Poincare conjecture, one of seven of the Millennium Prize problems and so far, the only one to be solved.

Edward Witten - The only physicist to be awarded the Fields Medal for his breakthroughs in the structure of quantum fields

Shinichi Mochizuki -A mathematician who released four papers claiming to prove the abc conjecture. In order to do so, he invented new mathematics that was so abstract that most of the mathematical community cannot verify. Only four mathematicians have come out to say that his proof his correct.

Grothendeick recently passed away a few years ago, he was amazing


Witten is amazing as well, listening to him talk is just a treat


Isn't there still many question marks about Mochizuki?