How to create a million John Von Neumanns
Von Neumann was described by many geniuses as the supreme genius. What if we could create more people like him?
If there’s one person deemed to be an intellectual genius amongst even the demigods of the Mathematical elite, it was John Von Neumann. I finished reading a biography1 on the man about a year ago. I remember this particular passage sticking in my mind:
A big advantage to mere humans is that one can develop them from the nursery on. Among the several million babies born this month, it is plausible that there will not have been any Einsteins or creators of the Great G-minor Fugue. But it is genetically almost certain that there will have been some who could become capable of thinking at the towering level of Johnny’s concentration, intellect, and mind.
Unfortunately, most of them will not go on to co-invent the digital computer or to accomplish the other things Johnny did in his spare time. This is because various accidents or mishandlings will get in their way. Some of the mishandling will be parental, some educational, some will come from a shattering of self-confidence in the teens and twenties, some from later blockages by bosses, spouses, or friends. There are not enough studies of how such minds operate, so neither they nor those who encounter them are very skilled at dealing with the original (therefore controversial) things they think and sometimes say.
I encountered this quote early in the book and found myself perplexed. If you’re familiar with the feats Von Neumann had performed it’s difficult considering him human.
But after I finished reading the book, I would understand why and would start seeing the same patterns emerging in various people deemed intellectually gifted. The quote was from a chapter aptly titled “The Cheapest Way to Make The World Richer”.
If creating more Von Neumanns would indeed make the world a far better place, “perhaps”, I considered, “not contribute to making it so”. This is what I learned about the constitution of Von Neumann’s genius:
Memorize a bunch of problem-solving tools:
This could mean memorizing or mastering equations, constants, heuristics, software tools, and things generally used to solve problems. Many were surprised at Neumann’s ability to multiply 8 figure values of the top of his head(only half true, he’d be off by a few digits; impressive nonetheless), and many other incredible feats.
So renowned was he for these traits that many students and faculty at universities he visited would assemble whenever they heard he was visiting and would present to him questions that had bogged them for ages. These would be solved in a matter of seconds to minutes as Von Neumann strolled by. At the core of this ability lay his aptitude to memorize these equations and constants which he very often applied to areas they were not intended for. All this to amazing effect.
Redefine problems logically/mathematically (yes even social problems):
Math is hard. Even Neumann believed this. He is believed to have once said:
“Young man, in mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them.”
The question then would be why Neumann preferred using math to solve problems even those perceived to be subjective, with logic and math. The truth lies in the fact that Mathematics offers clarity. Von Neumann used to blast the field of Economics back then stating that the field wasn’t progressing because a lot of economists were unclear about the problems they sought to solve.
He said:
“Economic problems are often stated in such vague terms as to make mathematical treatment appear a priori hopeless because it is quite unclear what the problems really are.”
He himself, however, would help pioneer the revolutionary field of Game Theory because of the clarity Mathematics granted him. Economics has since then benefitted greatly from the pivot from mere philosophizing about the economy to the standardization of the field through equations and metrics.
Skip topics that do not seem interesting:
One of Von Neumann’s best traits was that he was able to quickly find topics that were of interest to him within a particular field and dive deep into them. In doing so he would largely ignore the fluff and start working deeply on things he actually liked.
When learning languages, find books one is interested in and learn the syntax that way:
Von Neumann was a polyglot in the truest definition of the word. Many were astounded by his ability to switch between languages easily. His repertoire of languages included: French, German, Latin, Greek, English, Yiddish, and his native Hungarian.
To teach himself a language though, he would pick a book on a subject he was interested in and would focus intensely on memorizing whole pages from the book in such a way that he was able to gain a familiar sense of the grammatical syntax involved.
You could always try taking a language course, and I’ll admit I haven’t tried this yet. But I’m planning on adding to my personal repertoire of languages by doing the same thing. Will tell you all how it goes.
Have mind-provoking conversations:
Another way Neumann was able to excel at narrowing down his scope of fields to study, was that he was able to strike interesting conversations with subject matter experts and fish from them what subjects to approach.
Great conversations have the added benefit of forcing us to ponder over questions that we may have never thought about. Even better if that conversation happens to be with someone who is an expert in a topic you are interested in.
Have great parents. Or better yet, be great parents:
Von Neumann’s dad realized his child’s massive intellectual hunger. But his father was pretty scared of the one thing Von Neumann was obsessed with…History. Von Neumann would read History books in the bathroom, while playing piano, etc. While his dad loved that his son thoroughly enjoyed himself with these books, he wanted his son to end up on a path that was far more prestigious and so he would hire some of Hungary’s most prominent Mathematicians, Musicians, etc to teach his son. When it was time for the young Von Neumann to enter high school, his dad sat Neumann and his brother down to hear about where best they’d want to study. And would make a concerted effort to find out from others where best to send his son.
At the end of the day, Von Neumann was brought up in a family that nurtured his intellectual cravings and set him up on a path to greatness.
Get some tutors and take some classes:
This is a slight expansion of the point made before about Neumann’s parents. Von Neumann had access to some of the most “enlightened” men of his time, and his father could afford to pay for them to teach him. This is indicative of his massive privilege at the time.
Today, a lot of us while not having the immediate ear of world-renowned intellectuals, still have tools and technologies not available to many. Great Youtube Channels are teaching almost any topic of interest.
If one still finds themselves in school or university, they’d probably benefit from asking professors about topics they do not understand, and better yet, about research going on there. At the end of the day, all that matters is that one consults voices that understand what you want to learn far better than you currently do.
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