Renaissance Men
“I wasn’t the fastest guy in the world. I wouldn’t have done well in an Olympiad or a math contest. But I like to ponder. And pondering things, just sort of thinking about it and thinking about it, turns out to be a pretty good approach.”
–James Simons, “A Billionaire Mathematician’s Life of Ferocious Curiosity“; The New York Times (July 7, 2014).
Do brilliant people think differently than mere mortals?
Or, perhaps just . . . more?
One can’t help but be struck by the parallels between James Simons’ comments (above), and the following by George Bernard Shaw:
“Few people think more than two or three times a year. I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week.”
The NYT piece on Simons, the ultimate Renaissance man, is terrific (perhaps not so coincidentally, his investment vehicle is named “Renaissance Technologies”).
WHAT to Think About
Of course, one of the differences between great minds and not-so-great minds is what they ponder.
Mysteries of the universe, thorny physics problems, etc., yes; what to have for lunch . . . probably not.
Corollary: it’s possible to overthink (lots of) things (or so all the real estate managers I’ve worked with like to tell me 🙂 ).
