degrees of geniuses

Cornell University mathematician Mark Kac once made a well-known distinction when he describes Feynman:

"There are two kinds of geniuses: the "ordinary" and the "magicians". An ordinary genius is a fellow whom you and I would be just as good as, if we were only many times better. There is no mystery as to how his mind works. Once we understand what they've done, we feel certain that we, too, could have done it. It is different with the magicians. Even after we understand what they have done it is completely dark. Richard Feynman is a magician of the highest calibre."

To some, this distinction hits the mark. For them, the ordinary genius is an understandable genius whereas the "magician" has an unfathomable mind.

I have not gone that far. From my experience, there are 2 types of geniuses: reachable geniuses and unreachable geniuses. Reachable geniuses are people whom I can strive towards. They are role models; my best possible outcome, attainable only if I put in the extra hours, the extra effort, and possibly giving everything else up (e.g. other commitments, CCAs, interests). I may or may not be able to achieve their level of practice and mastery, but my "infrastructure" is there. I can actually become like one of them, though it is likely that I cannot achieve this eventually.

And then there're the unreachable geniuses. These geniuses are totally out of my league, way above my maximum potential. Even if I give everything up, strive to achieve what these geniuses have achieved, I can never ever do so. In terms of understanding and applying newly-learnt concepts, they require just a click or a brainwave, but I would have to mull for days on end on what the concept is about and how it is used. These people are fundamental betters; trying to catch up is futile.

It is when we recognise all these that we realise the realm of competition. When we compete against others, we only pit ourselves against reachable geniuses, not unreachable geniuses. Ignoring the rest, we try to outwit, outperform, outlast our "equals". We are only minions, clawing and gnawing amongst our puny, Laputian selves, amusing the Brobdingnagians who stand, laughing, at our over-inflated pride and contemptible character. 勾心斗角。Even if say, I win, I'm only the winner of that narrow spectrum, myopic, ignorant of the larger world, the bigger picture. This is the nature of competition.

But it is this realisation of the nature of competition that leads to the transcendence of competition. There is no more incentive to compete. Then comes the drive to enrich oneself, to have fun, to share what one has learnt. There is willingness to view the world larger than oneself, and not oneself larger than the world.

Competition fades into the background, the humdrum of the modern existence, like the constant whirr of a ceiling fan-- observable but hardly significant.




The following text has nothing to do with the above text. non sequitur.


Math soc presentation was great today. Our PTM (peer teaching module) group had 6 people, but 4 didn't come i.e. wasn't involved, leaving Ding Feng and I to scramble to find a suitable topic and present it to Math Soc in 4 days time. We contemplated doing many, many topics, but in the end, decided to do Philosophy of Math, something no one would have expected or have experience in. The presentation was smooth. Apparently no one was listening, but Ding Feng and I talked and talked, telling lame jokes, alluding to the Math pros, asking for participation in discussions. Great job Ding Feng for coming up with the powerpoint and the entire "beauty in mathematics".

Astro club had Amyas lecturing. After that I went for dinner with astro people, talked about KI with Amyas (philo of math :), sang a bit of chinese songs. Jie Liang, Daniel, Kevin and I. We were sitting around talking about random stuff. Aaron got tickets for drama feste so away he goes..

I realise that Ivan Loh is actually very nice and helpful if you ask him about Math, and if you're not deterred by his fast explanations. He didn't mind my incessant "obvious" questions, answering and rephrasing again and again until I get it. Perhaps he might be my "confidant" in Maths in the future.