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Russian maths genius may turn down $1m prize [solved the Poincaré conjecture]
The Telegraph ^ | 3/27/2010 | Andrew Osborn in Moscow and Olga Krepysheva in St. Petersburg

Posted on 03/28/2010 1:40:12 AM PDT by bruinbirdman

Inside the world of Grigory Perelman: the man who solved the world's toughest maths problem proves to be a puzzle himself.

He has been called "the cleverest man in the world" and shook academia to its foundations when he announced he had solved a fiendish mathematical problem that had baffled the planet's best brains for a century.

Yet Grigory Perelman, a 43-year-old Russian mathematician, has consciously spurned plaudits and wealth to subsist like a hermit. He lives in a 2-bedroom flat with his elderly mother in a dilapidated Soviet-era tower block in St. Petersburg, while neighbours complain that his own studio flat, which he seldom uses, has become a breeding ground for cockroaches.

Now he has proved again, and in spectacular fashion, that he despises society's conventional norms. Picking up the telephone last week, the bearded genius, who is jobless, found himself being offered an academic prize worth $1 million.

He politely but tersely told the prestigious American institute offering him the prize that he would have to consider whether he wanted to accept the money or not.

"He said he would let me know at some point," Jim Carlson, President of the Clay Mathematics Institute, told The Sunday Telegraph.

"He did not give a sense of timing but I do not expect it will be tomorrow. He is more than extremely brief. He does not say too much," he added, explaining that Mr Perelman had not said why he would need to think about such a windfall.

"It is not every day that a person even entertains turning down a million dollars."

The Russian has turned down high honours before. In 2006, he was offered and declined the Fields Medal, the mathematical world's equivalent of a Nobel Prize. He said at the time he was

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Russia
KEYWORDS: genius; math; stringtheory
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To: AnotherUnixGeek

The source of all blessing is through Israel, the Hebrew nation. From this truth, an interesting study arises when researching the etymology of innovative ideas.

The greatest number of inventions and innovative technology has originated via Hebrew lineage. While not always attributed to Jewish founders, it is interesting to observe how many inventions were solely from Jewish roots, and how many which claim to be independent of Jewish roots, happened to have had Jewish acquaintances about the time preceding their reported innovative discoveries.

Many innovations are spiritually communicated prior to any human communication.


21 posted on 03/28/2010 2:50:56 AM PDT by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: Recon Dad

And if he does get a job at Mickey D’s, I am sure he’ll be the only one who will know what a McGangBang is when someone tries to order it. BTW, I had one, er made one, the other day and it’s actually quite good! And only for $2 +tax!!!

McGangBang = McDouble + McChicken Sandwich both from $1 menu. Sandwich the whole McChicken between the Mcdouble and enjoy!

You can see people try to order the McGB on youtube.


22 posted on 03/28/2010 2:52:23 AM PDT by MAD-AS-HELL (Hope and Change. Rhetoric embraced by the Insane - Obama, The Chump in Charge)
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To: Ayn And Milton

It wouldn’t take conforming to conventional societal norms for him to make at least his mother’s life a little more bearable.


23 posted on 03/28/2010 2:54:39 AM PDT by Shimmer1 (When life hands you lemons, ask for tequila and salt)
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To: MAD-AS-HELL

Let’s see if he can make change in his head!


24 posted on 03/28/2010 3:01:29 AM PDT by Recon Dad ( USMC SSgt Patrick O - 3rd Afghanistan Deployment - Day 159)
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To: Shimmer1

Wise words. Accepted with gratitude.


25 posted on 03/28/2010 3:03:40 AM PDT by Ayn And Milton
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To: bruinbirdman
And no one bothers to ask or define ... what the hell is Poincare's conjecture??

For compact 2-dimensional surfaces without boundary, if every loop can be continuously tightened to a point, then the surface is topologically homeomorphic to a 2-sphere, usually just called a sphere. The Poincaré conjecture asserts that the same is true for 3-dimensional surfaces.

(Like .. I even understand THAT !!?!!)

26 posted on 03/28/2010 3:11:01 AM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true)
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To: AnotherUnixGeek

got a point there. Because of the dominance of left wing educators in the western world, they don’t push kids at all, instead encourage them to pursue liberal arts, literature and history


27 posted on 03/28/2010 3:15:13 AM PDT by 4rcane
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To: Ayn And Milton; FredZarguna

I thought of Asperger’s too.

I also thought of his poor mother and what this all must be like for her.

And I’m also thinking that if I controlled the giving of that $1 million prize I would try to think of some way to set up a trust fund and give the mother access.


28 posted on 03/28/2010 3:22:21 AM PDT by samtheman
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To: samtheman

Yep. Shimmer1 below had about the same idea. The mother probably is the forgotten heroine in the whole story.


29 posted on 03/28/2010 3:40:48 AM PDT by Ayn And Milton
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To: 4rcane
anyone ever wondered why theres so many smart Jews

They work hardest of any clan on earth at being smart.

30 posted on 03/28/2010 3:49:03 AM PDT by Glenn (iamtheresistance.org)
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To: Ayn And Milton
Perhaps there is autism involved

That was my thought also.
31 posted on 03/28/2010 4:00:32 AM PDT by redheadtoo
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To: 4rcane
anyone ever wondered why theres so many smart Jews

IIRC this book addresses this question somewhat. Among other things it says says that in Jewish history and culture, a religious scholar was always seen as a good match for the daughter of a rich merchant.

32 posted on 03/28/2010 4:10:20 AM PDT by wideminded
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To: bruinbirdman

Not surprised several conclude this man has a variety of mental defects giving justification to his brilliance.


33 posted on 03/28/2010 4:40:35 AM PDT by bushpilot1
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To: BRL
Somehow I am not surprised at this. I am sure somewhere there is a top rate scientist that doubts globull warming that has been voted out too.

If you are voted off the Island that the electorate things will be submerged because of global warming, do you really care?

34 posted on 03/28/2010 5:08:28 AM PDT by mlocher (USA is a sovereign nation)
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To: Ayn And Milton

Reminds me of the movie “A Beautiful Mind”.


35 posted on 03/28/2010 5:24:25 AM PDT by baltoga
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To: Recon Dad

Perhaps he should start to Tweat or create his own Facebook page.


36 posted on 03/28/2010 5:26:26 AM PDT by baltoga
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To: baltoga

Good call. I think the character played by Russell Crowe, game theorist John F. Nash jr., got to suffer from schizophrenia around his 30th year, and only seemed recovered in his mid-fifties.

In turn this reminds me of the life story of head Beach Boy Brian D. Wilson. He was terribly abused in his youth, and around his 25th year, he developed ‘schizo-affective disorder’, a close relative of schizophrenia. He heard voices in his head that threatened to kill him. But he also heard the most beautiful music imaginable in his brain. And put it on paper, and on record. Wilson got into the claws of a psychologist who sought total control of his patient; and that man prescribed him enormous quantities of legal, but not appropriate drugs. As a result, Wilson experienced horrible setbacks, physically and mentally, for long years. Only around his 50th year he began to wrestle himself loose from that ‘doctor’. (That man, BTW, had snuck so deeply into Wilson’s life that he got his patient to change his will and leave half of his fortune to the doc, as a reward for ‘saving his patient’s life’).

Wilson fought and got back. I saw him live in London and Amsterdam, with superb shows, in 2002 and 2004. He’s recording two new albums now, one with Disney songs, and one with works by George Gershwin.

Mind over matter, or what?


37 posted on 03/28/2010 5:34:22 AM PDT by Ayn And Milton
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To: Ayn And Milton

Amen, let the man live the life he chooses, he’s not hurting anyone.


38 posted on 03/28/2010 5:35:05 AM PDT by ops33 (Senior Master Sergeant, USAF (Retired))
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To: 4rcane
anyone ever wondered why theres so many smart Jews

No, you're the first one. Actually, Herrnstein and Murray attribute it to genetics, iirc. They are more specific and attribute the difference to Ashkenazi Jews who are typically about 15 points higher in IQ than average folks.

39 posted on 03/28/2010 5:37:40 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (The naked casuistry of the high priests of Warmism would make a Jesuit blush.)
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To: bruinbirdman

Holy crap!! A neanderthal solved the world’s toughest math problem!!

No wonder those cavemen on the Geico commercials get so mad!


40 posted on 03/28/2010 5:44:25 AM PDT by autumnraine (You can't fix stupid, but you can vote it out!)
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