In A Perfect World

What Would You Sacrifice for a Major Breakthrough?

 
What would you sacrifice to solve a problem that has stumped mathematicians for more than a century? What if, at the conclusion of your creative breakthrough, you would be deluged with generous offers from top American universities? What if you could expect a million-dollar prize for solving that problem?

Russian mathematician and genius Grigory Perelman solved the Poincare Conjecture, a complex topological problem involving how to characterize three-dimensional spheres. With an unbending focus on mathematics since childhood and a mind possessed with nearly superhuman computing power, Perelman did what no man or woman could do before. But to do it required sacrificing nearly every vestige of a normal life. Now 43, this internationally acclaimed mathematician lives with his mother. 

Masha Gessen, author of the recently published and powerfully told Perfect Rigor: A Genius + The Mathematical Breakthrough of the Century, believes that Perelman has Asperger's Syndrome, an autistic condition that has enabled his singular focus and rigorous commitment to rules. But it also has made him unable to cope with the messy reality of everyday life and the social pressures that swirled around him and his extraordinary achievement.

In fact, Gessen describes how offended and hurt Perelman was by the outpouring of offers from schools such as Princeton, Columbia and MIT that followed his celebrated triumph. Rather than enjoying the flattery, he saw this behavior as signs of the crass commercialization of math, a lack of ethics, vulgar attempts to buy him off for all his hard work.

So what did he do? He dropped out. He is said to have stated that he was quitting mathematics forever.

Whatever level of eccentricity or madness (Gessen's word) Perelman suffers, I have to say that I admire his fearless stand enormously. He's forsaken most everything for what he believes is right.

Yes, it may be a loss for mathematics and for the universities and students who could learn from him, but he's offered an enduring principle: What matters most is not the fame or the fortune. It's the work itself. 

Wrestle with Contrary Ideas for a Vital Brain

See the New York Times story about the aging brain? Remember any of the details? No? Then, it's probably a good idea to check it out. There's both good news and useful advice for keeping your mind sharp.

First, the good news: A middle-aged person, while more easily distracted and more likely to forget details, has mental gifts that younger people don't usually have. "The brain, as it traverses middle age, gets better at recognizing the central idea, the big picture," writes Barbara Strauch. "If kept in good shape, the brain can continue to build pathways that help its owner recognize patterns and, as a consequence, see significance and even solutions much faster than a young person can."

And while researchers have long believed that the aging brain suffers significant brain cell loss, Strauch says that scientists in recent years are doubting this: "What is stuffed into your head may not have vanished but has simply been squirreled away in the folds of your neurons."

So what will it take to nourish and reawaken your brain? Get out of your comfort zone, confront contrary ideas and shake those synapses. Here's what Dr. Kathleen Taylor, a professor of St. Mary's College of California and a student of the brain, says: "As adults we have these well-trodden paths in our synapses. We have to crack the cognitive egg and scramble it up."

And this: “There’s a place for information. We need to know stuff. But we need to move beyond that and challenge our perception of the world. If you always hang around with those you agree with and read things that agree with what you already know, you’re not going to wrestle with your established brain connections.”

That's good advice -- for brains of every age.