Story of man’s search for patterns of meaning and understanding. What story tells us how many lives of geniuses of the 20th century ended in madness and suicide? Is it about the age of 2 world wars and their atrocities or a burden of genius? Mathematical infinity smells of nihilism, an infinitely replicable illusion, of grasping the nothing. Metaphysical infinity smells more like the Thing behind the illusion/construction, of letting go the nothing that is left. But it’s just a feeling for me. The story that hook in my mind the most is how Alexandrov and Komogorov swam long distances together and then did mathematics naked. The bullshit theory is the cherry on top.
Review from When Einstein Walked with Gödel →