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World's cleverest man turns down $1m!!!

escoeescoe 113 Posts
edited March 2010 in Strut Central
A Russian said to be the world's cleverest man has turned down a $1 million prize for solving one of mathematics' toughest puzzles.Dr Grigory Perelman /PADr Grigory Perelman, 44, who lives as a recluse in a cockroach-infested flat in St Petersburg, said through the closed door: "I have all I want."The prize, the equivalent of ?660,000, was given by the US Clay Mathematics Institute for solving the Poincare Conjecture, reports the Daily Mail.Dr Perelman posted his solution on the internet but failed to turn up to receive his prestigious Fields Medal from the International Mathematical Union in Madrid four years ago.At the time he stated: "I'm not interested in money or fame. I don't want to be on display like an animal in a zoo."I'm not a hero of mathematics. I'm not even that successful, that is why I don't want to have everybody looking at me."Neighbour Vera Petrovna said: "I was once in his flat and I was astounded. He only has a table, a stool and a bed with a dirty mattress which was left by previous owners - alcoholics who sold the flat to him."We are trying to get rid of cockroaches in our block, but they hide in his flat."The Poincare Conjecture was more than 100 years old when Perelman solved it - and could help determine the shape of the universe.talk about reppin the ghetto to the fullest!

  Comments

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,899 Posts
    I enjoyed this story.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel...en-for-60m.html
  • bluesnagbluesnag 1,285 Posts

    Perelman is a genius and reclusive.

    Another genius reclusive mathematician who turned down prizes was Grothendieck. Legend has it he is a goatherder now.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grothendieck
  • behemothbehemoth 2,189 Posts
    in my eyes there is no such thing as a clever turning down of a million dollars
  • bluesnagbluesnag 1,285 Posts
    in my eyes there is no such thing as a clever turning down of a million dollars

    "Property is nuisance"- Paul Erdos (another mathematician eccentric)
  • behemothbehemoth 2,189 Posts
    in my eyes there is no such thing as a clever turning down of a million dollars

    "Property is nuisance"- Paul Erdos (another mathematician eccentric)

    in MY eyes
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    A clever man takes the money and gives it to a worthy cause.

    Dude sounds like an idiot savant.
  • bluesnagbluesnag 1,285 Posts
    A clever man takes the money and gives it to a worthy cause.

    Dude sounds like an idiot savant.

    Not too far off, according to other first-hand accounts.
  • selperfugeselperfuge 1,165 Posts
    A clever man takes the money and gives it to a worthy cause.

    Dude sounds like an idiot savant.

    i'm not so sure. let's put it in perspective.

    let's say HPB and ARC team up and decide to award Rock the "master digger" prize. a crown, a sceptre, and $10,000. the only catch is now every time you try to look at records people recognize you, they start bugging you, all your spots get blown up, and as a result you can't find anything in the field.

    if given a choice, would you accept the prize?
  • ReynaldoReynaldo 6,054 Posts
    Not accepting the money/medal puts him into an even more exclusive group (people who have turned down the Fields Medal/Prize they won). You can't really buy that kind of exclusivity. That's like Jesus territory.
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    A clever man takes the money and gives it to a worthy cause.

    Dude sounds like an idiot savant.

    i'm not so sure. let's put it in perspective.

    let's say HPB and ARC team up and decide to award Rock the "master digger" prize. a crown, a sceptre, and $10,000. the only catch is now every time you try to look at records people recognize you, they start bugging you, all your spots get blown up, and as a result you can't find anything in the field.

    if given a choice, would you accept the prize?

    Dude can remain a hermit living with roaches and still donate the $$.

    As far as would I accept an award and stated consequences, the answer is Yes.

    I blow up all my spots......I share the knowledge/tips with others.

    I ran into two fellow diggers at one of my "spots" today.

    There's always enough to go around and record karma is real.
  • doisndoisn baleadas&pupuzas 303 Posts
    Not accepting the money/medal puts him into an even more exclusive group (people who have turned down the Fields Medal/Prize they won). You can't really buy that kind of exclusivity. That's like Jesus territory.


    Word, and even more on top of this group as he?s a very rare case which didn?t have lots of cash before..
  • the_dLthe_dL 1,531 Posts
    you dont have to be that smart to work out that that kind of money could cause many more issues than what its worth to some one who doesnt require it in the first place. society puts way too much emphasis on financial wealth in relation to success/happiness. I know both super rich and reasonably poor people and it is some where in between i find are the happiest.
  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,896 Posts
    A clever man takes the money and gives it to a worthy cause.

    I would agree on the surface, but it sounds like he's shunning attention or social interraction, of which there would be plenty required when folls believe he possesses $1,000,000 or hear that "He can't decide who to give it to."

    Also, living as a pauper in Russia, you can imagine the gossip and Chinese whispers that he has $1,000,000 in his flat and the interest in kidnapping his family from the local business community.

    Perhaps he has actually trousered the $1,000,000 and is playing crazy to put interested parties off the scent (AKA the Gotham approach). Dude is, after all, pretty smart?

  • Options
    Unknown
    This is on some extreme case of Goodwill Hunting.
  • tabiratabira 856 Posts
    A clever man takes the money and gives it to a worthy cause.

    Perhaps he has actually trousered the $1,000,000 and is playing crazy to put interested parties off the scent (AKA the Gotham approach). Dude is, after all, pretty smart?


    Maybe. But if on the other hand you take him at his word...


    "I'm not interested in money or fame. I don't want to be on display like an animal in a zoo."

    ...then considering that most folks only ever heard of him because he turned the money down, that must make him one of the dumbest smart-asses in history
  • shawnald_reaganshawnald_reagan 318 Posts
    It's good to be reminded that money isn't everything to everyone. That Russian recluse and the guy in the article DOR provided are awesome.
  • BreakSelfBreakSelf 2,925 Posts
    d record karma is real.

    !!!
  • erikbeatserikbeats 129 Posts
    someone should make a reality tv show called
    the reclusive genius dating connection
  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,899 Posts
    These dudes might be smart and all...

    But can they do this?


  • rootlesscosmorootlesscosmo 12,848 Posts
    craziest Jew I've read about in a minute.
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