Observations placeholder
Neumann, John von - Instant recall
Identifier
003200
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Unusual brain configuration [hardware] and possibly new function [software], he may have been a prototype! A literal new man.
A description of the experience
Von Neumann's ability to instantaneously perform complex operations in his head stunned other mathematicians. Eugene Wigner wrote that, seeing von Neumann's mind at work,
"one had the impression of a perfect instrument whose gears were machined to mesh accurately to a thousandth of an inch."
Paul Halmos states that "von Neumann's speed was awe-inspiring."
Israel Halperin said: "Keeping up with him was... impossible. The feeling was you were on a tricycle chasing a racing car."
Edward Teller wrote that von Neumann effortlessly outdid anybody he ever met, and said "I never could keep up with him".
Lothar Wolfgang Nordheim described von Neumann as the "fastest mind I ever met",
and Jacob Bronowski wrote "He was the cleverest man I ever knew, without exception. He was a genius."
Von Neumann had a photographic memory Herman Goldstine writes:
"One of his remarkable abilities was his power of absolute recall. As far as I could tell, von Neumann was able on once reading a book or article to quote it back verbatim; moreover, he could do it years later without hesitation.
He could also translate it at no diminution in speed from its original language into English. On one occasion I tested his ability by asking him to tell me how The Tale of Two Cities started. Whereupon, without any pause, he immediately began to recite the first chapter and continued until asked to stop after about ten or fifteen minutes."