

The genius who lives downstairs - benpbenp
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/19/genius-downstairs-alexander-masters-extract

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ColinWright
I worked with Simon for a bit, but he was so far ahead, and our fields were
sufficiently far apart, that I never really got to know him. This article
captures much of what he is like.

I remember his kibbitzes when playing backgammon. Frequently they used terms
or phrases that didn't seem to make sense, but later as the game unfolded and
he carried on his line of thought things would become clear. Did he see them
early? Did he see them more clearly? Hard to say. He rarely actually played,
so it was difficult to tell if he was good.

I also remember when a member of the department had to get from Cambridge to
Leeds (I think) and both the trains and the National Express coaches were on
strike. Simon, from memory, wrote out a timetable that got Tom from Cambridge
to Leeds in one (very long) day using purely local bus services.

And I remember watching Simon, Conway and Parker working on the Atlas. The
interplay was amazing. Parker wrote programs to work efficiently on what were
then unimaginably huge data structures, Conway seemed to see the structure and
make friends with it, and Simon did the calculations in the abstract algebraic
space.

I liked Simon, but I never really got to know him. It's a waste that no one
has worked out how to make the most of his truly amazing, and deeply unusual,
abilities.

I really do hope he's happy.

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Mz
Nice read. Some excerpts:

 _Francis Norton, Simon's middle brother, works in a shop called SJ Phillips,
the oldest family-run antique jewellery business in the world. It's because
Francis keeps the family firm alive and profitable that Simon has never had to
have a job or a mortgage and, despite using 17 different variants of bus,
train and visitor-attraction discount cards, doesn't actually need a single
one of them._

 _Simon is so close to a satisfying stereotype: the famous mathematician with
electrified hair living in indescribable mess; the fallen and lonely genius.
Yet every time you try to pin categories like these on him he steps firmly
aside: he's not crazy, there's nothing tragic about him, his life is full of
purpose._

 _To my mind, Simon has achieved something else that is truly important –
perhaps even more so than genius. There goes a happy man._

So he has money without working and therefore doesn't have to conform merely
to survive, no one understands how he gets his jollies and almost everyone
tries to judge him in some negative fashion. To quote Madonna: "I'm not your
bitch. Don't hang your shit on me."

I'm glad he is happy. Really glad. I've seen enough complaints about how
miserable it is to be smart. It's practically a trope.

