Why are mathematicians going crazy?

[Robert Ramsay]

People just can't handle the stress of thinking like God. That is my explanation.

Or maybe it's just the stress of thinking that they are thinking like God

 

[Suayakoat]

@Robert Ramsay Nah, I won't buy it. If you can think in infinities you are thinking like God whether you realize it or not. But too few people even attempt logic or mathematics or philosophy or whatever at that level of pressure. It's something that the human brain just wasn't build to handle. And you can see the results in the asylums.

 

[Robert Ramsay]

@Robert Ramsay Nah, I won't buy it. If you can think in infinities you are thinking like God whether you realize it or not. But too few people even attempt logic or mathematics or philosophy or whatever at that level of pressure. It's something that the human brain just wasn't build to handle. And you can see the results in the asylums.

What I meant was there's a chance you might be fooling yourself that you were thinking like God

 

[Suayakoat]

There is a very simple test to show you if that is the case-you try to think about all of existence-all the possibilities that might be out there and if you can exhaust them, then you are thinking like a God, may be not the creator of this Universe, but definitely like one who can encompass all creation in a particular circumstance of the infinite existences possible. That thoughtform shall be your proof you are thinking like a God.

 

[Swampdweller900]

Sounds like a spurious correlation.

It takes a special kind of person to be a mathematician professionally. I would say it's a self-selection bias towards people whose brains aren't average in the first place. It's not like thinking about base 12 counting makes you go nuts....right?

 

[ArchonLynx]

Once you figure out certain equations about life you start to realize it's all a illusion & there is no meaning besides the meaning you place on things. Some people can't handle that information & everything either becomes magical or very dull & pointless sometimes being extremely smart is a curse cause you see through everything & things just become dull, boring or meaningless

It's stressful seeing & knowing the truth while everyone else is ignorant & blind to the big picture

 

[Robert Ramsay]

Once you figure out certain equations about life you start to realize it's all a illusion & there is no meaning besides the meaning you place on things. Some people can't handle that information & everything either becomes magical or very dull & pointless sometimes being extremely smart is a curse cause you see through everything & things just become dull, boring or meaningless

It's stressful seeing & knowing the truth while everyone else is ignorant & blind to the big picture

So what you're saying is that becoming a mathematician is like Crossing the Abyss?

 

[Ohana]

So what you're saying is that becoming a mathematician is like Crossing the Abyss?

I think anything can be like Crossing the Abyss if you get enough trauma from learning about it. Like if you put mind to. If you learn the secrets of the universe everyone around can throughly traumatized by knowing. But its worth it because smart phone tech advancement. Medical advancement and self advancement. (this is mostly joking lol)

 

[Van Horne]

Truly, an interesting topic but I think one aspect is mostly missing by now, and that's psychological preposition.
I cannot say this for mathematicians or scientists in general, but for other professional groups. There are studies showing i.e. a connection between psychopathic tendencies and business executives, or aggressive or even sadistic tendencies and surgeons. Recently I read about a study researching esoteric beliefs in professional groups. Outcome: musicians and artists in general tend to esotericism, lawyers hate it!

To me it seems not unlikely that this goes for many areas. As a scientist you need the intrinsic drive to question basically everything and you need the mental capability to see structures where others won't. You live in a world where everything is potentially wrong until proven, and many people will not understand your ideas. Sounds like a recipe for insanity.

The same goes for mystics, isn't it? Questioning reality, "feeling" an otherworldly truth somewhere far beyond, things no one can see, the willingness to consider batshit crazy sounding stuff as real.

 

[borbponderer]

Used to have a friend who was a talented mathematician, and he was batshit crazy. It goes with the territory.

I suspect mathematical reasoning is fundamentally the wrong muscle to apprehend the the deep fabrics of reality, and just results in pain and self injury. It certainly has the effect on me.

I don't really like anything pattern based, or correspondence based, or even language based. I prefer to retreat into the animal. Birds understand aerodynamics, navigation etc intuitively. No need for complex and bewildering symbolic substitutes for reality. I think that part of me is permanently damaged