Exactly. I can't even fathom this level of intellect.
Edit: If anyone is interested in the topic of Hungarian scientists in the twentieth century, I can highly recommend the book The Voice of the Martians[1]. It can be a bit dry at times but it is incredibly interesting nonetheless. American scientists jokingly referred to their Hungarian colleagues as Martians due to their other worldly intelligence and their accents that no one could understand.
While we're on a von Neumann love fest, here are some other great quotes:
The Nobel Laureate Hans Bethe speculated: "I have sometimes wondered
whether a brain like von Neumann's does not indicate a species
superior to that of man". 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 admitted that he "never could keep
up with him".
When George Dantzig brought von Neumann an unsolved problem in
linear programming "as I would to an ordinary mortal", on which
there had been no published literature, he was astonished when von
Neumann said "Oh, that!", before offhandedly giving a lecture of
over an hour, explaining how to solve the problem using the hitherto
unconceived theory of duality.
That said, as astounding as Neumann's intellect was, his, Teller's, and the other brilliant Manhattan Project's scientists' roles in devising arguably the most terrible weapons that human kind has ever produced, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and threatening the destruction of the world or at least civilization as we know it is certainly a sober reminder that intellectual achievement does not automatically result in ethical achievement. Though, of course, how ethical their actions were could be endlessly debated, and there are plenty of people who think they did the right thing.
On the subject of Hungarian scientists, I've read that Europe in general was a hothouse of intellectual achievement and education before the 2nd and especially before the 1st World War. It was just sheer insanity that they virtually destroyed themselves, their civilization, and culture, and exiled and murdered many of their most brilliant men.
Even sadder that the world might be preparing to do it again. Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it.
Certainly everything you have expressed is a somber reminder to never forget the lessons of history.
Hungary is a particularly interesting case in intellectual achievement since it produced so many influential scientists despite it not having the industrial base or wealth of many of its European neighbors, and a relatively small population.
You might enjoy JvN's take on the importance of a well run educational system[1]. His comments seem even more suited for our current condition.
I think a lot of people say these grandiose things about smart people because they don't want to consider that they simply spent 30+ years doing little but their work/passion and are simply very good.
Feynman was a genius, but he dissects his own accomplishments and you can see how if you only knew this, this, this, and that, plus a few different methods of integration, it would have seemed obvious to you too.
tl;dr we do our heroes a disservice when we hold them in too high esteem, because we discount their very human, and very costly, accomplishments.
Quite often great accomplishments are the result of a lot of hard work.
But lots of hard work alone does not explain why one person who put in a lot of hard work will greatly outshine many others who also put in a lot of hard work.
Nor does it explain phenomena like prodigies, who excel at a really young age, with far fewer years of effort than many others.
Finally, creativity and inspiration often play great roles in mathematical and other endeavors. They can't entirely be explained by hard work or dedication, which are often prerequisites for intense creative efforts but aren't all there is to it.
