Posted Sep 03, 2006 at 07:06PM by Ian C. Listed in: Mental Health Tags: Alan Turing, Kurt Godel, A Madman Dreams Of Turning Machines
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image by Lou BeachIn the book "A Madman Dreams Of Turning Machines," author Janna Levin highlights the lives of great logical geniuses that go, for the lack of a better term at the moment, absolutely wonkers.

Is it really a coincidence that two of the greatest logical geniuses of the 20th century, through their own leaps off logic, killed themselves? Kurt Godel thought that people were out to poison him, so ended up dying of starvation. Alan Turing died from eating an apple laced with cyanide. The food poisoning theme seems to run deep as both are fascinated by "Snow White."

The novel from Levin delves into the lives and the philosophies of the two heralded geniuses and reflects on the nature of their supposed madness. The "story" consists of alternating scenes of the lives of Turing and Godel. Although a novel, all of the information are based on fact and published biographies.

This novel could be a good starting point for those interested in the nature of genius and how close it could be to mental disorder.


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   by iamjeff (Unregistered) - 2006-09-03

Turing killed himself because he was gay, not because he was a genius.



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