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Mathematical Theory of Genius A Beautiful Mind = mc2

  • Writer: Joanna Bac
    Joanna Bac
  • Jul 14, 2020
  • 3 min read

“You must give everything to make your life as beautiful as the dreams that dance in your imagination.” ― Roman Payne


Who is a beautiful mind? At first glance, a list of names appears before anyone’s eyes: Einstein, Edison, Darwin, Picasso, Galileo, Mozart, Nash and many currently living individuals who make game-changing impact on their respective fields and not only. However, when looking closer being a genius becomes more elusive. For years, scholars and researchers have tired to study and define so called - genius.


Many were reporting that a genius could be derived from living a celibate life (e.g.: Descartes, Handel, Beethoven, Schubert, and Bruckner).[1] Others suggested that lack of a father (e.g.: Dickens) originates the capacity to become an exceptionally gifted or talented individual, later recognized as a beautiful mind.[2] Some academics also have tried to measure the links between intelligence and being this undefined but divine creature.[3] In the end, the piles of data and in-depth analyses illuminated nothing because there is being an intelligent and/or fatherless and/or ∞ and then there is being 'the' beautiful mind.


Pressed to be more precise, we find it almost impossible to define this 'unknown'. However, puzzled by this challenge, we argue that the reason behind this inability might be the use of a wrong language when attempting to to do so. No discussion of genius can avoid research done by the fields of psychology, sociology, anthropology etc. Many people, however, fail to realize just how much potential there is in the universal language of mathematics. Each mathematical sentence or its equation is an oven of intense radiation and simplicity, when employed to described the world that surrounds. This note appreciates its charm when choosing the famous mathematical equation E=mc2[4] for the language of its humble attempt to address the question of a genius.


It would be very difficult to separate the enormous legacy of Einstein from genius’s legacy in the field of mathematics as a whole. After, all it was not until the brilliance of Einstein that we were able to fully grasp this correlation between mass and energy. The famous E=mc2. The equation grew directly out of a genius’ mind and which is a subset of what most consider Einstein’s greatest achievement. The consequent question arises: would it be possible to reemploy this equation to define a genius himself/herself? The author makes an attempt to argue for this real possibility. First, it might be helpful to provide a capsule explanation of E=mc2. On the most basic level, this equation says that energy (E) in a system (for example, a person) is equal to its total mass (m) multiplied by the square of the speed of light (c).


Hence, energy and mass are different forms of the same thing. Einstein suggests that under particular conditions, energy can become mass, and vice versa. In line with the above, the author exploits this idea further and argues that a genius is a person, whose mind is a mass, where individual thought is constantly fired at the brain neurons. The human brain is made up of about 100 billion neurons interconnected by trillions of synapses.[5] This chain process releases enormous energy which targets neuron responds with its own electrical signal, which, in turn, spreads to other neurons and so forth. This process in human mind can sometimes occur spontaneously, but can also, be induced from outside, while the particular brain has been challenged by the environment.


If one makes very precise measurements of all the energy (from the outside and the inside) provided before and after the process, one would find that the total creative outcome to be recognized as above the average and its creator as a genius would be slightly smaller than the former. In mathematics this difference is known as the ‘mass defect.’[6]


There is an enormous energy in us and a potential to become a Beautiful Mind … and that goes for every human being!




References

(Oscola style of referencing)


[1] H Gal, Johannes Brahms: His Work and Personality

(Greenwood Press 1977); See also, RM Bucke, Cosmic Consciousness (EP Dutton & Co Inc 1969).


[2]H Alder, 'Thinking like a Genius' in H Adler (ed), Boost Your Intelligence: Tested Techniques for Improving Your IQ and EQ (Kogan Page Publishers 2000) 155.


[3] NDM Hirsch, Genius and creative intelligence (1931) Sci-Art Genius and creative intelligence 339.


[4] D Bodanis, E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation (Doubleday Canada 2000). Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared


[5]H Reginald and others, Biochemistry (Cengage Learning 2012) 1206.


[6]R Hutchings, Cambridge International AS and A Level Physics Revision Guide (Cambridge University Press 2015) 221.


Note Please be advised, movie trailers, clips or programmes used in this post are for a review purpose only, and their use is a classic example of commentary purpose, which is a well-established use under the Fair Use categories.

 
 
 

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