[HN Gopher] John von Neumann Interview [video]
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       John von Neumann Interview [video]
        
       Author : openquery
       Score  : 47 points
       Date   : 2023-11-11 19:58 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.youtube.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.youtube.com)
        
       | openquery wrote:
       | The only video footage I've managed to find of John von Neumann.
        
         | bitshiftfaced wrote:
         | The Mathematical Association of America put together a
         | documentary of John von Neumann in 1966, and they mentioned in
         | it that this was the only footage they were able to find of
         | him.
        
           | bookofjoe wrote:
           | "1960s Interviews with Scientists on John Von Neumann"
           | 
           | https://youtu.be/hybGvmfuqq8?si=VxwkbpThdYubrrRq
           | 
           | ........................
           | 
           | "A Brief History of John von Neumann"
           | 
           | https://youtu.be/QhBvuW-kCbM?si=J-9ZtcoWkxJrIltv
        
       | neilv wrote:
       | It's a good thing for us that Von Neumann wasn't an _evil_
       | genius.
        
         | TuringTourist wrote:
         | He could have been, its possible nobody has been clever enough
         | to see it yet.
        
         | m_a_g wrote:
         | He was a strong proponent of using nuclear first strikes (based
         | on game theory and nothing else) against the USSR. So your
         | point is debatable.
        
           | keithalewis wrote:
           | Or maybe on first hand experience with communism.
        
             | mjhay wrote:
             | Von Neumann came to the US long before Hungary became
             | Communist.
        
       | jgilias wrote:
       | It's somehow very cool how the host (teacher ?) called him Janos
       | near the end of the footage.
        
       | julianeon wrote:
       | It's interesting that the very first question - the very first
       | question, in the mid-1950s! - to von Neumann is about STEM
       | education, and his answer is, we need more people, and we need
       | more & better education. And we need it badly.
       | 
       | Now I'll pause here to say that, when we praise a guy like von
       | Neumann, it can have a distancing effect. If for example I say
       | "this site needs a better UI," it's something we'll usually take
       | at face value, on its merits. But if, say, Elon Musk says the
       | same thing, it becomes more like trivia associated with Elon
       | Musk, not a statement we think through by itself.
       | 
       | If we treat von Neumann like a guy with authority speaking on the
       | topic of science education, then you could take his words, almost
       | without any change, repeat them in 2023, and find they are as
       | true now as they were then. As food for thought, I'd say, if you
       | consider von Neumann to be a personal hero, then consider
       | honoring him by doing what you can for science education.
        
         | richard___ wrote:
         | Science education has been exponentially improved by chatgpt
        
           | turzmo wrote:
           | Nice troll
        
       | bookofjoe wrote:
       | "The Man From The Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann"
       | -- a 2022 biography -- is terrific.
       | 
       | https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/oct/13/the-man-from-t...
       | 
       | https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/book-review-the-man-from-th...
       | 
       | https://archive.ph/6zyWn
       | 
       | sample: https://www.amazon.com/Man-Future-Visionary-Life-
       | Neumann/dp/...
       | 
       | https://www.amazon.com/Man-Future-Visionary-Life-Neumann/dp/...
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2023-11-11 23:01 UTC)