[DeathArrow]

> Thoughts?

Some of the greatest achievers in human history like great scientists or artists were very modest. Some were the opposite and liked to brag.

It does not matter much if you brag or not, if you have titles or not. What matters is if you achieved something important.

There's a great half mad Russian mathematician who didn't take much part in society, lived with his mother and worked in complete secrecy. When the results of his works transpired somehow, he was awarded the Fields medal, the highest distinction a mathematician can get. That distinction came with a large amount of money. He rejected both the medal and the money even if he was poor. He achieved results and that is what matters.

Depicting yourself something you are not is grave. It means that you are either insane or you want to deceive others.

[klabb3]

> There's a great half mad Russian mathematician who didn't take much part in society

Grigori Perelman, my personal hero:

> A reporter who had called him was told: "You are disturbing me. I am picking mushrooms."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Perelman

[DeathArrow]

I didn't want to nominate him. People here can be nasty.

Anyway, guy is a lunatic from a legal or social perspective and a genius otherwise.

Why can't people and the media respect his privacy?

He doesn't have a signed contract with society to produce math.