Home | Login | Recent Changes | Search | All Pages | Help

MartinGardnerInterview

I am a fan of the work of Martin Gardner, who is best known for his popular mathematical games column that was published for three decades in Scientific American.

I enjoyed reading a interview of Mr. Gardner that is on the Internet. Interview link and excerpts, with my italization, are attached below.

Enjoy,
SteveSmith 2005.12.03

An Interview with Martin Gardner

I have often been called shy, and with justification. I prefer one-to-one relationships to crowds. I hate going to parties or giving speeches. I love monotony. Nothing pleases me more than to be alone in a room, reading a book or hitting typewriter keys. I consider myself lucky in being able to earn a living by doing what I like best. As my wife long ago realized, I really don't do any work. I just play all the time, and am fortunate enough to get paid for it.

I'm glad I majored in philosophy, though had I known I would be writing some day a column on math, I would have taken some math courses. As it was, I took not a single math course. If you look over my Scientific American columns you will see that they get progressively more sophisticated as I began reading math books and learning more about the subject. There is no better way to learn anything than to write about it!

Philosophy gives one an excuse to dabble in everything. Although my interests are broad, they seldom get beyond elementary levels. I give the impression of knowing far more than I do because I work hard on research, write glibly, and keep extensive files of clippings on everything that interests me.

I am most delighted by learning something new and significant. (I leave aside the delights of relationships with my wife, with relatives, and with friends).

Next to learning something about science or math that I didn't know before, my next greatest pleasure is learning a newly invented magic trick. Conjuring has been a hobby since I was a boy. Some of the best magic tricks operate on scientific or mathematical principles.

I belong to a group of thinkers known as the "mysterians." It includes Roger Penrose, Thomas Nagel, John Searle, Noam Chomsky, Colin Mc Ginn, and many others who (I) believe that no computer, of the kind we know how to build, will ever become self-aware and acquire the creative powers of the human mind. I believe there is a deep mystery about how consciousness emerged as brains became more complex, and that neuroscientists are a long long way from understanding how they work.