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John von Neumann
1903–1957 · Architect of the Modern Computer, Game Theory & Nuclear Strategy
He designed the architecture that every computer on Earth still runs on. He invented game theory. He helped build the atomic bomb. His mind worked so fast that colleagues said watching him think was like watching a human-shaped calculator with intuition. On his deathbed at Walter Reed, riddled with bone cancer at 53, he was terrified, not of pain, but of oblivion. The man who calculated everything tried to calculate his way out of death itself. He couldn't. A Grithosian remembers that no amount of genius buys a single extra day. Use the ones you have.
Quoted in these Footings
CTL-VII-0024“I can't stop replaying how badly I think they all judge me.”VER-XV-0041“I saw something deeply wrong at work and I'm tempted to pretend I didn't.”VER-XV-0042“I haven't looked at my actual finances in months because I'm scared of the number.”VER-XV-0043“I can't tell anymore if anything I read online was written by a real person.”VER-XV-0044“The whole thing fell apart and I've got a reason it's everyone's fault but mine.”VER-XV-0045“I hit every goal and realized none of them were ever actually mine.”VER-XV-0046“I won't let myself think about how few years I might have left.”VER-XV-0047“Something I posted years ago resurfaced and I want to pretend it wasn't me.”VER-XIV-0049“I hired someone smarter than me and the whole thing got better fast.”