Something To Think About: Mathematical Lunacy

The notion that mathematical reasoning is somehow linked with mental illness is not as far-fetched as it might first appear.  The late mathematician, Robert Brooks, provides an amusing analogy of his own in our discussion of mathematical shape;

RW:  Then it’s(the world of mathematical shapes) your world.  You’re immersed in this abstract universe that you’ve created.

RB:  That’s right.  My wife is a family physician, and she says that the patients that remind her of me the most are the schizophrenics, because they’re walking around in a world that’s very real to them, but invisible to anyone else….  I actually spend a lot of time just sitting with… paper models, playing with them, and asking myself what is the same about them, and what is different.

Mathematics and mental illness:  Something to think about.