Mr. Cantor, An Extended Discussion

Sorry everyone for the lateness of my post. Seriously, I've written this post about five times now and then just erased everything and not posted anything. Even now as I write I don't think i've fully absorbed everything that I could've from our class discussions. I look at my notes and they're not complete thoughts, I do the readings and have a bunch of question marks, and I try and remember Prof. Hamman's words and it's like something doesn't click. I was originally going to open a discussion about the different sizes of infinity, but I found myself googling and re-reading aspects of Cantor's life on several occasions.

And so.... Georg Cantor.

Who was he? He was a mathematician who suffered from depression. The chronic depression he experienced really brought down his work. I think of it like when i'm having a really bad day. There is a rain cloud that looms over my head, and so when people I come across aren't that friendly or give me criticism, It produces more rain than if that cloud were nonexistent. I'm not discrediting Cantor's struggle during opposition, merely that I think, from what i've read, that he probably was more sensitive than most. On wikipedia (I'm going to use it as a valid source) it says he had a bipolar disorder. I think he could've overcome his opposition, lived longer, and brought the math world into understanding if he would've had a better attitude. His life, I felt, had a great deal of tragedy. He dealt with losing friends, questioning from his peers, not enough recognition, back to back death in the family, and confusion in spirituality. I don't know if you guys have seen A Beautiful Mind, but disregarding the imaginary friend deal, Cantor reminds me of Russell Crowe's character in that movie. My grandmother once told me that all geniuses usually live in their own world, that they're all a little crazy, and that their genius, as much a gift, is a curse because it sets them apart from the rest.

I really like this quote that I found online by him

"I have never proceeded from any 'Genus supremum' of the actual infinite. Quite the contrary, I have rigorously proved that there is absolutely no "Genus supremum' of the actual infinite. What surpasses all that is finite and transfinite is no 'Genus'; it is the single, completely individual unity in which everything is included, which includes the Absolute, incomprehensible to the human understanding. This is the Actus Purissimus, which by many is called God."

I feel like that quote kinda encompasses my own views on the infinite and it's "boundeness" to be incomprehensible to the human mind.

One thing that I found really interesting about Cantor was his interest in Shakespeare. I personally love Shakespeare so this portion of my reading really caught my attention. Cantor not only came up with mathematical theories, but tried to prove the theory that Francis Bacon had written Shakespeare.

Some people believe that Shakespeare couldn't of been the real writer of the plays because the context within in them seemed too knowledgeable for someone of Shakespeare's education and social ranking.

Ultimately, Cantor's interest on the matter brought him no where. He was a much better mathematician than he was at breaking down Elizabethan literature.

My question for you: Do you have any "favorite" moments about Cantor's life or interests?

The End.