[ExI] anorexic geniuses, was Re: Religions and violence.

Mike Dougherty msd001 at gmail.com
Wed Aug 4 02:23:31 UTC 2010


2010/8/3 Dave Sill <sparge at gmail.com>:
> 2010/8/3 Gregory Jones <spike66 at att.net>
>>
>> Srinivasa Ramanujan is another monster intellect we also lost to  tragic
>> self starvation.
>
> Wikipedia says otherwise:
> "A 1994 analysis of Ramanujan's medical records and symptoms by Dr. D.A.B.
> Young concluded that it was much more likely he had hepatic amoebiasis, a
> parasitic infection of the liver. This is supported by the fact that
> Ramanujan had spent time in Madras, where the disease was widespread. He had
> two episodes of dysentery before he left India. When not properly treated,
> dysentery can lie dormant for years and lead to hepatic amoebiasis. It was a
> difficult disease to diagnose, but once diagnosed, could have been readily
> cured."

I wonder if the boost in brainpower is due to extra oxygen+sugar
available for thinking that might have otherwise gone to physical
processes.  I imagine solving math problems on a small chalkboard does
not have the same caloric requirement as ... whatever labor normal
people did for work each day.




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