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Comment by calhoun137 | Hacker News Reader

Von Neumann was very smart, but I think he had poor judgement when it comes to politics. Perhaps not. I don't know tbh! When I learned about his political views many years ago it actually deeply changed strongly held opinions that I had about America. He was so smart, and I want so badly to follow in his footsteps, that I said to myself "If Von Neumann believed that only America can save the world from fascism, it is enough for me, I will go on as he begun, he must have had his reasons and knew what he was doing. But I will not abandon my principles! Only change the way I go about trying to achieve them."

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You recognize von Neumann's superior intellect, and yet, when it comes to his politics you find his views repulsive (your comment below) and believe that he was the one with poor judgment. Hmm! Perhaps you’re passing judgement selectively and approve only of what caters to your emotions. There's more to the world than what meets the eye, or the heart.

Unlike the commenter below, I believe political reasoning is amenable only to a small degree to first principles, for complex, non-linear systems exhibit emergent behaviors not present when investigating the parts. Instead of analytical reasoning, one ought to practice more holistic thinking.

Here's an intro video on complexity, in case you're ever interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-ladOjo1QA

One thing that shouldn't be forgotten is that he judged the world as it looked at that the time he was living in it. He may have made a totally different decision if he was young and in the same stage of life today.

Perhaps base your reasoning on first principles instead of the von Neumann who is in your head.

Well said. I do, fwiw. Im not the kind of person who makes arguments by reference to authority often, I found his political views repulsive and confusing when I first learned about them. Its been a long journey but I believe there is a strong possibility he simply was wrong about many of the beliefs he held about politics and the course of the future of human history.

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