Yeah, I was struck by the article when I first read it too. I suspect the author warrants a closer look; great writing.

I've always been intrigued by mathematicians, which is probably the best label for Pitts. That world can be as virtual as it gets. Based on his fascination for Principia Mathematica, I have the sense that Pitts may have needed the world to fit into a neat representation that he felt he could navigate. Perhaps when he found it didn't, he lost 'faith' and became untethered from it.