Looking for geniuses

There are some very clever people in the world. People who can absorb huge amounts of information, process it quickly and derive conclusions faster and better than most other people.

And then, scattered here and there are the geniuses. Geniuses possess brains that are wired differently from others. And this different wiring allows them to do things that nobody else can, and to do so in completely unexpected ways. They are like wizards.

I strongly believe that geniuses are randomly scattered across the world, and across all socioeconomic groups. If so, Pakistan, with a population of over 220 million people must have a few somewhere. The question is how can we find them, nurture them and help them realise their potential.

To illustrate the importance of nurturing, I would like to talk about two people who were considered geniuses by their peers: John von Neumann and Srinivasa Ramanujan.

Already as a child John von Neumann could divide two eight-digit numbers in his head, was well versed in calculus and could converse in Ancient Greek and seven other languages. As a teenager, he memorised a twenty-volume encyclopedia and years later could recite what was written on any page and volume. Later in life someone once brought him an unsolved problem on which there had been no published literature. John Von Neumann looked at it briefly and said offhandedly: "Oh, that!" He then went on to explain how to solve the problem using completely novel methods. He made pioneering contribution to mathematics, physics, economics and computing. He worked in a Valhalla of top scientists that included a whole suite of Nobel Prize winners, and all who worked with him regarded him as the smartest person they had ever met.

But let's keep in mind that John von Neumann was brought up, economically and intellectually speaking, with a silver spoon in his mouth. He was born in Budapest into a wealthy family. His father had a doctorate in law and was subsequently elevated to the aristocracy. John's exceptional brilliance was recognised early on and he was tutored by some of the best brains in Hungary and studied at the best universities in Hungary, Switzerland and Germany. He then moved to the Institute of Advanced Studies at Princeton where other top thinkers such as Einstein and Gödel were based. He worked at the RAND Corporation, and was part of the Manhattan project that built the atomic bomb.

In sharp contrast, Srinivasa Ramanujan was born into a modest family in Tamil Nadu. His father was a clerk in a sari shop and his mother a housewife. He attended the local school. Like von Neumann, he was a child prodigy and was reading complex mathematic texts at an early age and by 16 was developing new theorems and methods of analysis. He was writing these by hand into his school copy books, but nobody around him showed the least interest in what he was doing.

Ramanujan received a scholarship to study at a Government College but was so focused on mathematics that he had no interest in any other subjects and failed most of them. He lost his scholarship as a result. He then ran away from home and eventually registered in a college in Madras. He managed to pass the exams in mathematics despite the fact that he only answered the questions that appealed to him. However, he performed poorly in other subjects and failed his FA exams - twice. Without an FA degree, he left college and continued to pursue independent research in mathematics, living in extreme poverty and often on the brink of starvation.

It was only by chance that he got an opportunity to work in a conducive setting. Looking for work as a clerk, he contacted a local government official who also happened to be the founder of the Indian Mathematical Society. Through him, he managed to get a post as a researcher at the University of Madras. His work then came to the attention of others and eventually to the top mathematicians at Cambridge University where he worked for a few years. He died prematurely at the age of 32 and his hard life may have had something to do with his early demise.

As I said before, I firmly believe that there are many clever people in Pakistan.

I would like to narrate an event that supports my supposition. Recently, a young Pakistani with a doctorate from Oxford and working for a top quantum computing company ran a month-long course on quantum physics for a cohort of 60 students from a selection of schools in and around Lahore. Most students were below 17 years and the youngest was 13. About half were girls. He used some novel didactic techniques that allowed them to understand the key concepts in quantum physics without having to learn the calculus and algebra that is considered necessary for the conventional teaching of physics.

He then asked them to answer questions that were drawn from postgraduate exams at Oxford University. Almost 80% of his course participants passed and just below 50% got a distinction mark! A 15-year-old girl got a perfect score.

I am not suggesting that any of these students was a genius in the way that von Neumann and Ramanujan were. However, what became clear from this initiative is that even casting a small net pulled in some remarkable youngsters who, with some innovative coaching, could perform at a very high level. Imagine what would be achieved if we were to make a nationwide attempt to identify top brains and to help them to achieve their full potential.

Such a nationwide effort would involve, in the first instance, people who are closest to the education system - teachers and managers of schools - but also local government officials who have been dealing with the schools and with local communities. But then comes a critical next step. Our bright youngsters need to be backed up by teams that could mentor and support them; and help them to apply to top universities, and for suitable prizes and scholarships. This is particularly important for young women, as social and family norms often put barriers to further studies, especially if it means leaving home. Support and mentoring is also critical after completion of their studies, in particular in career choices.

Such mentorship and support could best be provided by drawing on the alumni networks of education related organisations such as TCF or Beaconhouse, or from other networks that have familiarity with top class academic institutions in Pakistan and overseas.

In addition, maybe some of our top industrialists could also think about setting up an institute along the lines of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in India - a top level institute for research in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and computer science.