Most highly intelligent people, acutely aware of the absurdities of life, express themselves in humor that is sometimes playful and often sardonic. Laughter provides a natural release for the psychological stress that comes from prolonged intense focus.
Richard Feynman was famous for his jokes and pranks. During his childhood, he collected stamps and among his various acquisitions were weirdly-shaped stamps from a country in Outer Mongolia named Tannu Tuva.
In 1977, when Feynman was 59 years old, he and his friend Ralph Leighton conceived a cockamamie plan to investigate this strange land. A book titled, Tuva or Bust: Richard Feynman’s Last Journey, written by Leighton is described on Amazon as follows:
Feynman and his sidekick, Ralph Leighton—set out to make arrangements to visit Tuva, doing noble and hilarious battle with Soviet red tape, befriending quite a few Tuvans, and discovering the wonders of Tuvan throat-singing. Their Byzantine attempts to reach Tannu Tuva would span a decade, interrupted by Feynman’s appointment to the committee investigating the Challenger disaster. …Tuva or Bust! chronicles the deepening friendship of two zany, brilliant strategists whose love of the absurd will delight and instruct. It is Richard Feynman’s last, best adventure.
Feynman’s other books, including his most famous, “Surely you’re Joking Mr. Feynman” capture his zany approach to life, his humorous rebellion against authority and his delightful irreverence.
Albert Einstein was also somewhat playful and sometimes mischievous. In her book “Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Gödel,” Rebecca Goldstein describes how Einstein and his friend Oskar Morgenstern prepared the nervous Kurt Gödel for his citizenship exam following his appointment to the Institute for Advanced Study. Goldstein reproduces Morgenstern’s description of the events as they unfolded:
It was December 5, 1947–the day that Einstein and I accompanied Gödel to his citizenship exam. I picked up Gödel in my car. He sat in the back and then we went to pick up Einstein at his house on Mercer Street…While we were driving, Einstein turned around a little and said, “Now Gödel, are you really well prepared for this examination?” Of course, this remark upset Gödel tremendously, which was exactly what Einstein intended and he was greatly amused when he saw the worry on Gödel’s face.
[When we arrived at the immigration office], we were invited to sit down together, Gödel, in the center. The examiner first asked Einstein and then me whether we thought Gödel would make a good citizen. We assured him that this would certainly be the case, that he was a distinguished man, etc.
And then he turned to Gödel and said, Now, Mr. Gödel, where do you come from?
Gödel: Where I come from? Austria.
The examiner: What kind of government did you have in Austria?
Gödel: It was a republic, but the constitution was such that it finally was changed into a dictatorship.
The examiner: Oh! This is very bad. This could not happen in this country.
Gödel: Oh, yes, I can prove it.
So, of all the possible questions, just that critical one was asked by the examiner. Einstein and I were horrified during this exchange; the examiner was intelligent enough to quickly quieten Gödel and broke off the examination at this point, greatly to our relief.
Gödel was granted his citizenship, while Einstein and Morgenstern had a laugh at his expense.
On March 14, 1951, the day Albert Einstein turned 72, a birthday celebration was held in his honor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. After the celebration, Einstein departed in the back seat of a limousine, sandwiched between the institute’s former director, and his wife, Marie. The paparazzi hounded Einstein asking for a photo. Finally, in a moment of desperation to show his displeasure and deny his pursuers the photo they sought, he stuck out his tongue. The photo became an iconic representation of Einstein’s playfulness, but it was actually an aspect of his sardonic humor.
Much of Einstein’s disdain for the intelligence of the general public was captured in this sardonic comments, often expressed in simple aphorisms like, “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity. But I’m not quite sure about the universe yet.” Indeed, deep thinkers reflect on the paradoxes and contradictions in life and respond with humor, that is sometimes tainted with a sprinkle of bitterness.
