Our limits are expected, Martin Gardner once told the statistician Persi Diaconis:
Most anyone would accept as a fact that chimpanzees are incapable of understanding quantum mechanics. I feel the same way about humans understanding the hard questions that stump them; how did the world begin, does God exist, and so on. These questions are so far above our natural human prowess that to fret about them seems as ridiculous as insisting that a dog understand general relativity.
(Quoted from Persi Diaconis’ foreword to Undiluted Hocus-Pocus: The Autobiography of Martin Gardner, by Martin Gardner. Princeton University Press, 2013)
For a brief biography of Martin Gardner, click here. For images of or relating to Martin Gardner, click here.
For a brief biography of Persi Diaconis, click here. For images of or relating to Persi Diaconis, click here.
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