Comments on: Grisha’s Choice http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2006/08/31/grishas-choice/ A Journal of Jewish Thought and Opinion Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:08:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Thomas Lowinger http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2006/08/31/grishas-choice/#comment-67976 Thomas Lowinger Sun, 03 Sep 2006 03:48:47 +0000 http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2006/08/31/grishas-choice/#comment-67976 It is hard to believe the story when no person is being named. No dates are given. No incidents described wit sufficient detail to enable independent verification. It is hard to believe the story when no person is being named. No dates are given. No incidents described wit sufficient detail to enable independent verification.

]]> By: Seth Gordon http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2006/08/31/grishas-choice/#comment-67737 Seth Gordon Fri, 01 Sep 2006 00:44:12 +0000 http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2006/08/31/grishas-choice/#comment-67737 Thanks for passing this letter along. <em>Very</em> interesting...I guess that's also why Perelman posted his proof on the Internet instead of submitting it to a journal. <blockquote>Why does Perelman feel he has to be in Russia after everything the Russian system (Soviet and post-Soviet) has done to him?</blockquote> To quote the original <i>New Yorker</i> article: <blockquote>Ultimately, he received several job offers. But he declined them all, and in the summer of 1995 returned to St. Petersburg, to his old job at the Steklov Institute, where he was paid less than a hundred dollars a month. (He told a friend that he had saved enough money in the United States to live on for the rest of his life.) His father had moved to Israel two years earlier, and his younger sister was planning to join him there after she finished college. His mother, however, had decided to remain in St. Petersburg, and Perelman moved in with her. “I realize that in Russia I work better,” he told colleagues at the Steklov.</blockquote> I suspect he's staying in Russia for the sake of his mother, who may have all sorts of her own reasons for not moving. I also suspect that if Perelman ever did want to emigrate, he could get a professorship at any math department on the planet. Thanks for passing this letter along. Very interesting…I guess that’s also why Perelman posted his proof on the Internet instead of submitting it to a journal.

Why does Perelman feel he has to be in Russia after everything the Russian system (Soviet and post-Soviet) has done to him?

To quote the original New Yorker article:

Ultimately, he received several job offers. But he declined them all, and in the summer of 1995 returned to St. Petersburg, to his old job at the Steklov Institute, where he was paid less than a hundred dollars a month. (He told a friend that he had saved enough money in the United States to live on for the rest of his life.) His father had moved to Israel two years earlier, and his younger sister was planning to join him there after she finished college. His mother, however, had decided to remain in St. Petersburg, and Perelman moved in with her. “I realize that in Russia I work better,” he told colleagues at the Steklov.

I suspect he’s staying in Russia for the sake of his mother, who may have all sorts of her own reasons for not moving. I also suspect that if Perelman ever did want to emigrate, he could get a professorship at any math department on the planet.

]]> By: Yehoshua Friedman http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2006/08/31/grishas-choice/#comment-67708 Yehoshua Friedman Thu, 31 Aug 2006 20:24:37 +0000 http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2006/08/31/grishas-choice/#comment-67708 I feel like I'm a little slow, but I know it's because this is really Kafkaesque. Why does Perelman feel he has to be in Russia after everything the Russian system (Soviet and post-Soviet) has done to him? There must be a better place in the world for him, but it seems he has turned the abuse inward. It is very sad. Someone should help him work it out for himself so that he can get out, never come back, work in some academic or reasearch institute in a polyglot environment and just do his thing. He needs to draw a line and move on. He needs to get free from his life story. He needs life coaching to do it. I feel like I’m a little slow, but I know it’s because this is really Kafkaesque. Why does Perelman feel he has to be in Russia after everything the Russian system (Soviet and post-Soviet) has done to him? There must be a better place in the world for him, but it seems he has turned the abuse inward. It is very sad. Someone should help him work it out for himself so that he can get out, never come back, work in some academic or reasearch institute in a polyglot environment and just do his thing. He needs to draw a line and move on. He needs to get free from his life story. He needs life coaching to do it.

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