Talk:Richard Borcherds

Asperger?
Why no hint at Borcherds' psychiatric background (diagnosed as Asperger). Borcherds', to my knowledge, never was shy to discuss this in public contexts (which proves him to be also a great character in addition to his mathematical talents) and it may contribute to the psychological aspects of highly gifted persons. I made the first entry about Borcherds once (don't praise me!) and mentioned this fact but it couldn't survive long in WIKI.


 * I hope the man himself will take you up on your suggestion, if he is so inclined. GangofOne 23:43, 7 November 2005 (UTC)


 * Note that the article says "he did not merit a formal diagnosis of Asperger syndrome" - this interests me since I did. Reading the paper "A Professor of Mathematics" shows that the reason for the lack of a formal diagnosis is, to quote "One might question whether Richard Borcherds really merits a diagnosis at all, given how well adapted he is. Certainly, he is not currently severe enough in his symptoms to warrant a diagnosis in adulthood, as his symptoms are not interfering with his daily functioning. In the jargon of the diagnostic criteria, he is not "suffering any impairment in his daily life." For example, he is not depressed (thankfully), unlike the majority of the patients we see in our clinic" In contrast to this, "....it reminds us how important the environment is, since if you took the same Richard Borcherds and put him in a less understanding environment, in all likelihood his AS would cause him some degree of distress."


 * For many years I was in this position, not meriting a diagnosis since to quote again, I was "....an example of an adult who in a sense has adapted his AS to an environment where it is no longer a major, or indeed any, obstacle at all". This would describe me up to the point in time where someone else decided it was a major obstacle. This is not to say he does not have AS, but that he does not merit a diagnosis. These are two different statements. It perhaps also begs the question as to whether an isolated individual may merit a diagnosis or whether it is external factors for example other people. Soarhead77 (talk) 12:27, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Legendary Mike Richard Borcherds
Today's change: "Richard Ewen Borcherds', brother to the legendary Mike Richard Borcherds, otherwise known as MRB by his closest friends, "  looks like noise to me. Tell us more about the legend. --GangofOne 21:07, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Nationality
Borcherds is said to be English and British, although he was born in South Africa. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.132.158.48 (talk) 14:46, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

He is said to have left South Africa in 1960. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.132.158.48 (talk) 15:03, 1 November 2008 (UTC)


 * I added a footnote with a reference to an article which says that he indeed has the British nationality. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 16:01, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

One cannot "realise" (or "realize") something that is a matter of opinion.
In the description of Borcherds as a child, this sentence appears:

"''He was a promising mathematician and chess player as a child, winning several national mathematics championships and 'was in line for becoming a chess master' before giving up after realising that the higher levels of competitive chess are merely about the competition rather than the fun of playing.""

But the idea that "the higher levels of competitive chess are merely about the competition rather than the fun of playing" -- no matter how many people may believe it -- is a matter of opinion, not fact. So I changed the word "realising" to "coming to believe", which seems to me to be a neutral way of describing what Borcherds was reported as believing. (My finger must have slipped while entering the reason for this change, so it probably looks cut off.)Daqu (talk) 00:22, 2 August 2010 (UTC)

External links modified
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Borcherds' contribution to Wikipedia mathematics articles
Borcherds has edited many Wikipedia mathematics articles. This seems notable for his page on Wikipedia whether or not it is notable elsewhere. 73.149.246.232 (talk) 21:23, 16 March 2020 (UTC)