Three Absent-Minded Stories about Norbert Weiner
1. On one occasion, Weiner drove from MIT to a conference at Yale. When the conference was over, Weiner could not remember where he had parked. Not only that, he couldn’t remember what kind of car he drove! So, he patiently waited until everyone had left, and when there was only one car left in the lot, he drove it home!
2. Apparently, Weiner was once giving a lecture and a student asked a question. He replied “that’s obvious”, and then stopped and stared into space. He walked from the classroom and didn’t return for quite awhile. When he returned, he said “yes – it’s obvious”, and picked up where he left off.
3. My favorite. The Weiners had just moved to a nearby neighborhood. Weiner’s wife – knowing he was liable to forget the location – wrote out directions for him. That evening, Weiner headed home, but -of course – forgot the instructions! So he drove to his old neighborhood, and found a young girl sitting outside on some steps. He asked the girl, “Little girl, can you tell me where the Weiners have moved?” The reply: “Yes, Daddy. Momma said you’d forget, so she sent me here to bring you home.” 🙂
Comments are closed