A peek into the genius’ complete mental disintegration.
·Published in
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“My own work by then did not amount to much, but I came into the office just to have the privilege of being permitted to walk home with Kurt Gödel”
~ Einstein on Gödel
When Einstein talks of someone in the superlative, you know that person would have been beyond special. Indeed, Kurt Gödel was no ordinary man. Perhaps the greatest logician of all time, Gödel’s incompleteness theorems altered the very fabric of the epistemology of mathematical systems.
Sadly, for the man himself, all his magnificent achievements were rather insufficient. Gödel struggled immensely with professional and personal insecurities, leading a very tormented life in his later years. So much so that he had to seek professional psychological help on the insistence of family members.
Presented below are the verbatim notes of Dr. Philip Erlich, Gödel’s psychiatrist, clearly highlighting Gödel’s pathetic mental condition at the time. All material is taken from Stephen Budiansky’s splendid biography on Gödel, Journey to the Edge of Reason.
Dr. Erlich’s notes from Gödel’s initial psychiatric sessions which lasted for eleven months, starting March 1970:
Kurt Gödel 64. Married 32 years. Adele 70. No children. Wife had
been married once before.
Thought he came for evaluation of mental competency - which
I denied - to "help him" if could. - Came at insistence of brother
& wife.
Belief that he hasn't achieved goals that he set out for himself -
hence a "failure" - therefore other people, particularly the Institute,
will also regard him as a failure & try to get rid of him.
- Believes he has been declared incompetent & that one day they
will realize he is free & take him away as being too dangerous.
Fear of destitution, loss of position at Institute because hasn't
done anything for past year - has done hardly anything for 35 years
- 4–5 uninteresting papers. - Took on big subjects, may not have been
talented enough. - Usually works on his own, in ways & fields that
are opposed to current stream. - Possible that he feels guilty about
not being productive & achieve similar acclaim as he did as a young man.
Brought out delusional ideas. - Brother is the evil person behind plot
to destroy him - because he wants to take his wife, house & position
at the Institute. - He also feels brother mishandled situation by
becoming angry w/him, instead of remaining calm. I defended brother
- motivated by good intentions, no desire to harm, called in by wife.
- I emphasized need for firm action & insistence that p[atien]t see me.
Listed the various distractions that have interfered w/his progress
w/his philosophical work. Marriage, bookkeeping, his health problems
mental & physical, wife's health, Institute duties, occasionally
working on problems in pure mathematical logic, hobbies - reading
history etc. - In his own case he feels that he becomes so involved
w/preliminaries he never gets to the main body.
At this point, Budiansky comments —
“Even his great work, the Incompleteness Theorem, was no longer a consolation. All of his contribution, he sadly observed, were of a negative kind — proving that something cannot be done, not what can be done.”
The sessions did have a positive effect on Gödel though, resulting in him getting back to a somewhat normal routine for a few interim years. However, that was all the recovery there was to be. Gödel would have a terminal mental breakdown in 1976. Paranoid of the world around him and now even refusing to eat food, he would meet his end in a matter of just a few months.
Dr. Erlich’s notes from Gödel’s final sessions, 1976:
Situation deteriorating. - Digging his hole deeper. - Believes he was
fired by faculty 1 year ago. - Strong self hatred & fear of punishment.
Also self torment over minor things. - Blurting out to people his
errors that are none of their business & only put him in a bad light.
- Very difficult, willful man.
At his death, Gödel weighed a meagre sixty-five pounds. As per Dr. Erlich — “it (refusal to eat) was the final suicidal act of a man tormented by unresolved guilt”. Perhaps more than anything else, Gödel was a victim of his own other-worldly expectations from himself. For everyone else, Gödel’s work was, and continues to be, simply peerless. But according to himself, he had hardly done anything worthwhile with his life. From Gödel’s point of view, as Budiansky solemnly remarks —
“In the end, all he had left were negative decisions.”
Knock nock 
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