The author of Cybernetics in this second half of his autobiography comments on his career as a mathematician. Like all men who can rise above mediocrity, he is a thoroughgoing individualist, and we should particularly note his verdict on the “organized research” that is now so fashionable:
If I had been born into this latter-day feudal system of the intellect, it is my opinion that I would have amounted to little. From the bottom of my heart, I pity the present generation of scientists, many of whom, whether they wish it or not, are doomed by the “spirit of the age” to be intellectual lackeys.
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