If I could have any intellectual gift in the world, I think I would ask to be able to understand mathematics. I am not talking about your ordinary everyday math -- I am talking about the mind-boggling mathematical concepts that only true geniuses understand, the sort of math that is so esoteric it seems like magic to people of limited abilities like me.
Don't get me wrong -- I am not innumerate. I use math daily and, unlike many people, I enjoy math. When it comes down to complex mathematics, however, I am a child compared to the math savants. But even a child can recognize beauty and I recognize the beauty of math.
There is truth in mathematics, a truth that transcends everything else in this universe. There is power and order and logic. There is symmetry in mathematics and beauty, but perhaps these are just two facets of the same diamond. In the end, I do not think I exaggerate the situation to say that mathematics offers us a glimpse of God, perhaps even a full portrait.
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to see the universe the way a great mathematician does, to understand complex concepts and to strive to find answers that I, in my current state, do not even suspect could exist. I know this will never happen, but that doesn't matter. It is comfort enough to know that such people exist.
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