I know most of you think it was Albert Einstein.

Errrr. Wrong. It wasn’t Einstein.

It was actually Kurt Godel. Apart from the fact that many of his colleagues and people who met said that he was kind of crazy, but also the fact that he was in and out of a sanitarium and routinely referred to psychiatrists, but it was sometimes during these times that he achieved some of his best work.

However without reading his biography you fail to notice to many things that might have contributed to his psychotic problems. Of course this is only my interpretation and one that I can relate to.

Godel’s career was just starting when the second world war brokeout. He was not Jewish, but nevertheless he was beaten up once because a bunch of thugs on street thought he looked like one. He narrowly managed to leave Austria but before doing the German army had already taken over. He had to change his papers to German, he needed a permit to leave Austria and on top he was found eligible and fit to be in the army. It was a close escape but one that finally was made possible with the help of numerous colleagues from the US and those in charge of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton.

However, that’s not all. In the US he arrived with German papers and for a long time he was suspected to be a spy, he required a permit to even go for conferences in different cities and finally, when he was about to get his US citizenship he was once again found to be eligible and fit for fighting in the US army.

To top it all, his family, mother and brother, were still in Austria which was heavily raided by the allies. Their family home in Brn was later confiscated by the newly formedCzechoslovakgovernmentt.

His mother had moved to Vienna in the last few months of WW II and had narrowly escaped what was to become of some 20,000 Germans (Innocent and not) who were rounded up by the newly formed Czech government, pushed to the borders of Austria, party executed and partly left to die of hunger.

Yet she was not safe in Austria either. As the incoming Russian army started to round up all Germans from Czechoslovakia who had never received Austrian citizenship.

My family story is not as bad but somewhat as bizarre, in between countries from Iran to France, and Spain, there were times that we were all in different countries. In each country, the paperwork and ordeal of getting visas to move, and visit each other was a nightmare that any Iranian could write a full book just on applying for one visa.

I can only relate to why Godel was part psychotic or at least it could be that this pressure and situation would have played a major role in his mental health.

Call me crazy 🙂 but until you don’t experience this you don’t know what it is like to live in limbo and under the constant stress of what is to become of your life next and if you can continue to live in peace. My heart goes to the millions of refugees who have been living in a state of limbo in refugee camps like Mohamed Hassan.

If you have read so far, then contribute simply by spreading the message and creating an opportunity for the 8 million refugees who have been spending decades or their full lives in a estate of limbo.  Refugees are kept out of sight and out of mind.  Paid by European governments to poorer countries to be kept in so called Havens, where they cannot leave and are simply kept their being fed just enough or sometimes not even that.  They are innocent people who like you and I had a home, a life and only left their home because of war and other civil unrests and undesirable situations.  Yet they are treated worse than criminals, they are viewed as unwanted by Europe and kept far away, Out of Sight, Out of Mind.

You can do your bit by simply spreading the word.  www.StepUp.One is a Ltd company setup by Mohamed Anis with the aim of reskilling thousands and millions of refugees to offer digital services.  There is no need to make donations, no free money.  Just look at the services offered by StepUp.One and if it is of use to you or your friends then hire them.  This will empower the refugees, give them work, a life and a purpose even if they are inside the camp. Life without purpose is meaningless and no one deserves to live a meaningless life.