What could be a problem for Charlie if he continues to use this kind of language (paragraphs 132-137)? Contrary to my earlier impressions of him, I realize that Dr.
Nemur is not at all a genius. He has a very good mind, but it
struggles under the specter of self-doubt. He wants people to take
him for a genius. Therefore, it is important for him to feel that his
work is accepted by the world. I believe that Dr. Nemur was afraid
of further delay because he worried that someone else might make
a discovery along these lines and take the credit from him.
Dr. Strauss on the other hand might be called a genius, although
I feel that his areas of knowledge are too limited. He was educated
in the tradition of narrow specialization; the broader aspects of
background were neglected far more than necessary—even for
a neurosurgeon.
I was shocked to learn that the only ancient languages he
could read were Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and that he knows
almost nothing of mathematics beyond the elementary levels of
the calculus of variations. When he admitted this to me, I found
myself almost annoyed. It was as if he’d hidden this part of
himself in order to deceive me, pretending—as do many people
I’ve discovered—to be what he is not. No one I’ve ever known is
what he appears to be on the surface.
Dr. Nemur appears to be uncomfortable around me. Sometimes
when I try to talk to him, he just looks at me strangely and turns
away. I was angry at first when Dr. Strauss told me I was giving
Dr. Nemur an inferiority complex. I thought he was mocking me
and I’m oversensitive at being made fun of.

How was I to know that a highly respected psycho-
experimentalist like Nemur was unacquainted with Hindustani10

and Chinese? It’s absurd when you consider the work that is being
done in India and China today in the very field of his study.
I asked Dr. Strauss how Nemur could refute Rahajamati’s attack
on his method and results if Nemur couldn’t even read them in
the first place. That strange look on Dr. Straus’s face can mean
only one of two things. Either he doesn’t want to tell Nemur what
they’re saying in India, or else—and this worries me—Dr. Strauss
doesn’t know either. I must be careful to speak and write clearly
and simply so that people won’t laugh.