Fermat's Last Theorem

Fermat's Last Theorem refers to the conjecture made by 17th century lawyer and amateur mathematician Pierre de Fermat. The conjecture states that no solution exists to the problem a^n + b^n = c^n, for any integer n > 2 and any positive integers a, b, and c. Put differently, a^n +b^n =/= c^n for every (infinite) combination of positive integers a, b, c, and n > 2. For more on this, just check out Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermat's_Last_Theorem

Supposedly, Fermat proved it back in 1637, but refused to share his proof with the world and left it as a riddle for others to solve. For over 3 centuries, this problem baffled mathematicians, until eventually it was solved. This 45 minute documentary documents how this problem was solved by mathematician Andrew Wiles (don't worry, it's not a technical/complicated documentary):

Part 1 of 5:

You might ask why I'm sharing this on WSO and what (if anything) it has to do with finance? Honestly, I'm sharing it with you guys for several reasons, such as that it's simply interesting, gives us a glimpse into human creativity, and allows us the opportunity to watch someone performing in their element, simultaneously reaching greatness and self-actualization. More importantly though, I want you guys to consider a couple lessons from this documentary that are relevant to us all:

- First, greatness and passion are not independent. There's been a lot of talk in a recent thread about why you guys are pursuing and working in finance. Many of you claim that you're doing it mainly for the money. But, in order to excel and make big money, I think you need to have a lot of passion there in the first place (or, at least, acquire that passion along the way). Sure, pretty much anyone on here can probably bust their ass and pull in a few hundred grand a year based on sheer drive and an unrelenting work ethic. But if you want to make big money in finance, you have to be great in one of the most competitive labor markets there is. For that, you're going to need passion, unless you're satisfied with being relatively mediocre. Greatness takes years upon years of honing your skills, which doesn't happen on accident. You need passion to help you get through those years upon years of dedication. If you constantly feel like you're sacrificing yourself by busting your ass, then you'll probably have a hard time sticking with it. Andrew Wiles devoted 7 years of his life to solving this one problem. But, to him, it wasn't a sacrifice, as he loved working on it. In fact, to even call it work is a little misleading. Solving this problem became his goal at 10 years old and from that day on it was a life-long passion.

- Second, life is too short to spend it doing something you're not passionate about. Sure, Andrew Wiles might be an extremely timid, ultra-awkward, uber-nerd. But, despite all of that, he has huge balls! In fact, I'm going to claim that he has a bigger sack than most (all?) of us on WSO because he followed his goals, hopes, and dreams. He knew what he wanted to accomplish, so he took life by the horns and made it happen for himself. Even if he died without solving the problem, I would say his balls are equally as large, since at least he chased his dreams and tried to make them a reality. In some ways, it's inconsequential that he proved the theorem because, at the end of the day, he's his own man and did what he truly wanted with his life. That, in my humble opinion, is something we should all aspire to do!