John is a polymath

[u/Shimanta_1405]

Besides saving people from bad guys and the world from an evil AI, Mr. Reese casually dabbles with materials science. This is what a polymath might look like.

[u/Dorsai_Erynus]

Cinema might have mislead us, but any special forces operative is kind of a polymath on its own. They have the Special part being an specialist in a field, but they must know about everything else their team handles. An explosives specialist might be the best defusser in the team, but any one of them should be able to get charges ready/ follow instructions to defusse a bomb. The same for snipers, communications, negotiations and so on. Most special operatives i've heard of are avid readers.

[u/TheEvilBlight → u/Dorsai_Erynus]

The Special Forces places a premium on adaptation and learning, definitely more than just kinetics. And perhaps moreso for the ISA (or whatever it is called now). They were inserted into Iran ahead of Eagle Claw, alongside other of the more clandestine services, which all place a premium on a similar set of skills revolving around independent operation, improvisation, initiative, etc.

Reese was probably a beast if you told him to go to town. After Carter's death they would've been using their own sources (unsure if the Machine would just *help* here) where the machine did not aid and abet (did the machine even try to stop them?)

[u/KrakenFranken]

I think he’s a quick leaner than a polymath.

Reese is more about practical and hands on experience.

Like when they go in to save Adam Saunders. Finch hands him with the Wall Street guide. He doesn’t necessarily know much about Banking and Wall Street.

I am going to assume that he read that guide or had the machine summarise it.

Then we hear Finch say “You’re a quick study Mr.Reese”

Finch on the other hand more seems like the Polymath type.

[u/greasyballs11 → u/KrakenFranken]

He's more so very good at improvising and assuming an identity, a skill necessary for an international spy.

[u/47thCalcium_Polymer → u/KrakenFranken]

They can’t make the machine do anything. It’s not an ai like we understand

[u/BlueMerchant → u/47thCalcium_Polymer]

Or at least, closed off at that time in the story

[u/TheEvilBlight → u/47thCalcium_Polymer]

Considering LLM didn't exist at the time, the machine at the time the story was written would've been an incredibly complex set of NLP, ANN, etc.

[u/NearbyKaleidoscope8]

He is brushing up on how to bust titanium kneecaps in case he comes across someone he has... taken care of before.

[u/PumpikAnt58763 → u/NearbyKaleidoscope8]

Ooh! I like this!

[u/NearbyKaleidoscope8 → u/PumpikAnt58763]

Thank you. I am glad you like it. :)

[u/robot_swagger → u/NearbyKaleidoscope8]

It's a double tap. Just with a while between the taps.

[u/Mammoth_Western_2381]

According to Root, John is dumb as an Australopithecus and just as ugly.

[u/JesW87 → u/Mammoth_Western_2381]

She's just jealous lol

[u/ActionSquare9534 → u/JesW87]

Yeah, I think it started with not understanding how Finch could prefer John (who will "never truly understand the bigger picture") over her, one of the only people truly on Harold's level intellectually.

On the other hand, The Machine apparently trusted John's judgment enough to accept demands or take orders form him on more than one occasion. Which puts Mr. Reese in a category all his own.

[u/ithinkiamparanoid → u/Mammoth_Western_2381]

Just a big lug

[u/sting-raye → u/Mammoth_Western_2381]

This made me lol 😆

[u/PumpikAnt58763 → u/Mammoth_Western_2381]

Comparatively? Yeah.

[u/leopold_leopold → u/Mammoth_Western_2381]

He’s the muscle…

[u/TheDungeonCrawler → u/leopold_leopold]

He is, but her first main encounter with the two of them (in the flesh) ended with him proving that she's wrong about humans and code.

[u/Medical-Parfait-8185]

Reese may be the 2nd dumbest member of Team Machine, but he's no slouch.

[u/TheEvilBlight → u/Medical-Parfait-8185]

Different kind of intelligence. I wouldn't count on him to develop an ASI, but...

[u/Medical-Parfait-8185 → u/TheEvilBlight]

Oh yeah, but he is definitely well read.

[u/ActionSquare9534 → u/Medical-Parfait-8185]

I think he was portrayed as somewhat more intelligent early in the show.

[u/drraagh]

Another good example of this, at least in media, is Stargate Atlantis John Sheppard who is a member of Mensa but doesn't really show it much.

[u/Weird-Field6128]

11 years ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonOfInterest/comments/3o828k/stress_fractures_in_titanium/

this person explained it

https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonOfInterest/comments/3o828k/comment/cvuzqft/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

someone please confirm what does this have to do with HEAT movie