Thread

How do we prevent mathemathics from devolving into the Medieval Era of secrecy?

158 points · 146 comments · jjgreen

Arubis · 1789681849 · focus · HN ↗
Like we can prevent the rest of our society from devolving into the Medieval Era of secrecy: by treating individuals with respect and dignity and not as the ore from which resources can be profitably extracted.
1. FactNotFeeling · 1789681905 · focus · HN ↗
  Any solutions to this issue that aren't unrealistic socialist pipe dreams?
  1. sien · 1789689213 · focus · HN ↗
    Yep.
    Muddling through with markets, democracy and welfare.
    Global life expectancy was 34 in 1913. Today it's 70.
    <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy" rel="nofollow">https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy
    Global GDP was less than 1Trn until about 1800. In 1950 it was 11.7Trn . Today it's 157 Trn. In a life time it's gone up by more than 10 fold.
    <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-gdp-over-the-long-run" rel="nofollow">https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-gdp-over-the-long-...
    People are living longer, richer lives all over the world.
    The world's largest country grew at 7.8% last year.
    <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/why-indias-strong-gdp-growth-is-raising-eyebrows-2026-09-03/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reuters.com/world/india/why-indias-strong-gdp-gr...
    Things are getting better. Look at the data, work at what you do and ignore the doom sayers.
    esafak · 1789708023 · focus · HN ↗
    I don't doubt that AI might increase the GDP but it will happen at the expense of the many.
    mitxela · 1789730642 · focus · HN ↗
    GDP is just a measure of how expensive things are: inflation. It literally measures the total price of all the things that are bought and sold.
    mitxela · 1789721366 · focus · HN ↗
    In 2060 it will be 34

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