People keep talking about this like there's a finite amount of math to be done, and then the party's over. But that's never how math has worked, is it? Every problem you solve, ten new ones open up. Like a fractal, the more you zoom in, the more detail emerges. No matter how much better AI is at solving problems, it's not going to generate the "final, complete compendium of mathematics" that that seems to hover over this post.
Math is meaningful because ... some people like to do it. The same as any other human pursuit. It doesn't need a reason beyond that. And AI won't change that. There will continue to be things to explore, things to find out, things that are maybe just at the edge of AI's reach and needs a human to decide whether it's worth continuing to explore or not. (Remember, AI isn't free).
So, IDK, I think for people who enjoy exploring math, there will always be interesting areas to explore. AI just gives us a better flashlight.
BTW I do agree that there's going to be an incident soon, whether intentional, accidental, or paperclip-factory, that leads governments around the world to shut all this down for some time, perhaps even shutting off access to GPUs entirely. It seems unavoidable. But that's just a temporary respite and skirts the core philosophical premise of the post.
The universe imposes strict limits on the math that can exist within it, and certain broader limits on the math the creatures and well-organized sand within the universe can conceive of in the first place, whether or not it can maybe exist in other universes.
At those levels math and physics are the same bound: the bound of things the universe allows to be conceived of inside it.
It’s possible the math our monkey brains + sand can ever conceive of in this universe is a low and accessible amount.
> The universe imposes strict limits on the math that can exist within it, and certain broader limits on the math the creatures and well-organized sand within the universe can conceive of in the first place, whether or not it can maybe exist in other universes.
When you have a moment, please reference some proofs supporting this.
I didn’t demand anything. I requested some proofs since this thread is quite literally about a claim that requires proofs. As evidenced by the further comments in the thread. If you disapprove of the conversation, please feel free to use the tools and move on. No hard feelings!
daxfohl · · focus · HN ↗
Math is meaningful because ... some people like to do it. The same as any other human pursuit. It doesn't need a reason beyond that. And AI won't change that. There will continue to be things to explore, things to find out, things that are maybe just at the edge of AI's reach and needs a human to decide whether it's worth continuing to explore or not. (Remember, AI isn't free).
So, IDK, I think for people who enjoy exploring math, there will always be interesting areas to explore. AI just gives us a better flashlight.
BTW I do agree that there's going to be an incident soon, whether intentional, accidental, or paperclip-factory, that leads governments around the world to shut all this down for some time, perhaps even shutting off access to GPUs entirely. It seems unavoidable. But that's just a temporary respite and skirts the core philosophical premise of the post.
unsupp0rted · · focus · HN ↗
The universe is bounded by rules, as far as we can tell, and not a lot of them
logicchains · · focus · HN ↗
That's physics. Not all math is physics.
unsupp0rted · · focus · HN ↗
At those levels math and physics are the same bound: the bound of things the universe allows to be conceived of inside it.
It’s possible the math our monkey brains + sand can ever conceive of in this universe is a low and accessible amount.
mathgeek · · focus · HN ↗
When you have a moment, please reference some proofs supporting this.
bluecheese452 · · focus · HN ↗
mathgeek · · focus · HN ↗
bluecheese452 · · focus · HN ↗