Thread

To grieve, or not to grieve?

167 points · 156 comments · stabbles

GPerson · 1790987835 · focus · HN ↗
Kevin, once a few years or a decade or two from now the world has the ultra massive Lean database which comprises completions of all mathematical theories, and combinations of these, and all the known modes of generalization of these, why will the world fund mathematicians? Genuine question. I’d like to hear your view since you’re one of the main reasons this is going to happen, and it seems like an obvious existential threat to this whole activity.
1. senordevnyc · 1791029193 · focus · HN ↗
  It sounds like you’re asking who will fund mathematicians once math is “solved”. Why would we even need mathematicians at that point?
  1. Twey · 1791037613 · focus · HN ↗
    And now we have machines to almost perfectly capture an image of any scene, why do we keep paying painters?
    senordevnyc · 1791061980 · focus · HN ↗
    Who is we? I don’t pay painters, not directly anyway.
    As for public funding, sure, if you can convince the rest of us that we should fund your work because of some broader benefit, great.
    I have to say, the mathematicians are doing a pretty shitty job of making that case so far, at least to me.

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