> Grothendieck spoke of problem-solving as akin to opening a hard
nut. You could open it with sharp tools and a hammer, but that was
not his way. He said that it was better to put the nut in liquid, to
let it soak, even to walk away from it, until eventually it opened.
This is a lovely way of looking at solving hard problems as a
life-project, instead of a rushed performance. There's a pernicious
pressure in academia for students to be world-class before they're 25,
whereas I think the best insights seem to pop out quite naturally
after putting them in the background for 10 or 20 years.
I have not met many brilliant mathematicians, but a few do seem
especially sensitive to wounding by the ugliness in the human
condition. It's a shame both Alexander Grothendieck and Theodore
Kaczynski didn't find ways to tough it out against the ugliness
instead of succumbing to withdrawal or anger - because truth is the
greatest weapon against the violence of ignorant tyranny.
> truth is the greatest weapon against the violence of ignorant tyranny.
Do you see this work in practice?
All I see is a dead internet filled with AI-generated fake detritus-like content, attention and behaviour manipulation, all sorts of dark patterns.
Truth alone doesn’t come close to protect you against ignorant violence. Ignorance is multiplied by tech at much higher multiple, simple because there is often little profit in spreading the truth.
Sure. I see it in every child cured of cancer because the truth of
Fourier means that Positron Emission Tomography can zap a tumour. I
see it when people dance to music because the truth of electrodynamics
and sampling theory mean artists in a studio can make a record for
millions of others to enjoy. I see it when people are warm in their
homes because Einstein's truth about matter and energy means they have
electricity. The world around us is literally a triumph of truth.
> All I see is a dead internet filled with AI-generated fake
detritus-like content, attention and behaviour manipulation, all
sorts of dark patterns.
You're looking at it wrong. What you see is a group of sad little
people who betrayed technology to assuage their own inadequacies.
They mostly took what other much smarter people invented to make
sordid little businesses out of leveraging ignorance. The world is
catching up with them and their deeds, mark my words.
This is a lovely way of looking at solving hard problems as a life-project, instead of a rushed performance. There's a pernicious pressure in academia for students to be world-class before they're 25, whereas I think the best insights seem to pop out quite naturally after putting them in the background for 10 or 20 years.
I have not met many brilliant mathematicians, but a few do seem especially sensitive to wounding by the ugliness in the human condition. It's a shame both Alexander Grothendieck and Theodore Kaczynski didn't find ways to tough it out against the ugliness instead of succumbing to withdrawal or anger - because truth is the greatest weapon against the violence of ignorant tyranny.