“Oh look at my beautiful math, it’s only meant to be looked at and not used to explain or discover anything.”
- No mathematician I know
this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2023
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I was studying discrete mathematics with a book that had mini biographies of the mathematicians that worked on wharever was being explain on that section. And it had one of them, who considered mathematics an art at the same level as painting or sculpting and hated that mathematicians "lower" themselves to do math that were "useful", like nobody expects the same "useful results" from the art department. This guy worked really hard to only research on pure mathematics and the most "useless" branch of it, number theory. Eventually, his work helped build the necessary mathematics background to make encryption a thing, and now the entire society use his research. It's a shame I can't remember the name of the guy.
ChatGPT suggested G.H.Hardy.
It could be but I don't remember if they talked about Ramanujam on his bio, and pretty sure that why he's most famous for.
He said this: I have never done anything "useful". No discovery of mine has made, or is likely to make, directly or indirectly, for good or ill, the least difference to the amenity of the world.
That's in https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Mathematician%27s_Apology, the summary of which matches what you said:
One of the main themes of the book is the beauty that mathematics possesses, which Hardy compares to painting and poetry.[5] For Hardy, the most beautiful mathematics was that which had no practical applications in the outside world (pure mathematics) and, in particular, his own special field of number theory. Hardy contends that if useful knowledge is defined as knowledge which is likely to contribute to the material comfort of mankind in the near future (if not right now), so that mere intellectual satisfaction is irrelevant, then the great bulk of higher mathematics is useless. He justifies the pursuit of pure mathematics with the argument that its very "uselessness" on the whole meant that it could not be misused to cause harm. On the other hand, Hardy denigrates much of the applied mathematics as either being "trivial", "ugly", or "dull", and contrasts it with "real mathematics", which is how he ranks the higher, pure mathematics.
On the other hand, Hardy denigrates much of the applied mathematics as either being "trivial", "ugly", or "dull", and contrasts it with "real mathematics", which is how he ranks the higher, pure mathematics.
This part really resonates with my memory of the bio on the book. Thanks for the research!
This may have applications to "obscure physics topic"
-- Mathematicians I know trying to justify their work well knowing that it has no applications
Idk man I've seen mathematicians at my university shudder at applied math and they were kind of half joking and half not. Not all of the faculty were like that though, some of them had a wide range of interests! My favourite was a wonderful Polish professor named Edward who knew tons of things about not just math but also computer science, physics, and chemistry.
Mathematician be like:
Hey engineer ! What if we kissed at the intersection of two parallel lines ?? 😳
Haha just kiding....
Unless ... ? 👉👈
On the other hand, physicists who think a correct mathematical result proves anything, despite the logic behind being flawed, are the real issue.
I like the extended version, though I'm almost certain I saw an even more expanded version somewhere, though I haven't been able to find it again.
That's tough to swallow. Philosophy almost belongs at both ends.
No, I mean, I remember there being a further expanded version that adds more steps between social sciences and philosophy. I haven't been able to find it though.
Mathematics is the only branch of science that will continue long after the universe ends.:-)
Math is literally made up. There is no physical basis for math. Math is just another language used to describe things. The universe doesn't care whether there's "2 particles" or "1 particle and another particle" or "1 particle + 1 particle". It doesn't make these distinctions. Math only exists as long as there is an intelligent species which uses it. If there are no intelligent brains capable of using math and with a knowledge that it exists, math stops existing.
Except there is math in nature, such as fractals, the Fibonacci sequence, and the wave behavior or sound and light. Sure nature doesn’t have any awareness of doing math, but it is there. Not all math is made up just for our understanding.
That's kinda the point though. Math is a language inspired by reality. It describes the logical relationships between things in an abstract format. Physical sciences like physics or chemistry build off it by adding rules and units to more accurately describe or predict real-world relationships, but at the end of the day, it's all made up. Nature isn't doing math to create a fractal any more than you're doing math when you move your fingers or toes. Math doesn't create a fractal, it describes it! You can then use that description to create a fractal, but the fractal isn't math.
This conversation reminds me of the first couple times i surfed Reddit over a decade ago. It was so cool to be in a place where intelligent and interesting discussion was happening.... Wish i could contribute something useful to it, but i just want to thank you all for carrying that kind of energy into the '20s 🥂
Math isn't really made up. It's an innate property of the universe at minimum being interpreted by humans as numbers and equations.
It can also literally be what the universe is made of.
PBS Spacetime https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F__elfR3w8c
You mean logic. Math is describing this in formulas. Some even make up nonsense with formulas. Wasn't there a scientific 'proof of god' with flawed logic years ago?
Technically true but most math is motivated by nature
And it has an awkward syntax. That i can have this opinion at all is already proof of it being made up. Which is applied logic btw.
Pretty sure that when humanity dies, math dies with it, and the universe won't give two fucks about it and continue on it's merry way.
Think e meant in the sense that math is true regardless of the universe (or some people believe)
How in the world did you manage to make that image so small
They probably copied the url for a thumbnail by mistake.
I copied the URL from Google. I thought I got the right one. It looks fine on my phone. Must look different on desktop.
it is teeny on my phone lol
Can anyone read what the next person says?
Math!!!!
Extended version 1 (legible): http://i.imgur.com/WVGF9.jpg
Arranged by complexity: http://i.imgur.com/hDa0P5M.png
Extendend version 2: https://i.imgur.com/POrlDF4.png
Source:
cc @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected]
Found via reverse image search:
Extended version 3: an actuarial analyst preparing for another exam connecting the math with the money.
As an engineer, we would be fishing from the black cat's bucket
As a manager, I would ask you to file a Jira ticket first.
Hey, I raised a ticket
It just went through the board into done within 5s of me creating it...
Archimedes constant for pi is good enough to get to the moon. Send it.
Not with a rod. But with a hairdryer.
I always say this to annoy my math and science friends
Engineers live in the real world
Scientists live in the ideal world
And mathematicians..... live in their own world
this is exactly why i like math. i get to play pretend in my own little world
Engineers live in the real world
Yeah, that cat is definitely a cylinder
I feel like the raccoon needs to be handing off "his" fish to an engineer to gut and scale and fillet for him.