Unfortunately, while mathematics should be about a human element, research has focused into little cliques of up to a dozen or so people who are essentially unintelligible outside of the clique. That wasn't historically the culture, but the trend towards it accelerated after WW 2.
Hardy's curse is one of the underlying causes of this. The resulting extreme social isolation was why I chose to leave mathematics. My inclination was very much to try to explain and popularize. See, for example, the discussion at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44269822. However such an inclination has been actively punished for decades within academia. The key to tenure is sufficient work within a clique to get solid recommendations from the most prominent members of that clique.
I agree with the article on how AI will transform and destroy what's left of mathematics. But I see it as the logical conclusion to what the fragmentation of mathematics has already done.
btilly•1h ago
Unfortunately, while mathematics should be about a human element, research has focused into little cliques of up to a dozen or so people who are essentially unintelligible outside of the clique. That wasn't historically the culture, but the trend towards it accelerated after WW 2.
Hardy's curse is one of the underlying causes of this. The resulting extreme social isolation was why I chose to leave mathematics. My inclination was very much to try to explain and popularize. See, for example, the discussion at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44269822. However such an inclination has been actively punished for decades within academia. The key to tenure is sufficient work within a clique to get solid recommendations from the most prominent members of that clique.
I agree with the article on how AI will transform and destroy what's left of mathematics. But I see it as the logical conclusion to what the fragmentation of mathematics has already done.