3 ms·
It was truly painful to read this comment. When you read books like Atlas shrugged, you see them talking about a horrible kind of moral - but it is hard to beli
by igorhvr 17y ago
It was truly painful to read this comment. When you read books like Atlas shrugged, you see them talking about a horrible kind of moral - but it is hard to believe there really is such people (I know better, already, but still..) - and here it is, on display.
Let me list the stupid assumptions contained on those lines:
* New knowledge is simply a gift - not a product of effort.
* People that produce knowledge have obligation of giving it to society.
* On the top of it, now he is now "as good as dead". So let me see if I understood: leeches like jimmyjim (who probably never produced anything useful in his life) should be allowed to go on, while people like Perelman - who already given us a very valuable gift - should now die? Because he is tired, or refuses to continue to do so? Is he some kind of slave to humanity?
> Imagine if Ramanujan had went back to India and given up just after the Ramanujan conjecture.
Maybe he would have a happier life for himself and his family? Maybe he would change and become a great writer? A mass murderer? A drunk? Who fucking cares, and why the fuck does it matter? It is his life, and he can do whatever he wants with it.
- Vivtek 17y agoMaybe JimmyJim is exercising very subtle humor here. That's what I'm choosing to believe, anyway.
- jimmyjim 17y agoI regret saying that he's "as good as dead". My excuse is that I was sleep-deprived and frustrated for personal reasons when I wrote that. That said, let's imagine another scenario. In a late night, your mother is being raped right before my eyes. It is my moral obligation to report this, isn't it? Of course, I can choose to exercise my free right and not report this incident, because, it's my life, and I can do whatever I want with it... but if I have the capability to do so, I think I should rather satisfy my moral obligation. But maybe that's just me. And maybe you'd see better if you pulled your head out of Ayn Rand's arse. Perelman has the capacity and capability to give fascinating gifts of knowledge to this world, and I hope that we all come to respect his wishes (to honor him in a way that it doesn't offend him), so that the newfound knowledge is used for good to better mankind.