I agree with everything you've said. But my suspicion is that there's less maths in the papers because no-one knows how to use it to analyse neural networks pro

I agree with everything you've said. But my suspicion is that there's less maths in the papers because no-one knows how to use it to analyse neural networks properly. That means current research is operating via trial and error. One man's trial and error is another's blind search. Without maths to point researchers in the right direction, neural net research could easily hit a wall once the low-hanging fruit has been picked.