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Philosophical arguments are for pure math navel gazers. Applied folks are too busy actually doing things that make people's lives better. That rant does not ac
by galangalalgol 7y ago
Philosophical arguments are for pure math navel gazers. Applied folks are too busy actually doing things that make people's lives better.
That rant does not actually represent my beliefs, it just seemed like what the ggp wanted so, tada!
- LeanderK 7y agoNot sure what you're getting at. I think it's often fascinating to read texts about the instrinsic motivation of these different crafts, as an example "the beauty of programming" from linus torvalds: https://www.brynmawr.edu/cs/resources/beauty-of-programming https://www.brynmawr.edu/cs/resources/beauty-of-programming So I wonder, since this is more or less direct attack on the beauty of applied mathematics how they would respond. What makes applied math beautiful? I can certainly say what I find beautiful about CS and Machine Learning! It strikes me as obvious, but that's probably why I like it.
- chongli 7y agomake people's lives better But arguably also making people’s lives worse. Applied mathematicians and physicists have contributed to the development of weapons of war since the time of Archimedes. As a committed and outspoken pacifist, Hardy wanted no part in warfare. This informed a good part of his philosophy, along with aesthetics. I would hardly call that navel gazing.