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Riemann was 'just playing' with non-Euclidean geometry. Einstein used it as the basis for the modern theory of Relativity. Of course Galileo had 'played' with

Riemann was 'just playing' with non-Euclidean geometry. Einstein used it as the basis for the modern theory of Relativity. Of course Galileo had 'played' with Relativity three centuries earlier. Now we have GPS navigation systems that depend utterly on the mathematics that they and an unknown number of other 'playful' mathematicians worked out over the centuries, much of it with no obvious immediate benefit to society. My career was in practical physics and engineering, much of it with immediate effect on the world. Without all the groundwork done by people without any aim other than working out intellectual problems none of my modest achievements would have been possible. Or was your point that we should pay people only to work on things that we know we need now?

YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
My own work has been dismissed as too theoretical and impractical. I'm just pointing out the reaction that this language of "playing" can elicit in those strata of society that want to see "results". And, more importantly, to the people who do all the work that is needed to keep people like me alive: those who make the food I eat, who keep the trains running, who keep the sewers unclogged, the streets clean, the houses from falling, etc. There is a certain arrogance in the article above, and I felt it should be pointed out. When we set out on a grand adventure of the mind, we should not forget who it is that's footing the bill.