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Nothing wrong with asking the question. There might not be any practical applications in those fields, and it could still be a worthwhile, interesting, fun ques
by bo1024 3y ago
Nothing wrong with asking the question. There might not be any practical applications in those fields, and it could still be a worthwhile, interesting, fun question.
But in this case, I'd bet that developing the math needed to solve it would end up with practical consequences. I think of your question sort of like "what are the practical applications of teaching an AI to master Starcraft?" Even if playing Starcraft isn't practical, the existence of such an AI implies lots of practical consequences.
- datameta 3y agoAh I see. As we evolve our understanding and toolset of certain fields in math, we may serendipitously happen upon approaches to solve existing problems or solve future ones, perhaps.
- NotYourLawyer 3y agoAs one example, number theory was considered pure math with no real-world applications for a long time. But then cryptography became a thing…
- eru 3y agoCryptography and coding theory. Cryptography and coding theory and compression are three sides of the same (generalised) coin. Claude Shannon dabbled in all of them. See eg https://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~twk/Shan.pdf https://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~twk/Shan.pdf