4 ms·
Isn't this true for many other fields of study? Given the collective time put into it, easier stuff was already solved thousands of years ago, and people are n
by elAhmo 1y ago
Isn't this true for many other fields of study?
Given the collective time put into it, easier stuff was already solved thousands of years ago, and people are not really left with something trivial to work on. Hence focusing on more and more abstract things as those are the only things left to do something novel.
- dist-epoch 1y agoYou are right, the low hanging fruits were picked a long time ago. But also wrong, the easier stuff was solved INCORRECTLY thousands of years ago. But it takes advanced math to understand what was incorrect about it.
- currymj 1y agotwo interesting cases: convex analysis and linear algebra are both relatively easy, concrete areas of mathematics. also beautiful and unbelievably useful. yet they didn't develop until the 19th century and didn't mature until the 20th.