I agree entirely with what you're saying, right up until your final question: > why bother grinding through all the material of climbing Mt. Everest and then a

I agree entirely with what you're saying, right up until your final question: > why bother grinding through all the material of climbing Mt. Everest and then attempting it if the helicopter ride is how things are done now? I think you answered this yourself earlier: > I think progress is really measured by what humans are able to do and understand People want to make this progress. Therefore people will "grind Everest" as a mathematical community, and that is maybe not so hugely different from a lot of previous mathematical work. There's still ample room for creativity: simplifying, generalizing, asking new questions humans are interested in, ...