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> And if calculus was the only useful thing to come out of 1600s mathematical research, it would have been worth it. The other dead ends don't need to justify t
by Dylan16807 16d ago
> And if calculus was the only useful thing to come out of 1600s mathematical research, it would have been worth it. The other dead ends don't need to justify themselves. Getting one thing of this magnitude justifies it all
It would have been worth what? Doing mathematical research at all? Nobody is suggesting we shut down mathematical research.
It doesn't justify a funding system that didn't exist / didn't fund those researchers. We need to come up with better reasons to fund such a thing.
- Windchaser 15d ago> It doesn't justify a funding system that didn't exist / didn't fund those researchers. We need to come up with better reasons to fund such a thing. Do we? For most of us, it seems like the EV (expected value) from such funding is quite positive. The work pays for itself in the long run. That's justification enough.
- Dylan16807 15d agoWhat you just did is come up with a better reason. But I would suggest replacing "seems" with the best numbers available.
- Windchaser 15d ago> But I would suggest replacing "seems" with the best numbers available. I know there's research on it for applied and basic science in general, and the rewards were massively EV+. But I can't recall whether similar research covers applied and basic mathematics research.