4 ms·

> Later in life, Grothendieck asked for people to cease re-publishing his work, even brief excerpts. I think Grothendeick used Mathematics as a way to rebel ag

> Later in life, Grothendieck asked for people to cease re-publishing his work, even brief excerpts. I think Grothendeick used Mathematics as a way to rebel against/escape from the world he grew up in. It was a formal discipline that could provide concrete results, unlike the mundance political arguing and nonsense that he commonly saw elsewhere controlling the world. But, I bet as he grew older he noticed that even his very own mathematical work could be used in mundane academic political nonsense. Thus, a disenchantment with everything ensued leading to a total isolationist viewpoint.

aomurphy 12y ago
Yes, he is is in some ways a very tragic figure. As a kid I was always inspired by his absolute dedication to truth, no matter what he saw it as. He really has the most incredible life story, from the child of a one armed Russian-Jewish Anarchist and a German activist, to hiding in France during WWII from the Holocaust, to finding his way after the war in a very odd path to the heights of Mathematics. He really was an exceptional human being. It's unfortunate his disillusionment led him to leave math completely, and slowly retreat out of society, and probably to develop the mental illness that dominated his later life. A while ago I found some of his writings from the post-math era online, I wonder if they're still around. Strange stuff, all about hermaphroditic angels and his personal beliefs? We have lost a truly unique and incredible human being, but I'm not sure he would appreciate me saying that "we" lost anything.