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for many fairly strong mathematicians, the career calculus is fame and status (mild though it may be) through mathematics or anonymity but financial reward in t
by pickleRick243 5d ago
for many fairly strong mathematicians, the career calculus is fame and status (mild though it may be) through mathematics or anonymity but financial reward in tech or finance. Yes, clout by becoming a lifelong academic is in fact rational for some and part of their motivation. Of course they really like what they do as well, but earning the respect of the peers they know are also respected by a large swathe of society is very important.
- paulhebert 5d agoYeah that’s totally fair! I guess that type of “clout” feels different to me. Wanting to be validated by peers for your talents in a niche field vs. using millions to try to solve a math problem that you don’t really care about with AI to market the gigantic company you work for.
- gammarator 5d agoI think you’re right that some of the angst here is due to a fairly insular community having its culture disturbed by commercial forces.
- milindsmart 5d agoThat fairly insular community pretty much gave up on commercial success in order to be insular. But the commercial forces were not happy being commercially successful, so they decided to disturb even their insular and commercially-unviable activities.