Conversation

A question: where does math sit in relation to the ecology of “premium mediocrity”? Are there premium mediocre math concepts? String theory seems to be a premium mediocre physics concept, striving to become a RealTheory of science. Does math have any PM analogs?
2
5
Prove me wrong? I’m probably an easy convert. I know very little about it. Read one chapter of a text 20y ago and decided the machinery was not worth the insight payoff. Snap judgment that I never revisited.
1
4
Replying to and
One can care about say a branch of algebraic topology even if there aren’t any apparent applications now. Because there may be in the *future* - and often in math there are. Eg. knot theory. But we can also care for aesthetic reasons - it’s wondrous. Is wonder precluded from PM?
1
Replying to and
Futurama rocks! Follows in tradition of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’s “bistromath” - the idea that math works differently in restaurants, thus explaining why dinner bills always seem to add to more than what you ordered.
1
1