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Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang

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Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang

#341

Post by mabbo »

data_maan wrote: post #290

Regarding Zhang's age: Most Fields medalists these days are very close to exceeding 40 years. Wiles himself just a special silver medal, because of that - which I think is outrageous age discrimination. Mind you he didn't get the silver medal because his results were a bit less spectacular than those of the winners, but rather they were so groundbreaking he couldn't be ignored, but because he was just over 40 they ha…

My understanding is that the Fields medal was always meant to be awarded to someone young and on their way up. But then it became the medal, the Nobel prize of math.

Maybe we just need a new Nobel in math.

Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang

#343

Post by toyg »

ebjaas_2022 wrote: post #334
wikfwikf wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this is the whole story. Of course, it is a tragedy when people who had undeniable raw talent are neglected or passed over and don't get to achieve as they might. It's also sad and disappointing when we observe structural injustices in our society. However, isn't it possible that giving great teaching resources to people who aren't already at the top level in terms of raw talent, allows them to succeed…

> rather than on the finding and promotion of undiscovered geniuses. There's a catch in it as well, which is that you cannot really identify a genius up-front. A genius is, by definition, someone who thinks differently. A lot of people think differently. But the thing with the genius is that he thinks differently and correctly. The latter part won't be obvious until after the fact. When Alex Ferguson started out as a…

Alex Ferguson might have been a good football manager, but he wasn't a genius - and I say that as a Man United supporter. He didn't advance football in any significant way, and even towards the end of his career he was somewhat naive from a tactical perspective.

He was just a good man-manager in what is a sea of managerial mediocrity - football management is largely restricted to ex-pro-footballers who can't do anything else. Rinus Michels was a genius, Arrigo Sacchi was a genius - they actually advanced the sport.

Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang

#344

Post by pmontra »

woodruffw wrote: post #234
earthboundkid wrote: post #227

The “lack of progress” in philosophy comes down to this. By the time of Socrates or Confucius, there had already been a lifetime’s worth of philosophical thought done that you needed to grapple with. Everyone since then has necessarily had to let something slip through in order to move forward at all.

I think we sometimes understate philosophy's progress: it's certainly not measurable in decades, but the world of 2022 looks very different (in terms of philosophical priors and their consequences) than the world of Socrates or Confucius. A handful of examples that come to mind: * (Nearly) everybody on our planet lives under a government whose fundamental structure and right to power comes from modern (meaning 17th c…

I second your other two points but I think this one is inaccurate:

> * (Nearly) everybody on our planet lives under a government whose fundamental structure and right to power comes from modern (meaning 17th century) political philosophy.

A large number of countries are ruled by dictators and their close supporters. Sometimes they position themselves within the boundaries of a more or less modern ideology but ultimately care only about being the one in command and use that ideology as lipstick. This is a straight continuation of prehistory, not something stemming from 17th century.

Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang

#345

Post by ixtli »

zimpenfish wrote: post #260

Brings to mind Gould's quote - "I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/99345-i-am-somehow-less-int...

But what about the sweatshop owners?

Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang

#346

Post by andrepd »

LudwigNagasena wrote: post #306
TuringTest wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Minus evidence-based science, free markets, government of the people, freedom of religion and the end of slavery. Yep, exactly the same.

Might as well attribute all of that to Christianity. That claim probably holds as much water.

Attributing science and freedom of religion to Christianity? That's a bold thought.

Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang

#347

Post by andrepd »

wikfwikf wrote: post #303
fredley wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think about this often. Having studied mathematics, it's a field where there is a huge range of talents, even at 18 (and younger). There are genuinely gifted people who stride ahead, but the sad reality is that even at top institutions most of the undergraduate cohort will be merely averagely clever people who have received great (often private) tuition. In a field where finding every genius really matters because…

I don't think this is the whole story. Of course, it is a tragedy when people who had undeniable raw talent are neglected or passed over and don't get to achieve as they might. It's also sad and disappointing when we observe structural injustices in our society. However, isn't it possible that giving great teaching resources to people who aren't already at the top level in terms of raw talent, allows them to succeed…

> If so, it's not a zero sum game - the 'averagely clever people who have received great tuition' and who go on to succeed might be a sign of the education system working, not its failure.

The failure is that mediocre students which come from an environment which helps them (good school, private tutors, stable home life) can be successful, while "naturally gifted" yet disadvantaged students don't.

The basic fact that parental income is still the best predictor of educational achievement should tell you everything you need to know.

Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang

#348

Post by alexnewman »

pa7x1 wrote: post #78

Math used to be a young person game, but it now requires so much knowledge just to get to the frontiers of human knowledge, not to speak of making a dent into uncharted territory, that results are being obtained later and later in life. When mathematicians have had time to accrue sufficient knowledge while still being sharp enough to make the intellectual leap. The sad part is that as the trend continues we may reach…

You forget, we are becoming cyborgs. Computers will allow us to move much faster, work as a team, and see the future

Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang

#349

Post by Terretta »

mabbo wrote: post #9

I'm not a mathematician, but the story of Yitang Zhang desperately makes me want this paper to be correct. > Prior to getting back to academia, he worked for several years as an accountant and a delivery worker for a New York City restaurant. He also worked in a motel in Kentucky and in a Subway sandwich shop. A profile published in the Quanta Magazine reports that Zhang used to live in his car during the initial job…

> worked in a Subway sandwich shop

FTA:

In Kentucky, he became involved with a group interested in Chinese democracy. Its slogan was “Freedom, Democracy, Rule of Law, and Pluralism.” A member of the group, a chemist in a lab, opened a Subway franchise as a means of raising money. “Since Tom was a genius at numbers,” another member of the group told me, “he was invited to help him.” Zhang kept the books.

Quite a different feel to that characterization.

Re: Monumental (if correct) advance in number theory posted to ArXiv by Yitang Zhang

#350

Post by [deleted] »

alexnewman wrote: post #348
pa7x1 wrote: post #78

Math used to be a young person game, but it now requires so much knowledge just to get to the frontiers of human knowledge, not to speak of making a dent into uncharted territory, that results are being obtained later and later in life. When mathematicians have had time to accrue sufficient knowledge while still being sharp enough to make the intellectual leap. The sad part is that as the trend continues we may reach…

You forget, we are becoming cyborgs. Computers will allow us to move much faster, work as a team, and see the future

[deleted]
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