How could a theoretical mathematician not be massively disconnected from the reality of life for the ordinary person? We usually celebrate their quirks until they come into conflict like this.
replyI agree, how could he --also being so smart.
replyIt's a good reason not to take his advice about the real world--like how to manage AI's trajectory.
The cancer example illustrates this gap perfectly. He thoughtfully crafted the point, and defeated himself in argument.
Unless it was a move?
When thinking about math, Tao is in another world unfamiliar to us. But, he grew up in our world and is a professor in our world and if you listen to him, seems like a pretty normal guy. I think he just made a bad analogy here.
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replyIf true, this would be observed at least partially in software engineers as well, since what we deal with is kind of made up as well, but I don't see it.
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