Applied mathematics is funded because of its practical use. Pure mathematics, like other theoretical fields, is funded to explore ideas practically oriented people ignore. Most of the time such exploration produces nothing of practical value. But occasionally theoreticians stumble upon ideas that turn out to be fundamental to understanding something practically oriented people discover much later.
reply> It's funded because of its practical use.
replyThat's exactly what the Simons foundation was set up to reject, and it's one of most important funding streams for math
If rich people want to use their money to fund math with the goal of NOT funding math with any known useful or practical purpose, that sounds like a hobby to me.
replyThe rich people in this case, yes, wanted to fund math to protect it from people like you
replyMathematics as a field will not cease to exist, and not everyone will be interested in (or qualified to) managing the fields progress and its applications.
replyMathematics as field won't. It is the future of mathematicians that is uncertain.
replyThey’re going to become sysadmins imho
replyHaha, the breaks from reality there are two, one professionals do not spend most of their time inventing proofs, and two, practical use? :-)
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