“A once-in-a-generation mathematical genius” is an extreme exaggeration, to the point that I suspect the person who used the phrase doesn’t really understand what it means. The implication of “once-in-a-generation” is that there is about a 20 year window somewhere around their birth where nobody was born who was better.
Its a common phrase for an exceptional mind. Its not meant to be taken purely literally becsuse its untestable, but generally remarked upon in hindsight.
You can argue Newton fit the bill even though Liebniz was a peer of his. Einstein and Oppenheimer, etc.
You can argue Newton fit the bill even though Liebniz was a peer of his. Einstein and Oppenheimer, etc.
Those are ones you can argue, though. Nobody would ever seriously argue that Kaczynski was anywhere near the top of his generation. There is no informed list of the greatest mathematicians that has Kaczynski on it.
Let’s imagine that, instead of being caught, Kaczynski simply stopped bombing things and was never caught, and lived out the remainder of his life in that shack. In that case, he’d be an obscure genius mathematician who wrote a few exceptional papers. There are a lot of people like that.
I suspect that while right now, you think it’s “a common phrase for an exceptional mind,” if you really looked into its usage, you’d find that it’s generally used for somebody who actually is uniquely exceptional for their time.
Its a common phrase for
No, that’s you learning it from context without thinking about what the actual words mean. It’s meant to be taken literally.
You are being overly literal without regard to what words actually mean.
“War” just means was, just look at a German English dictionary.
I disagree. Each generation is 20 years long. With a global birthrate of 140 milllion/year, that means each generation contains 2.8 billlon people.
If there is literally only one person per 2.8 billion that can fit that bill, then the world would never be able to agree on who it is. Who and by what standard is this literal “greatest mind of a generation” selected?
If the phrase is meant literally, it should be “the greatest mind in a generation that people in a paticular society are largely aware of” because otherwise its just unverifiable puffery.
With a global birthrate of 140 milllion/year, that means each generation contains 2.8 billlon people.
How long has the global birthrate been 140M/yr? More than a generation?
Maybe the current “generation” contains 2.8 billion people. Not convinced that bears much relationship to an average generation throughout history
I also believe the term is typically used as exaggeration/puffery
No idea, but if that number is what youre fixated on, feel free to cut it down to 1/10 the size if that makes it easier. I think we can agree that even in Einstein’s time more than 280 million people were born on earth in 20 years, right?
If a generation is hypothetically 280 million people, who gets to decied and what are the criteria for the literal “greatest mind of a generation?”
Im glad we both think the statement is puffery, but the person I was replying to was saying this was a literal statement, not exaggeration. I really want to know their take on the above, as I cant find a way to square the math.
So I assume there was someone better? Disclaimer, I don’t know any mathematicians at all.
“better” can’t really be measured on that level, but if we go by success, then, off the top of my head: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhael_Gromov_(mathematician) I admit I had to check, but Gromov is only one year younger. Works in the same field (complex geometry) and created whole subfields essentially by himself. With the exeption of the fields medal, he has won just about every prize you can win, most importantly the Abel prize.
Read about Leonhard Euler
I’m on his Wiki. Is it true he didn’t even know how to make bombs? I don’t see anything here.
Kaczynski’s crimes were of course indefensible. But there’s no denying that he was actually right about our relationship to technology.
If he hadn’t decided to head down the cukoo-banana path, he would have had a role to play in fighting this AI nightmare.
Math really is a language.
Cuz i cannot understand a word of that footnote.It says, ‘Better known for other work’. In case you don’t know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski#Bombings
That’s not the part of the foot note i was referring to.
Then I think you’re misusing the word footnote.
Ha! I was. Thank you.
D’ohBut my point about math still stands lol
I think the main reason it’s hard to understand is it’s missing context that’s not important to the joke: whatever
nis in this context…it’s not a language, you can’t translate a book into mathematics
That doesn’t prove it isn’t a language. Many concepts are untranslatable between languages. Formal languages exist which are only able to express things within their formal domain. Etc!
Modern mathematicians use a common symbolic system to communicate mathematical ideas that is more a language than it is not a language. In fact I think it’s entirely a language.
there are a variety of ways to express any mathematical idea… i.e. there are a variety of mathematical languages
usually referred to as different notations.
even when there are language barriers, a good translator can still express an idea in another language… math is not a language, but you do kinda need to learn another language to understand it
What’s your point?
Then maybe you were referring to the part above the footnote, which is called the text ☝️🤓
It’s not a big deal
That’s the whole footnote, though.
Well, of course. If you’re not an expert, it’s pretty much impossible to understand an out-of-context passage from a more technical or abstract paper.
Absolutely
I understand that there’s a two digit solution if a three digit solution exists but not for which problem and why that’s relevant or interesting for anything.
Also, I keep confusing the Unabomber with the Killdozer guy…
Knowing which problem isn’t necessary to get the awkwardness of citing a serial killer in a math paper.
Unibomber killed a bunch of kids in a daycare.You’re thinking of Timothy McVeigh / Oklahoma City.
The Unabomber was named for bombing Univertities and Airline execs. ‘UnA’
Thanks. I should have checked.
“Scandal noted.”
I never understood the nickname. Unibomber? He bombed more than one thing. 🤷♂️
una as in unalateral
Actually looking it up I think the Un was short for University the A for airline so it was Un(verisity)A(irline)bomber. The name apparently showed up after the FBI connected a bomb he sent in the mail on a plane with the two previous bombs he had sent to Northwestern University.
You are correct. Although I always read it as University and Airline bomber but that’s just me
I believe it’s uma as in umami.
Shit, The Umamibomber would be a great food truck name.
When you get English advice from “MeThisGuy”
I suppose it checks out.
That is spelled unilateral, and means one (uni) sided (lateral).
I wouldn’t call it “work”.
The manifesto? Why not?
Maybe he meant it in the sense of “if you do what you love you’ll never work a day in your life”, i.e. perhaps Teddy K loved him some bombings so much that it wasn’t “work”
work doesn’t just mean “doing stuff for other people for money”
so it was more of a hobby then?
