Re:The Mathocalypse
by vessenes on Thursday October 08, 2026 @11:00AM
(#50006652)
I think it's not just to check - it's to interpret, simplify, apply taste, basically get these proofs into a form that humans can grok and build on. AI could do all of that but the grok-ing -- as we are tapping the font of cheap proofs it still behooves humans to keep track of what we find interesting, keep internalizing and learning concepts and make sure whatever we're building right now will be generationally useful. At least that's my take
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Re:The Mathocalypse
by computerdork on Thursday October 08, 2026 @01:09PM
(#50008587)
Seems similar to what is happening with software developers.
>I think it's not just to check - it's to interpret, simplify, apply taste, basically get these proofs into a form that humans can grok and build on.
Sure, but we are approaching a time at which we will have to answer a "why" here. I.e. anything beyond checking and validation becomes of mostly artistic value at some point. And there is nothing wrong with that.
I’d say the artistic value is the main value in general —- if you know mathematicians they will often refer to a ‘beautiful’ proof, aesthetics is a critical part of math.
An early (easy to understand) proof that fits the bill for me is proof that the sqrt(2) is irrational: a very natural thing to think about —- for a unit square, what is the measure of the diagonal? And people were killed in ancient Greece over the proof, but it’s comprehensible with basic algebra.
IMHO it's groking that allows higher level metaphors and eventually more powerful theories to be built. If all you are doing is proving everything reachable by construction, you aren't really learning, as this process won't be drawn to the more compressed expressions by necessity but only as a "please" from the humans.