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It can be a mix of both. There's no reason, after all, that humans no longer being the most intelligent systems on the planet has to mean giving up such a passion, especially since it means living in a world with more and not less mathematics. One has to separate the joy of doing mathematics from a capacity (or, more importantly, need) to obtain a living doing it from the pride of being the best in your field.

It's interesting to recall Turing's own position: "There would be great opposition [to AI] from the intellectuals who were afraid of being put out of a job. It is probable though that the intellectuals would be mistaken about this. There would be plenty to do, i.e. in trying to keep one’s intelligence up to the standard set by the machines, for it seems probable that once the machine thinking method had started, it would not take long to outstrip our feeble powers. There would be no question of the machines dying, and they would be able to converse with each other to sharpen their wits."

On the other hand, Thomas Bernhard's The Loser is a horrifying account of the opposite standpoint---of an essentially second best piano student who cannot stand existing in a world with Glenn Gould.



A world where there are fewer humans who can ever understand math is the world with less mathematics.


What would such a world look like?

Mathematics represents the rational skeleton that upholds and stabilizes our vague, formless but far more common belief-based thinking.

Without it, losing it from neglect, we would collapse back into a pre-rational state of fantastical, wishful thinking.

Pretty much exemplified by large parts of US society already, but there is no bottom otherwise keeping society from collapse.


Well, it’s at least you and me thinking that.

> What would such a world look like?

Major religions, minor religions, cults will have a field day. Or more like a field century or a millennium or twenty, who knows.

Up to a few years ago, I would see or read some science fiction that was medieval times with spaceships (ala Dune) and I would roll my eyes and think “ffs, can’t people move on and invent something more original?”. Now I seriously believe that’s one of the most benign futures waiting for our species[^1]. Not that there aren’t lots of lights in this tunnel, it’s just that its shadows are very black.

[^1]: https://w.ouzu.im/aweb/unhinged




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