Following on from Dan's post: a major barrier to communication over the issue of applications is surely the difficulty of intuiting exactly what topics the enquirer regards as "useful" --- a concept which is essentially arbitrary, since dependent on his (in general) unknown cultural bubble. To a graphic artist, a musician, or a pure mathematician, inherent beauty simply _is_ by itself an application. Another obstacle is the weak grasp by most non-technical individuals of isomorphism and reference. Once they have begun to (partially) understand some new concept defined for their benefit in terms of familiar trivialities, that very comprehension simultaneously prevents them from accepting that it might be also applicable in very different situation. My experience is that the techie faces a stark choice: either blind them with science, or become resigned to accepting lay contempt. WFL On 3/6/18, Allan Wechsler <acwacw@gmail.com> wrote:
James Davis's mental reframing might help keep oneself from retorting sarcastically. But it presumes the best possible intentions of the asker -- that the asker is sincerely interested in hearing about real-world applications of a particular mathematical concept. And that well-meant question is an excellent question indeed, bringing up notions of "the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics" that are certainly worth thinking about.
But this purposely ignores the fact that the question is often asked with less than the best intentions -- as an implied supercilious criticism of one's chosen interest. This attitude is common, and hard to ignore. I'm still in favor of responding politely, but that's the way I've been asked the question, when I've been asked.
On Tue, Mar 6, 2018 at 6:37 PM, James Davis <lorentztrans@gmail.com> wrote:
I have a hard time avoiding the snarky response, but the following observation helped. Whether or not there are applications obviously doesn't matter, but the *question* of whether or not there are applications is often interesting.
It's hard to inspire folks to see beauty, but easy to re-frame the question to yourself.
On Tue, Mar 6, 2018 at 11:04 AM, Joerg Arndt <arndt@jjj.de> wrote:
Anyone being annoyed by this question when you presented something you found beautiful in its own? I certainly have. Plus, being a bit diplomatically challenged (ask Neil!), I'd like to hear a way of answering that question without appearing to be rude. "I don't care one bit" does not work, as I verified empirically.
Best regards, jj
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