Anton Paramonov

This summer I traveled to New York, and what struck me was the pervasive homelessness — dozens of people sleeping in street tents or even on bare asphalt.

Seeing this, I believe every person who is doing good themselves must think about how they could help. But given the scale of the problem, the question quickly transforms into: "Can I help at all? Whatever I do would be a drop in the ocean."

A night tent in the niche of a luxury boutique. So sadly descriptive of Manhattan.

Let us first consult the Bible for an answer.

The Widow's Offering (Mark 12:41–44)

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything — all she had to live on."

This thread is to show that math is overhyped. Of course, such a hot take requires a disclaimer, so here it is.

Disclaimer. According to Mamardashvili and Pyatigorsky's Symbol and Consciousness, a symbol is something that produces a complex concept in your mind that is not contained in the bare object underlying the symbol. For instance, a dove is a symbol of peace—a complex concept—which is by no means contained in the bird itself, but is somehow sparked in one's mind upon seeing a dove or its image. In this way, a "symbol" consists of three components: the raw object that symbolizes, the complex concept that is symbolized, and the link between the two.

The tendency with symbols is that most people are interested in the symbolized concept rather than the raw object underlying it: people dispute about peace, whereas doves are only of interest to a small group of ornithologists.

The same is true about math. There is the "raw object" of math—such as all the math papers in the world—which is only of interest to a small group of mathematicians who pursue math as their main occupation in life. Then, there is the complex concept that is sparked in the minds of laypeople when they hear the word "math."

This post is a critique of the latter.

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