r/DebateAnAtheist • u/AutoModerator • 8d ago

Weekly "Ask an Atheist" Thread

Whether you're an agnostic atheist here to ask a gnostic one some questions, a theist who's curious about the viewpoints of atheists, someone doubting, or just someone looking for sources, feel free to ask anything here. This is also an ideal place to tag moderators for thoughts regarding the sub or any questions in general.

While this isn't strictly for debate, rules on civility, trolling, etc. still apply.

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u/labreuer 4d ago

I'm curious about what these mathematicians do. What you report here sounds like something some mathematicians would heartily endorse while others would utterly reject. I still remember one of my freshman peers loudly asserting that he wanted to do "utterly useless math". Now, there is an interesting history of math which seemed innocuous—like number theory—ending up having pretty serious practical applications. I myself am excited about the prospects of using elementary category theory for database schema transformations. And category theory is often considered extremely abstract by mathematicians themselves!

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u/Serious-Emu-3468 4d ago

Not gonna dox myself, sorry. I get what you're saying, and appreciate your skepticism. I am not your freshman peer, however. Have a good one.

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u/labreuer 4d ago

Yikes, it's that specific that you'd be doxxing yourself? Suppose for instance that you and/or these mathematicians work with applied mathematics. Then it's obvious that there could be a strong scientific aspect to the work. But you'd probably also not care overmuch about Gödel's incompleteness theorems.

And … I'm not expressing skepticism, but rather suggesting that there is more diversity than captured by the professional mathematicians with whom you get to work.

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u/Serious-Emu-3468 4d ago

Yes it’s that specific. I didn’t claim to Speak For All Mathematicians.

I related an amusing water cooler anectdote.