At least the first part could be said word-by-word for modern-day astrophysics, except that this is socially accepted and the guys and gals doing it are (in most cases) being paid for (and even the people seeing fundamental knowledge over the universe as goal in itself will agree that there are far more important things to divert workforce to)
I also find it funny when mathematicians pejoratively speak of “recreational mathematics” (problem solving) as opposed to theory building: “If I build a lego hat, that’s just for fun, but if I build a lego Empire State Building, that’s serious business!”
I also find it funny when mathematicians pejoratively speak of “recreational mathematics” or problem-solving as opposed to theory-building: “If I build a lego hut, that’s just for fun, but if I build a lego empire state building, that’s serious business!”
At least the first part could be said word-by-word for modern-day astrophysics, except that this is socially accepted and the guys and gals doing it are (in most cases) being paid for (and even the people seeing fundamental knowledge over the universe as goal in itself will agree that there are far more important things to divert workforce to)
I also find it funny when mathematicians pejoratively speak of “recreational mathematics” (problem solving) as opposed to theory building: “If I build a lego hat, that’s just for fun, but if I build a lego Empire State Building, that’s serious business!”
I also find it funny when mathematicians pejoratively speak of “recreational mathematics” or problem-solving as opposed to theory-building: “If I build a lego hut, that’s just for fun, but if I build a lego empire state building, that’s serious business!”