In the Economist article Tao links, Hugo Duminil-Copin, draws a comparison: airdropping someone on the summit of Mount Everest is very different from climbing it.

The fundamental issue with AI solving any perceived difficult problem is that we have lost the journey. The sight atop Mount Everest looks much different when you have climbed compared to being dropped from above.

But we don't pour billions of dollars of research funding into mountain climbing because we think it's going to lead to wider breakthroughs in science and technology. And when we need to get people on top of a mountain for an important purpose -- like a military or search and rescue operation, for example -- we absolutely do airdrop them right on the top.

So that raises the question: is mathematics simply a pursuit of passion? Are problems solved "because they're there"? If so, then mathematics can join the ranks of things like mountain climbing, cycling, and weight lifting. But if we are trying to accomplish something important (design better airplanes, find theoretical guarantees about cryptography, factor matrices faster), mathematics needs to become more like a military or search and rescue operation, using the best technology available to secure the outcome we need. Given that the NSF pours billions into scientific research every year, it sure seems like mathematicians want to think of themselves as being in the latter category.

What defines important and why must it be solved in haste? Many issues and other problems arise during the journey in solving all problems; those that are needed and those that are pursuits for their own sake.

If AI gave us the plane to reach Everest without us having gone through the journey of aviation and flight, what would we have lost without that process?

But the most important problems to be solved are not technological challenges but social ones, involving humans and our relationship to one another. An area AI will forever ill-suited to handle.

as someone who loves to go down with a snowboard, I can see value to being taken to the top and then enjoying the ride down. im sure it is not a thing to be ashamed of, as millions do it.

In the Economist article Tao links, Hugo Duminil-Copin, draws a comparison: airdropping someone on the summit of Mount Everest is very different from climbing it.

The fundamental issue with AI solving any perceived difficult problem is that we have lost the journey. The sight atop Mount Everest looks much different when you have climbed compared to being dropped from above.

Sure, but actually what's the issue? You can still climb. If one do it for the sake of the journey, not some side quest to fame, glory, and social prestige, the mountain is still there.

Maybe the one that lament that the sacred mountain should be left alone and be kept pristine of human arrogance and pissing territory can complain

There are those who are only interested in seeing what's on top of mountain, without having to climb it. Let them go see as they wish. Those who want to climb should still do their thing, without taking issue with the option of being dropped from above and those exercising it. The unnecessary gatekeeping needs to stop.

Do not let peace be given away as you cannot control what you cannot control.

Six months ago I began writing and publishing one essay a month. Last month my wife and I hiked Fuego Volcano in Guatamela for our 20th anniversary. Here is my essay on that: A Country Within Myself - https://www.metanoia-research.com/dispatch-005-a-country-wit... .

10 years ago I rode my bicycle from Connecticut to Central America. I stayed in Antigua for a few days to just relax and reflect. Thanks for bringing those memories back!

That is quite the ride! You're welcome, glad to hear it brought back positive memories.

Nice timing!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c9q91dnljpeo

Yes! The WSJ had a small article, a picture with a caption, about that. We were there two weeks ago, and our guide mentioned how he had never seen it so active.

Hurricane Maria went from Cat 2 to Cat 5 in less than 24 hours, and turned making a direct hit to Dominica in 2017.

It was also forecast by virtually every NWP system multiple days ahead of time that it would make this intensification.

I continue to write and publish one piece per month. July was a review of Vaclav Havel's The Power of the Powerless, integrated with a recent trip to Dominica:

https://www.metanoia-research.com/review-001-the-power-of-th...

Any thoughts or feedback are welcomed.

I recently read his essay, and wrote a reflection after a trip to Dominica. Review 001: THE POWER OF THE POWERLESS - https://www.metanoia-research.com/review-001-the-power-of-th...

I continue to write and publish one essay a month, slowly perfecting the craft.

https://www.metanoia-research.com/dispatch-004-up-from-the-a...

St. John of the Cross in the Ascent of Mount Carmel,

"You should take care always to be inclined

not to the easiest thing, but to the hardest;

not to the tastiest, but to the most insipid;

not to the things that give the greatest pleasure, but to those that give the least;

not to the restful things, but to the painful ones;

not to consolation, but to desolation;

not to more, but to less;

not to the highest and dearest, but to the lowest and most despised;

not to the desire for something, but to having no desires.”

I continue to write. Unsure the end goal but in my recent dispatch I learned to get out of my way, stop intellectualizing life and let it be.

https://www.metanoia-research.com/

Read your most recent piece and I like it. Beat generation sort of feel, extemporaneous, haunting in a good way. Keep writing even if only a handful of people read it.

Thank you, much appreciated!