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Grigory Perelman Turns Down $1M Millennium Prize
Kleiba writes "After turning down the prestigious Field Medal in 2006 for his contributions to mathematics, the reclusive Russian mathematician Grigory Perelman announced yesterday that he is rejecting a $1 million Millennium Prize from the Clay Mathematics Institute for solving the Poincare conjecture."
Yeah, and do you know why? Because this guy believes that most advancements in science are cooperative efforts, and that recognizing individuals for merely putting the last piece in the jigsaw puzzle is intellectually dishonest: It devalues the work of everyone else who contributed.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
he thinks he doesn't deserve the lion's share of the prize because there were others who contributed to his (their) achievement
the man has principles, that's for sure
all of our work, whatever we do, whether science, math, movies, music... we all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, or on the shoulders of those working right next to us. often recognition for making a contribution is just a matter of luck, of being the one who accumulates the most media coverage for being at the tipping point when there was a tipping point to be had (as if anyone knows where or when the tipping points lie)
not that i'm denigrating grigory's contributions. HE is denigrating his own contributions. a genuinely humble man, even in the face of a cool million. he's more of an ascetic than i could ever be. he's married to his intellectual pursuits, he's foregone earthly indulgences because they will just get in the way of all he cares about doing. he knows that the money will ruin his mental discipline. locking himself in a room with his mind out of genuine intellectual passion
i admire him, i could never do that. i like the earthly indulgences too much
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I was under the impression that he publicly stated why he wouldnt accept the money, and it was basically:
"If I had that money then I would feel compelled to use it to do good charitable things, but what I really want to with my life is more math and as such, that money would be a burden"
"His name was James Damore."
he's got 99 problems but the poincare conjecture aint one
Millennium. Two Ns. From Latin "mille", thousand, and "annus", year. A thousand years.
If you write it with only one N, it would be derived from mille and anus, which would be "a thousand assholes".
No. Multiple awards. Field medal first, now millennium prize.
Taxes would be a bitch. It's better to not exchange money in the first place.
rejecting the money is selfish, accepting the money is selfish, giving it to his mom is selfish, keeping it from his mom is selfish, etc. it all depends upon the motivation
all that i am saying is that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, so therefore whatever his motivation for rejecting the money, his mother probably shares the same motivations in her personality. therefore it is likely that she would be happiest with him rejecting the money. giving the money to his mother may very well be the absolute worst thing in the world he could ever do to his mother
so don't assume that your perspective is the only perspective that matters in situations like this, especially since you are not even in the situation. people are different, potentially very different from your own personality
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
it's Field*s* Medal. Named after the Canadian mathematician, John Charles Fields.
Not Field Medal.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
A bunch of people spent several years of their lives to validate that his solution was correct. The point is that those people wouldn't have bothered unless the source of the proposed solution was credible - because there are tons of crackpots who post all sorts of theories on the internet that aren't worth spending minutes let alone years of your life trying to validate or disprove.
Narrator: Meanwhile, at the International Conference of Mathematics...
(In a oak-walled conference room, about two dozen bearded and bespeckled men gathered around a long table, cluttered with papers, a large blackboard on the wall full of figures, cross-outs and erase marks. The man at the center of the table stands from his chair and wearily proclaims:)
Conference Leader: Well, gentlemen, I fear a solution to the Riemann hypothesis eludes us once again...
(Suddenly, a masked man bursts through the conference room doors.)
All: It's the Lone Mathematician!
LM: Gentlemen, I believe this is what you're looking for! (Slaps a paper on the desk. They all look down at it, then look up astonished)
All: A solution to the Riemann hypothesis! BUT HOW!?
CL (holding up the paper): So elegant and precise, and yet so simple! You're a man of true genius!
LM: I'm merely standing on the shoulders of giants, gentlemen.
(The Lone Mathematician gracefully leaps onto a nearby windowsill and steps out. They all run to the window and look down, seeing that he has jumped onto the back of a horse in the courtyard.)
LM (riding off): Hi Ho Sliderule, Away!!
CL: Who was that masked man? I wanted to thank him...
.
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
Yeah we should give him a prize or sth. Oh, wait...
Has anyone tried presenting him with a simple bouquet of flowers?
Loose lips lose spit.