alt Hacker NewsThe idea that the rest of humanity needs to support them is absurd. A couple billion in private trust funds could fund mathematics researchers in perpetuity.
The idea that the rest of humanity needs to support them is absurd. A couple billion in private trust funds could fund mathematics researchers in perpetuity.
The idea of being supported by the rest of humanity, is not a requirement that the rest of humanity support it equally.
The idea that "someone rich will take care of it", reminds me of a passage from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Logic_of_Collective_Action. It talks about "the exploitation of the large, by the small". Where a public good (in this case mathematics) is provisioned by a large entity that finds it worthwhile for their own reasons, and the remaining players who value it, feel no need to contribute anything themselves.